Numbers 20:1

Context

The Israelites Complain Again

20:1 ¹Then the entire community of Israel² entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month,³ and the people stayed in Kadesh.⁴ Miriam died and was buried there.⁵

Numbers 20:16

Context
20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger,⁶ and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now⁷ we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country.⁸

[20:1] ¹sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the Lord, and thereby was prohibited from entering the land. For additional literature on this part, see E. Arden, “How Moses Failed God,” JBL 76 (1957): 50-52; J. Gray, “The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai Horeb Tradition,” VT 4 (1954): 148-54; T. W. Mann, “Theological Reflections on the Denial of Moses,” JBL 98 (1979): 481-94; and J. R. Porter, “The Role of Kadesh-Barnea in the Narrative of the Exodus,” JTS 44 (1943): 130-43.

[20:1] ²tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”

[20:1] ³sn The text does not indicate here what year this was, but from comparing the other passages about the itinerary, this is probably the end of the wanderings, the fortieth year, for Aaron died some forty years after the exodus. So in that year the people come through the wilderness of Zin and prepare for a journey through the Moabite plains.

[20:1] ⁴sn The Israelites stayed in Kadesh for some time during the wandering; here the stop at Kadesh Barnea may have lasted several months. See the commentaries for the general itinerary.

[20:1] ⁵sn The death of Miriam is recorded without any qualifications or epitaph. In her older age she had been self-willed and rebellious, and so no doubt humbled by the vivid rebuke from God. But she had made her contribution from the beginning.

[20:16] ⁶tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

[20:16] ⁷tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

[20:16] ⁸tn Heb “your border.”