Numbers 20:1

The Israelites Complain Again

20:1 ¹ Then the entire community of Israel ²  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 20:14

Rejection by the Edomites

20:14 ⁶ Moses ⁷  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ⁸  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ⁹ 

Numbers 20:16

20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ¹⁰  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ¹¹  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ¹² 

Numbers 13:26

The Spies’ Reports

13:26 They came back ¹³  to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. ¹⁴  They reported ¹⁵  to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

Numbers 33:36-37

33:36 They traveled from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.

Wanderings from Kadesh to Moab

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

Ezekiel 47:19

47:19 On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, the river, ¹⁶  to the Great Sea. This is the south side.

Ezekiel 48:28

48:28 Next to the border of Gad, at the south side, the border will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the Stream of Egypt ¹⁷  and on to the Great Sea.

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

[20:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[20:14]  ⁶ 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.

[20:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “And Moses sent.”

[20:14]  ⁸ 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.

[20:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “found.”

[20:16]  ¹⁰ tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

[20:16]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

[20:16]  ¹² tn Heb “your border.”

[13:26]  ¹³ tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.

[13:26]  ¹⁴ sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.

[13:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).

[47:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “valley.” The syntax is difficult. Some translate “to the river,” others “from the river”; in either case the preposition is supplied for the sake of English.

[48:28]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally “the Brook of Egypt,” although a number of recent translations have “the Wadi of Egypt” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The word “Egypt” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.