Numbers 33:37

Wanderings from Kadesh to Moab

33:37 They traveled from Kadesh and camped in Mount Hor at the edge of the land of Edom.

Numbers 20:22

Aaron’s Death

20:22 So the entire company of Israelites ¹  traveled from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. ² 

Numbers 32:8

32:8 Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

Numbers 20:14

Rejection by the Edomites

20:14 ³ Moses ⁴  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ⁵  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ⁶ 

Numbers 18:9

18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved ⁷  from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons.

Numbers 19:20

19:20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.

¹ tn Again the passage uses apposition: “the Israelites, the whole community.”

² sn The traditional location for this is near Petra (Josephus, Ant. 4.4.7). There is serious doubt about this location since it is well inside Edomite territory, and since it is very inaccessible for the transfer of the office. Another view places it not too far from Kadesh Barnea, about 15 miles (25 km) northeast at Jebel Madurah, on the northwest edge of Edom and so a suitable point of departure for approaching Canaan from the south (see J. L. Mihelec, IDB 2:644; and J. de Vaulx, Les Nombres [SB], 231). Others suggest it was at the foot of Mount Hor and not actually up in the mountains (see Deut 10:6).

¹ sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.

² tn Heb “And Moses sent.”

³ sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.

⁴ tn Heb “found.”

¹ tn Heb “from the fire.” It probably refers to those parts that were not burned.