Numbers 33:36-37
Context33:36 They traveled from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
33:37 They traveled from Kadesh and camped in Mount Hor at the edge of the land of Edom.
Numbers 20:22
Context20:22 So the entire company of Israelites 1 traveled from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. 2
Numbers 20:1
Context20:1 3 Then the entire community of Israel 4 entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, 5 and the people stayed in Kadesh. 6 Miriam died and was buried there. 7
Numbers 20:14
Context20:14 8 Moses 9 sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 10 “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, 11
Numbers 20:16
Context20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, 12 and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now 13 we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. 14
Numbers 27:14
Context27:14 For 15 in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you 16 rebelled against my command 17 to show me as holy 18 before their eyes over the water – the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”
Numbers 13:26
Context13:26 They came back 19 to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. 20 They reported 21 to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.


[20:22] 1 tn Again the passage uses apposition: “the Israelites, the whole community.”
[20:22] 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).
[20:1] 1 sn This chapter is the account of how Moses struck the rock in disobedience to the
[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] 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.
[20:14] 2 tn Heb “And Moses sent.”
[20:14] 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.
[20:16] 1 tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.
[20:16] 2 tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.
[20:16] 3 tn Heb “your border.”
[27:14] 1 tn The preposition on the relative pronoun has the force of “because of the fact that.”
[27:14] 2 tn The verb is the second masculine plural form.
[27:14] 4 sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.
[13:26] 1 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] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).