Chapter Thirty-Three
An enumeration of the principal camps of Israel on the journey from Rameses to the Jordan. Commands to drive out the Canaanite inhabitants and to destroy their idols.
In the present chapter forty-two camps are listed, which of course far from corresponds to the number of all the stops that took place during the long period of forty years of the Hebrews’ wilderness wandering. It is reasonable to suppose that only sites of prolonged stops, with the gathering and setting up of the tabernacle, are noted—stops that left some mark on the life and religious consciousness of the wanderers.
It is impossible to make an exact geographical determination of those forty-two camps mentioned in the book Num 33 due to insufficient necessary data. It is only possible to note the main direction of the Hebrew movement from Rameses to the Jordan.
From Rameses the Hebrews moved eastward, toward the northern end of the Suez Gulf. Here stops were made: Succoth, Etham, Pi-Hahiroth, which is before Baal-Zephon, and Migdol.
At the northern end of the Suez Gulf the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea by the Hebrews took place. After coming out of the sea, the Israelites moved along the western shore of the Sinai Peninsula (the wilderness of Etham, Sur, Sin) southward, to the mountains of Sinai. Here stops were made: Marah, Elim, a camp by the sea, a camp in the wilderness of Zin, Dophkah, Alush, Rephidim, Sinai.
From Sinai the Hebrews moved northeast (the wilderness of Paran), toward the northern end of the Gulf of Akaba (Ezion-Geber), and from there north to the southern boundaries of Canaan (Kadesh). Here stops were made: Taberah-Kibroth-Hattaavah, Asiroth, Rithmah, Rimmon-Perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, Shapher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-Jaakan, Hor-Hagidgad, Jotbathah, Abrona, Ezion-Geber, Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
After the completion of thirty-eight years of wandering (as a punishment for murmuring), the Hebrews arrived again at Kadesh. From there they move eastward and then northward, around Edom and Moab: they pass victoriously through the kingdoms of Sihon the Amorite and Og of Bashan; they turn back southward and concentrate themselves in the Moabite plains near the Jordan, opposite Jericho. Here stops were made: a camp at Mount Hor, Salmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iye-Abarim, Dibon-Gad, Almon-Diblathaim, a camp at Mount Nebo, a camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, opposite Jericho, in the territory from Beth-Jeshimoth to Abel-Shittim ((Num 21:1—Num 22:1) after the camp at Iye-Abarim some sources mention the following: in the valley of Zered, at the river Arnon, at the well of Beer, Mattanah, Nahaliel, Bamoth, Gai at Pisgah, Amorites, Bashan, the Moabite plains by the Jordan, opposite Jericho).
Numbers 33:50. And the Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, opposite Jericho, saying: Numbers 33:51. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, Numbers 33:52. Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their engraved images, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; Compare Num 33:55-56. Given Israel’s notable inclination toward sensuality in religion and its passionate temperament responsive to sensual pleasures, the proximity of the pagan Canaanites with their worship of Baal-Ashtaroth should not be desirable for the chosen people.
Numbers 33:53. And you shall take possession of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess as your inheritance; Numbers 33:54. And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. Compare Num 26:54-56.