Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 33:16
And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibroth-hattaavah.
STAT. XII.
Verse 16. KIBROTH-HATTAAVAH.] No city, village, &c., but a place in the open desert, which had its name from the plague that fell upon the Israelites, through their murmuring against God, and their inordinate desire of flesh. See Clarke on Nu 6:1 &c. But it appears that the Israelites had travelled three days’ journey in order to reach this place, Nu 10:33, and commentators suppose there must have been other stations which are not laid down here, probably because the places were not remarkable.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
16-37. Kibroth-Hattaavah (“thegraves of lust,” see on Nu11:34) The route, on breaking up the encampment at Sinai, leddown Wady Sheikh; then crossing Jebel-et-Tih, which intersected thepeninsula, they descended into Wady Zalaka, pitching successively attwo brief, though memorable, stations (De9:22); then they encamped at Hazeroth (“unwalled villages”),supposed to be at Ain-Hadera (see on Nu11:35). Kadesh, or Kadesh-barnea, is supposed to be the greatvalley of the Ghor, and the city Kadesh to have been situated on theborder of this valley [BURCKHARDT;ROBINSON]. But as thereare no less than eighteen stations inserted between Hazerothand Kadesh, and only eleven days were spent in performing thatjourney (De 1:2), it is evidentthat the intermediate stations here recorded belong to another andtotally different visit to Kadesh. The first was when they left Sinaiin the second month (Num 1:11;Num 13:20), and were in Kadesh inAugust (De 1:45), and “abodemany days” in it. Then, murmuring at the report of the spies,they were commanded to return into the desert “by the way of theRed Sea.” The arrival at Kadesh, mentioned in this catalogue,corresponds to the second sojourn at that place, being thefirst month, or April (Nu20:1). Between the two visits there intervened a period ofthirty-eight years, during which they wandered hither and thitherthrough all the region of El-Tih (“wanderings”), oftenreturning to the same spots as the pastoral necessities of theirflocks required; and there is the strongest reason for believing thatthe stations named between Hazeroth (Nu33:8) and Kadesh (Nu 33:36)belong to the long interval of wandering. No certainty has yet beenattained in ascertaining the locale of many of these stations. Theremust have been more than are recorded; for it is probable that thoseonly are noted where they remained some time, where the tabernaclewas pitched, and where Moses and the elders encamped, the peoplebeing scattered for pasture in various directions. From Ezion-geber,for instance, which stood at the head of the gulf of Akaba, toKadesh, could not be much less than the whole length of the greatvalley of the Ghor, a distance of not less than a hundred miles,whatever might be the exact situation of Kadesh; and, of course,there must have been several intervening stations, though none arementioned. The incidents and stages of the rest of the journey to theplains of Moab are sufficiently explicit from the preceding chapters.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah. Eight miles from the desert of Sinai; here the people lusted after flesh, and murmured, which, though given them, a pestilence came and destroyed many of them, and here they were buried, whence the place was so called, which signifies the “graves of lust”, i.e. of those that lusted: no mention is made of Taberah, either because it was the same with Kibroth, or near it; or, as Aben Ezra on De 9:22 says, they encamped there but one day, and so is not mentioned in the journeys, though it was one of the three they journeyed from Mount Sinai to Kibrothhattaavah, see Nu 11:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 16-36:
The Wilderness of Sinai, the place of the giving of the Law, see Ex 19:1.
Some of the stations listed in this text are not noted elsewhere. The site of many are unknown today.
Kibroth-hattavah, the site of Israel’s murmuring, and of the excess of quails, Nu 11:31-35.
Libnah, mentioned in De 1;1, apparently derived its name from the white limestone cliffs at its site.
Hashmonah, possibly Hesmon, Jos 15:27.
Moseroth, likely the place mentioned in De 10:6.
Bene-jaakan, the same as De 10:6, where it is given as Beeroth-bent-Jaakan, “.the walls of the children of Jaakan.” Jaakan (Arkan), a grandson of Esau, Ge 36:20, 27; 1Ch 1:42.
