Numbers 10:11

The Journey From Sinai to Kadesh

10:11 ¹ On the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony. ² 

Numbers 9:1

Passover Regulations

9:1 ³ The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out ⁴  of the land of Egypt:

Numbers 9:3

9:3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, ⁵  you are to observe it at its appointed time; you must keep ⁶  it in accordance with all its statutes and all its customs.” ⁷ 

Numbers 9:11

9:11 They may observe it on the fourteenth day of the second month ⁸  at twilight; they are to eat it with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs.

Numbers 20:1

The Israelites Complain Again

20:1 ⁹ Then the entire community of Israel ¹⁰  entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, ¹¹  and the people stayed in Kadesh. ¹²  Miriam died and was buried there. ¹³ 

Numbers 33:3

33:3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day ¹⁴  after the Passover the Israelites went out defiantly ¹⁵  in plain sight ¹⁶  of all the Egyptians.

Numbers 33:38

33:38 Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command ¹⁷  of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

[10:11]  ¹ sn This section is somewhat mechanical: It begins with an introduction (vv. 11, 12), and then begins with Judah (vv. 13-17), followed by the rest of the tribes (vv. 18-27), and finally closes with a summary (v. 28). The last few verses (vv. 29-36) treat the departure of Hobab.

[10:11]  ² tc Smr inserts a lengthy portion from Deut 1:6-8, expressing the command for Israel to take the land from the Amorites.

[9:1]  ³ sn The chapter has just the two sections, the observance of the Passover (vv. 1-14) and the cloud that led the Israelites in the wilderness (vv. 15-23). It must be remembered that the material in vv. 7-9 is chronologically earlier than vv. 1-6, as the notices in the text will make clear. The two main discussions here are the last major issues to be reiterated before dealing with the commencement of the journey.

[9:1]  ⁴ tn The temporal clause is formed with the infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’, “to go out; to leave”). This verse indicates that a full year had passed since the exodus and the original Passover; now a second ruling on the Passover is included at the beginning of the second year. This would have occurred immediately after the consecration of the tabernacle, in the month before the census at Sinai.

[9:3]  ⁵ tn The literal Hebrew expression is “between the evenings” (so also in vv. 5, 11). Sunset is certainly one evening; the other may refer to the change in the middle of the afternoon to the late afternoon, or the beginning of dusk. The idea is probably just at twilight, or dusk (see R. B. Allen, TWOT 2:694).

[9:3]  ⁶ tn The two verbs in this verse are identical; they are imperfects of instruction. The English translation has been modified for stylistic variation.

[9:3]  ⁷ tn The two words in this last section are standard “Torah” words. The word חֹק (khoq) is a binding statute, something engraved and monumental. The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) means “judgment, decision,” but with a more general idea of “custom” at its core. The verse is making it very clear that the Passover had to follow the custom and form that was legislated in Egypt.

[9:11]  ⁷ sn The delay of four weeks for such people would have permitted enough time for them to return from their journey, or to recover from any short termed defilement such as is mentioned here. Apart from this provision, the Passover was to be kept precisely at the proper time.

[20:1]  ⁹ sn 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]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text stresses this idea by use of apposition: “the Israelites entered, the entire community, the wilderness.”

[20:1]  ¹¹ sn 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]  ¹² sn 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]  ¹³ sn 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.

[33:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “morrow.”

[33:3]  ¹² tn Heb “with a high hand”; the expression means “defiantly; boldly” or “with confidence.” The phrase is usually used for arrogant sin and pride, the defiant fist, as it were. The image of the high hand can also mean the hand raised to deliver the blow (Job 38:15).

[33:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the eyes.”

[33:38]  ¹³ tn Heb “mouth.”