Reference: WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES
American
See EXODUS. The following tabular view of their various encampments, so far as they are recorded in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, is from Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches. The "great and terrible wilderness" between mount Sinai and Palestine is still known by the Arabs as Et-Tyh, or the Wanderings.
Morish
The Israelites were always directed by God as to their journeyings and when and where to pitch their tents. It was God who caused them to 'wander' because of their sin. Nu 32:13.
The accounts of the journeys of the children of Israel have not escaped the unwarrantable attacks to which many parts of scripture have been subjected. Though many of the places mentioned cannot now be identified, and therefore the actual path trodden cannot be traced, yet enough is recorded to show in the main what their route was, and to prove that the several records do not clash one with another. The passage quoted above speaks of the wanderings occupying forty years, yet it was after their first visit to Kadesh-barnea in the 2nd year that their real 'wanderings' began.
Travellers have visited the districts along which the Israelites are supposed to have travelled, and have not hesitated to say that the cattle and sheep of the Israelites could not possibly have found pasture or fodder on which to have lived.
We read that they brought out of Egypt 'flocks and herds,' and in Ex 12:38 "very much cattle" is mentioned. Before crossing the Jordan the two and a half tribes are described as having "a great multitude of cattle," but this was after the Midianites had been destroyed, and most of the cattle and sheep may have fallen to these tribes, the other tribes taking "the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead" with other spoils.
The Israelites were forbidden to graze their flocks and herds "before the mount." And this implies that there was pasture there for them; the Amalekites also dwelt there, and doubtless had cattle. Ex 17:8; 34:3. The actual state of the desert now is no proof of what it was then. It is well known that the Bedouins do not encourage cultivation, and they have destroyed the trees extensively in order to make charcoal, which they can always sell, and this decreases the fertility. A traveller records that "the gardens at the Wells of Moses, under the French and English agents from Suez, and the gardens in the valleys of Jebel Musa, under the care of the Greek monks of the Convent of St. Catherine" are proofs of the fertility of the ground under culture.
The barren state of the desert in general does not preclude the fact that parts of it are fertile. There are few parts of the Sinai Peninsula that do not show signs of vegetation. The numerous valleys of the Sinaitic group of mountains are full of shrubs and grass.
Much farther north, near Kadesh, the Amalekites and Canaanites were able to live in the mountain. Nu 14:40-45.
It is therefore useless and unbelieving to draw conclusions from the present aspect of the land through which the Israelites travelled. If they continued to have much cattle, God could as easily have provided for their cattle as have given them manna from heaven for themselves.
The first part of their journey from Egypt was from Rameses to the Red Sea. Rameses was on the east of the Nile, but some place it farther north than others. The western branch of the Red Sea doubtless then extended farther north than it does at present, and it cannot be ascertained at what point the sea was crossed. The stations are
Ex. 12. Num. 33.
Rameses, Ex 12:37. | Rameses, Nu 33:3.
Succoth, Ex 12:37. | Succoth, Nu 33:5.
Etham, Ex 13:20. | Etham, Nu 33:6.
Pi-hahiroth, Ex 14:2. | Pi-hahiroth, Nu 33:7.
Passage through the Red Sea, | Passage through the Red Sea
Ex 14:22, and three days' march | and three days' march in the
into the desert of Shur, Ex 15:22 | desert of Etham, Nu 33:8.
It will be noticed that in Numbers, Etham is mentioned on both sides of the Red Sea. The word has been interpreted 'boundary of the sea' (a meaning which F?rst thinks doubtful, but gives no other): if so, it might apply to either side. The desert of Etham may have swept round the end of the Gulf of Suez, as in some maps.
The second part of their journey was from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, on the east side of the Gulf of Suez. The wilderness of Sin, Mount Sinai, and Horeb are in the main identified. The stations are
Marah Ex 15:23. | Marah, Nu 33:8.
