Old Testament Commentary - Numbers 33

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 33 Review of Israel's journey from Egypt to Canaan—They are commanded to drive out inhabitants of land—Any remaining inhabitants shall vex Israel.
1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. 3 And they departed from ^aRameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out ^bwith an ^chigh hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.		1^a Lev. 10:1 (1-2) 2^a Heb. 9:12 (7, 12, 24-25); Heb. 10:19 (19-22) ^b TG Veil ^c Ex. 25:22; Ex. 29:42 (42-43); Ex. 40:34 (34-35); D&C 97:16 (15-17); D&C 109:5 (5, 12-13); Abr. 2:19 (19-20)
4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments. 5 And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in ^aSuccoth. 6 And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
7 And they removed from Etham, and ^aturned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol. 8 And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah. 9 And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve ^afountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.
10 And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the ^aRed sea. 11 And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they took their ^ajourney out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
13 And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. 14 And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.
16 And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibroth-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 they 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 ^aJotbathah.
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 ^aEzion-gaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is ^bKadesh.
37 And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And ^aAaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the ^bfortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was an ^ahundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.
40 And ^aking Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the ^bsouth in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 41 And they departed from mount ^aHor, and pitched in Zalmonah. 42 And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.
43 And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth. 44 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ije-abarim, in the border of Moab. 45 And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad.
46 And they removed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim. 47 And they removed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before ^aNebo. 48 And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. 49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jesimoth even unto Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
50 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 52 Then ye shall ^adrive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their ^bpictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their ^chigh places: 53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
54 And ye shall divide the ^aland by ^blot for an ^cinheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. 55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be ^apricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. 56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them^a.	56^a I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them 'IF' Israel would not completely remove and/or destroy the 'inhabitants of the land', the land of promise before them, they would eventual receive that fate which the Lord had thought upon them. And that prophecy of Moses given him by the Lord was fulfilled. The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and scattered and also was the Kingdom of Judah so scattered and destoryed from off the face of the land of promise. It was not just something the Lord did upon the time of 720 to 600 BC, it was to be so even from the day and according to the warning spoken by Moses, that they would be removed out of their place, destoryed as to their kingdoms and scattered into all the nations of the earth; from which the Lord would in the latter days again gather them.