Hor-hagidgad, possibly the same as Gudgodah, De 10:7.
Jotbathah, De 10:7, “a land of rivers and waters.”
Ebronah, or Abronah, meaning “beach, passage, fords.”
Ezion-gaber, meaning “the giant’s backbone.” This later became the site of the harbor of Solomon’s navy, 1 Kings 9:26; 2Ch 8:17.
Wilderness of Zin, or Kadesh, the encampment from which the spies went to investigate the Land of Canaan, see chapters 12:16-14:45, and 10:1-21. Israel returned to this site at the end of their wanderings, to resume their journey, Nu 20:1.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
B. SINAI TO MT. HOR vv. 1637
TEXT
Num. 33:16. And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kebroth-hattaavah; 17. And they departed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. 18. And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah. 19. And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon-parez. 20. And they departed from Rimmon-parez, and pitched in Libnah. 21. And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah. 22. And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah. 23. And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher. 24. And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah. 25. And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth. 26. And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath. 27. and departed from Tahath and pitched at Tarah. 28. And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah. 29. And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah. 30. And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth. 31. And they departed from Moseroth and pitched in Bene-jaakan. 32. And they removed from Bene-jaakan, and encamped at Hor-hagidgad. 33. And they went from Hor-hagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah. 34. And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah. 35. And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion-gaber. 36. And they removed from Ezion-gaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. 37. And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 33:16. And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. 17. And they journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and camped at Hazeroth. 18. And they journeyed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19. And they journeyed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 19. And they journeyed from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21. And they journeyed from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22. And they journeyed from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23. And they journeyed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24. And they journeyed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25. And they journeyed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26. And they journeyed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27. And they journeyed from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28. And they journeyed from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29. And they journeyed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30. And they journeyed from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31. And they journeyed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32. And they journeyed from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33. And they journeyed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34. And they journeyed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35. And they journeyed from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. 36. And they journeyed from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh. 37. And they journeyed from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom.
COMMENTARY
Of all the place-names in this section, thirteen are not given anywhere else in the Old Testament. It is impossible to say whether or not Gray is correct in assigning these places to the total area wandering, as well as that between Sinai and Kadesh (see p. 296, IB). In this event, there would have been no attempt to mention the places chronologically, but simply as a composite list from the final two portions of the total journey from Egypt to Canaan. The list is, indeed, longer than necessary for the brief trip from Sinai to Kadesh; and the list covering the final 38 years if proportionately much too small. Either Moses has listed every point at which the people encamped during the second leg, but has scantily summarized the third; or the stops in the one period were very brief, while in the other they were prolonged.
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
605.
Why are so many of the places mentioned here not to be found anywhere else in the Old Testament?
606.
What alternative is there to accepting Moses arrangement of the place names in chronological order? What evidences would seem to indicate this arrangement by geography rather than chronology?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
16. Kibroth-hattaavah Also called Taberah. Num 11:3; Num 11:34, notes. A glance at Kiepert’s or any good map will show that from Sinai to Canaan there was a choice between two main routes, namely, that on the west of the high plateau called the Tih region, and that on the east going up the ‘Arabah or desert valley west of Mount Seir. There are good reasons for supposing that Moses took the eastern route, and that Kibroth-hattaavah is to be sought for in this direction.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth-hattaavah.’
Kibroth-hattaavah was where they buried those whose desires for fresh meat got the better of them (12:34). The journey from Sinai to Kadesh was one of eleven days for the normal traveller (Deu 1:2). This and Hazeroth are the only two encampments mentioned on that journey.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Kibroth-hattaavjah. Compare Num 11:4-34.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Kibroth-hattaavah
i.e. the graves of lust.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
they removed: Num 10:11-13, Num 10:33, Deu 1:6
Kibrothhattaavah: That is, the graves of lust. Num 11:4, Num 11:34
Reciprocal: Num 10:12 – took