Elim, Ex 15:27. | Elim, Nu 33:9.
| Encampment by the Red Sea,
| Nu 33:10.
Desert of Sin, Ex 16:1. | Desert of Sin, Nu 33:11.
| Dophkah, Nu 33:12.
| Alush. Nu 33:13.
Rephidim, Ex 17:1. | Rephidim, Nu 33:14.
Desert of Sinai, Ex 19:1, in the | Desert of Sinai, Nu 33:15.
third month of the first year. |
In the wilderness of Sinai the Israelites remained until the second month of the second year, during which period the law was given. Nu 10:11; 33:16.
The third part of their journey was from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, some eighty miles farther north. In this journey only three intermediate stations are mentioned.
Taberah, Nu 11:3; De 9:22 |
Kibroth-hattaavah, Nu 11:34. | Kibroth-hattaavah, Nu 33:16.
Hazeroth, Nu 11:35. | Hazeroth, Nu 33:17.
Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran | Rithmah, Nu 33:18.
Num., 12:16; Num.13:1-26. |
At Taberah the fire of the Lord burnt among them. At Kibroth-hattaavah the people lusted for flesh: quails were given them, and then God sent upon them a very great plague. Nu 11:4,31-34. At Hazeroth Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, and Miriam was smitten with leprosy. Nu 12:10. The above shows that Kadesh is in the same locality as Rithmah, from whence the spies were despatched. The spies are not mentioned in Num. 33.
There was a prolonged stay at Kadesh or Rithmah in the wilderness of Paran. The return of the spies was waited for. The rebellion broke out on the report of the faithless spies, and God sware they should not enter the land, but should wander in the wilderness that all the men who came out of Egypt might die except Caleb and Joshua. In defiance of this they invaded the land, and were attacked by the Amalekites. Nu 14:33-45. Then followed the rebellion of Korah. Num. 16.
Apparently the Israelites spent about thirty-seven years in travelling three times between Kadesh and Ezion-gaber, at the corner of the Gulf of Akaba, but many of the stations cannot be identified; some may have been situated farther to the west. It is not, however, recorded how long they remained at the various places, and it is possible that some of them are not included in the lists.
By comparing Nu 20:22-29 with De 10:6 it will be seen that Mosera and Mount Hor are regarded as the same place, Mosera, or Moseroth, being situated at the foot of Mount Hor. Mosera is therefore a recognised place to which they travelled when the real 'wanderings' began. They removed from Kadesh, or Rithmah, to Rimmon-parez, and then to other stations till they arrived at Mosera, or Mount Hor, the first time, though it seems but a short distance. Nu 33:19-30.
From Mosera they travelled southward to Ezion-gaber, there being four stations between. Nu 33:31-35.
From Ezion-gaber they turned and travelled northward again and arrived at Kadesh or Kadesh-barnea a second time, no stations being mentioned between those two distant places. At Kadesh Miriam died. The people murmured, and the rock was smitten, on which occasion Moses and Aaron offended. Nu 20:1-13.
From Kadesh they travelled to Mount Hor, without any station being mentioned between them, unless Beeroth in De 10:6 comes in here. At Mount Hor Aaron died and was buried. Nu 33:37-38. They were attacked by King Arad the Canaanite, who was defeated and his cities destroyed. Nu 21:1-3.
The King of Edom having refused to let the Israelites pass through his land necessitated their journeying again to the Red Sea in order to compass the land of Edom (perhaps passing Gudgodah and Jotbath, De 10:7, in the route). Nu 20:14-21; 21:4. From the Red Sea their route is plainly on the east of Edom and the Salt Sea until they arrived opposite Jericho, where their wanderings ended.
From Mount Hor by the way of the | By Elath and Ezion-gaber, De 2:8.
Red Sea, Nu 21:4. |
| Zalmonah, Nu 33:41.
| Punon, Nu 33:42.
Oboth. Nu 21:10. | Oboth, Nu 33:43.
Ije-abarim, Nu 21:11. | Ije-abarim, or Iim, Nu 33:44-45.
