Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 33:45
And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad.
STAT. XXXVIII.
Verse 45. DIBON-GAD.] Supposed to be the same as Dibon, Nu 32:34, and to be situated on the brook Arnon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Iim, rather Ijim, i.e. the heaps, as the word signifies, even the heaps of Abarim, last mentioned; the Hebrew word is the same with Ije, Num 33:44, only there it is in the construed, and here in the absolute, form. Dibon-gad; so called partly by way of distinction of this from another Dibon, in the portion of Reuben, Jos 13:17, and partly, because it was rebuilt by the tribe of Gad.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they departed from Ijim, and pitched in Dibongad. Sixteen miles from Ijim; the remove from whence is said to be to the valley of Zared, Nu 21:12 in which Dibongad was, so called perhaps because rebuilt by Gad afterwards.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(45) From Iim.Instead of the seven intermediate stations between Ijim, or Iie-abarim, and the plains of Moab, which are mentioned in Num. 21:11-20, we find only three mentioned in this chapter: viz., Dibon of Gad, Almon-diblathaim, and Mount Abarim before Nebo, none of which agree in name with the stations mentioned in Numbers 21. In regard to the number of stations, the diversity may probably be explained on the supposition that Numbers 21 mentions those stations only which were of historical importanceas, e.g., those from which any military expedition was madewhilst Numbers 33 appears to mention every place in which an organised camp was erected, and in which the Tent of Meeting was formally set up. If this supposition be correct, no difficulty is involved in the fact that fewer stations are named between Mount Hor and Ije-abarim in Numbers 21 than in Numbers 33, whilst more stations are. named between Ije-abarim and Arboth-Moab in Numbers 33 than in Numbers 21. There is a further diversity, however, in the two accounts as regards the names of the intermediate stations between Ije-abarim and the plains of Moab. In respect of the stations between Mount Hor and Ije-abarim, if we suppose Zalmonah to have been the station at which the brazen serpent was set up (see Num. 21:10, and Note), the difference between the two accounts consists only in the insertion in Numbers 33 of the station at Punon, between Zalmonah and Oboth. In respect of the stations, however, between Ije-abarim and Arboth-Moab there is not only a difference in the number, but also in the names of the stations. But this difference is easily accounted for when it is remembered that a host consisting of 600,000 men, with their wives, children, and cattle, must have extended over a large area, and, in the case of an inhabited country in which towns and villages abounded, may have occupied more than one of these at the same time. (Comp. Num. 33:49, where the Israelites are represented as encamping from Beth-jesimoth even unto Abel-shittim.) Hence there is no difficulty in connecting the formal encampment at Dibon of Gad (Num. 33:45) with some one or more of the stations on the north of the Arnon mentioned in Num. 23:13-19, or in connecting Almon-diblathaim, which appears to have been situated on the north or north-west of Dibon (Comp. Jer. 48:22, where Beth-diblathaim is mentioned in conjunction with Dibon and Nebo) with Bamothi.e., heightswhich, if identical with Bamoth-Baal (Num. 22:4), is mentioned by Joshua (Jos. 13:17) in immediate connection with Dibon. In regard to the last station named in this chapter before the encampment in the plains of Moabviz., the mountains of Abarim, before Nebothere can be no doubt as to the identity of the station with that in the valley in the country (or, field) of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, in Num. 21:20. According to Deu. 34:1, Mount Nebo was a peak of Pisgah, which, as we learn from Deu. 32:49, was one of the mountains of Abarim; and the place of the burial of Moses, who died upon the top of Pisgah, is described as the valleyi.e., the well-known valleyin the land of Moab (Deu. 34:6).
In Dibon-gad.Or, Dibon of Gad. The reference is probably to the fact which has already been mentioned in Num. 32:34, that the children of Gad rebuilt or fortified Dibon, which stood on the northern side of the river Arnon, and which is one of the towns named in Num. 32:3 as situated in that portion of the country which the Reubenites and the Gadites desired to possess.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
45. Iim is Ije-abarim abbreviated.
Dibon-gad Dibon, rebuilt by the Gadites after the conquest of the land, (Num 32:3; Num 32:34, notes,) and allotted to Reuben.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they journeyed from Iyim (a shortening of Iye-abarim), and encamped in Dibon-gad. And they journeyed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim. And they journeyed from Almon-diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. And they journeyed from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.’
This contrasts with Num 21:12-13; Num 21:18-20 which says, ‘From there they journeyed, and encamped in the valley of Zered. From there they journeyed, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, which comes out of the border of the Amorites — and from the wilderness they journeyed to Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks towards Jeshimon (or ‘down on the desert’).’
The difference probably lies in the purpose of the descriptions. These in Numbers 33 refer to the places where they encamped and set up the Dwellingplace (or in the early part the old Tent of Meeting – Exo 33:7-11). Anywhere were the Dwellingplace was set up was special. That is possibly one reason for this list in Numbers 33. It indicated the march of Yahweh and where He stayed. Those in Numbers 21 refer to sites of well known interest, which were not necessarily campsites. Alternately the change of Dibon to Dibon-gad (Dibon of Gad) may suggest that these in Numbers 33 were the new names given by the children of Israel as in Num 32:38. That would explain why unexpectedly there was not a single similar name.
(We must not make too much of these differences. The descriptions in chapter 21 only include two specific ‘place’ names, Mattanah and Nahaliel (and this latter simply means ‘the valley of God’). Bamoth is ‘the heights’, the river valley and mountain sites are general descriptions).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 33:45. They departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad It is said, chap. Num 21:12 that they removed from thence, and pitched in the valley of Zared, near which, probably, Dibon-gad was situated. Most interpreters take Dibon-gad to be the same place which is called Dibon, and which fell to the portion of the Gadites, chap. Num 32:34 and is therefore called Dibon-gad, to distinguish it from another Dibon, which fell to the Reubenites, Jos 13:17. But the context shews, that this Dibon was on the south side of Arnon, in the wilderness of Moab; whereas Dibon, both of the Gadites and Reubenites, was on the north side of that river. See Le Clerc.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Dibon-gad = Dibon of the tribe of Gad. Compare Num 21:30. So called because it was appropriated by Gad (Num 32:34); and to distinguish it from another Dibon given to Reuben (Jos 13:15, Jos 13:17).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Reciprocal: Num 21:18 – And from Num 32:34 – Dibon