Numbers 33:18

Numbers 33:18

And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.

a. NLT: They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. NIV: They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

c. ASV: And they journeyed from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. YLT: And they journey from Hazeroth, and encamp in Rithmah. [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

e. Amplified Bible Classic: And they journeyed from Hazeroth and encamped at Rithmah. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

f. Septuagint: And they departed from Aseroth, and encamped in Rathama.

g. Stone Edition of THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: They journeyed from Hazeroth and encamped in Rithmah. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

1. “And they departed from Hazeroth…”

a. [And they] departed [Strong: 5265 nâçaʻ, naw-sah'; a primitive root; properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, i.e. start on a journey:—cause to blow, bring, get, (make to) go (away, forth, forward, onward, out), (take) journey, march, remove, set aside (forward), × still, be on his (go their) way.] [The KJV translates Strong's H5265 in the following manner: journey (41x), departed (30x), remove (28x), forward (18x), went (8x), go away (3x), brought (3x), set forth (2x), go forth (3x), get (1x), set aside (1x), miscellaneous (8x).]

b. [from] Hazeroth [Strong: 2698  Chătsêrôwth, khats-ay-roth'; feminine plural of H2691; yards; Chatseroth, a place in Palestine:—Hazeroth.] [The KJV translates Strong's H2698 in the following manner: Hazeroth (6x).]

1). The location Hazeroth is where we have the disobedience of Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12). 

2. “...and pitched in Rithmah.”

a. [and] pitched [Strong: 2583 chânâh, khaw-naw'; a primitive root (compare H2603); properly, to incline; by implication, to decline (of the slanting rays of evening); specifically, to pitch a tent; generally to encamp (for abode or siege):—abide (in tents), camp, dwell, encamp, grow to an end, lie, pitch (tent), rest in tent.] [The KJV translates Strong's H2583 in the following manner: pitch (78x), encamp (47x), camp (4x), pitch ... tent (4x), abide (3x), dwelt (2x), lie (2x), rested (2x), grows to an end (1x).]

b. [in] Rithmah [Strong: 7575 Rithmâh, rith-maw'; feminine of H7574; Rithmah, a place in the Desert:—Rithmah.] [The KJV translates Strong's H7575 in the following manner: Rithmah (2x).]

1).  In Numbers 12:16 when Israel moved from Hazeroth it says they moved to the wilderness of Paran.

a). Numbers 12:16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

b). The fourteenth move. It is here where the spies were sent forth.

2). Stone Edition Chumash: 5 Scrolls of Moses, Rabbinic Commentary: This is another name for the place from which the spies set out on their mission, the proper name of which was Kadesh (Numbers 13:26). The name Rithmah is an allusion to the sin of lashon hara, or slander, that took place there, because slanderers deserve to be burned in fires fueled by charcoal made from the rothern tree [Psalms 120:4] (Rashi).

3). At Rithmah/Paran/Kadesh is where the spies were sent out. According to the record in the earlier chapter in Numbers 12:16, Israel moved here at Paran/Rithmah/Kadesh. The next time it says they moved is in Numbers 20:1 to the desert of Zin also in the Kadesh area. Though the record in Numbers 33:19-36 records they moved 18 times in between Numbers 13:1 and Numbers 20:1.

4). Note in The Israel Bible under Numbers 33:1: These were the marches of the Israelites. This chapter summarizes the journey that the People of Israel took to the Promised Land, starting with the flight from Egypt until they stood on the bank of the Yarden [Jordan] River, ready to enter the land. Overall, there were forty two encampments in the desert; fourteen before the sin of the spies which took place in the second year, and eight in the fortieth year, leaving only twenty stops during the thirty-eight years in between. Sashi points out that this highlights HASHEM’s compassion for His people. Although they were punished with forty years of wandering in the desert, he did not force them to continuously move around, as this would have been too physically grueling. Instead, they were allowed much opportunity to rest between wanderings.

5). Don Costello: Israel wandered in the desert 40 years, it includes the approximate 1½ years from the night of the Exodus in Exodus 12:37-42 to the point in Numbers 12:16, where the spies were sent forth.. During this study I learned that the Biblical material of Exodus 12, the night of the Exodus from Egypt to Numbers 13 &14, the sending of the spies and subsequent unbelief and rebellion of Israel comprise a time period of about 1½ years. I also learned that the Biblical material from Numbers 20:1 to Joshua 3 comprises another time period of about 1½  years, which leaves the 5 chapters of Numbers 15-20:1 to fit in 38 ½ years. Although in Numbers 33:19 it records Israel leaving the area where the rebellion took place for them to wander the desert, it is not recorded anywhere else in Scripture. Inside those 5 chapters of Numbers are a few offerings listed (Numbers 15), the rebellion of Korah in Numbers 16, the budding of Aaron’s rod in Numbers 17, signifying again that God chose Aaron and his sons in the Priesthood. In Numbers 18 it gives some duties of the Levites, and further instructions about tithing. In Numbers 19 it gives some commandments concerning purifying the unclean.  In Numbers 20:1 Israel moves to the wilderness of Zin where Miriam dies. In Numbers 33:19-36 it records Israel moving 18 times, and in those 18 times you have 38 and a half years. In Numbers 12:16 they arrive at the wilderness of Paranwhere they send forth the spies. In that chronology the next time it mentions them moving is Numbers 20:1 where they move to the desert of Zin Kadesh. Between Numbers 12:16 and Numbers 20:1 they moved 18 times and lived 38 and a half years. Other than the few historic Biblical events in Numbers 15-20:1, the events listed above, there is nothing recorded about those 38½ years. NOTHING! In early January of 2013 me and Missy were listening to a series by John Bevere entitled Honors’ Reward . In that series he made the statement that in Numbers 14 when Israel refused to believe God about going into the Promised Land, they lost their calling. On Sunday morning 1/20/13 as I was putting on the finishing touches of my message I was going to teach at church that morning, John Bevere’s statement combined with the awareness of my previous study concerning the brevity of Scripture concerning that generation finally dawned on me. This group of Israelites was called by God to be the people prophesied by the Hebrew fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses to go into the Promised Land, but because of their unbelief, they were denied by God and sentenced to wander in the desert for forty years, until everyone in that generation died. They lost their calling. What is even more profound to me is that there is very little written of them and what is written contains nothing good. What a sobering thought.