De 2:13-14. |
De 2:24. |
| Dibon-gad, Nu 33:45,
Beer, in the desert, Nu 21:1
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the children of Israel made the journey from Rameses to Succoth; there were about six hundred thousand men on foot, as well as children.
And the children of Israel made the journey from Rameses to Succoth; there were about six hundred thousand men on foot, as well as children. And a mixed band of people went with them; and flocks and herds in great numbers.
Then they went on their journey from Succoth, and put up their tents in Etham at the edge of the waste land.
Give orders to the children of Israel to go back and put up their tents before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon, opposite to which you are to put up your tents by the sea.
Then Moses took Israel forward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the waste land of Shur; and for three days they were in the waste land where there was no water. And when they came to Marah, the water was no good for drinking, for the waters of Marah were bitter, which is why it was named Marah.
And they came to Elim where there were twelve water-springs and seventy palm-trees: and they put up their tents there by the waters.
And they went on their way from Elim, and all the children of Israel came into the waste land of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they went out of the land of Egypt.
And the children of Israel went on from the waste land of Sin, by stages as the Lord gave them orders, and put up their tents in Rephidim: and there was no drinking-water for the people.
Then Amalek came and made war on Israel in Rephidim.
In the third month after the children of Israel went out from Egypt, on the same day, they came into the waste land of Sinai.
No one is to come up with you, and let no man be seen anywhere on the mountain; let no flocks or herds come near to get their food at its foot.
Now in the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud was taken up from over the Tent of witness.
So that place was named Taberah, because of the fire of the Lord which had been burning among them. And the mixed band of people who went with them were overcome by desire: and the children of Israel, weeping again, said, Who will give us flesh for our food?
Then the Lord sent a wind, driving little birds from the sea, so that they came down on the tents, and all round the tent-circle, about a day's journey on this side and on that, in masses about two cubits high over the face of the earth. And all that day and all night and the day after, the people were taking up the birds; the smallest amount which anyone got was ten homers: and they put them out all round the tents. read more. But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was tasted, the wrath of the Lord was moved against the people and he sent a great outburst of disease on them. So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they put in the earth the bodies of the people who had given way to their desires.
So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they put in the earth the bodies of the people who had given way to their desires. From Kibroth-hattaavah the people went on to Hazeroth; and there they put up their tents.
And the cloud was moved from over the Tent; and straight away Miriam became a leper, as white as snow: and Aaron, looking at Miriam, saw that she was a leper.
And your children will be wanderers in the waste land for forty years, undergoing punishment for your false ways, till your bodies become dust in the waste land. And as you went through the land viewing it for forty days, so for forty years, a year for every day, you will undergo punishment for your wrongdoing, and you will see that I am against you. read more. I the Lord have said it, and this I will certainly do to all this evil people who have come together against me: in this waste land destruction will come on them, and death will be their fate. And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses, Those same men who said evil of the land, came to their death by disease before the Lord. But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of those who went to see the land, were not touched by disease. And when Moses put these words before the children of Israel, the people were full of grief. And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong.
And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong. And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?
And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it? Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you.
Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.
For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you. But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle.
But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.
Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.
In the first month all the children of Israel came into the waste land of Zin, and put up their tents in Kadesh; there death came to Miriam, and they put her body to rest in the earth. And there was no water for the people: and they came together against Moses and against Aaron. read more. And the people were angry with Moses and said, If only death had overtaken us when our brothers came to their death before the Lord! Why have you taken the Lord's people into this waste, for death to come to us and to our cattle there? Why have you made us come out of Egypt into this evil place? This is no place of seed or figs or vines or other fruits, and there is no water for drinking. Then Moses and Aaron went away from the people to the door of the Tent of meeting; and, falling on their faces there, they saw the glory of the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Take the rod, you and Aaron, your brother, and make all the people come together, and before their eyes give orders to the rock to give out its water; and so make water come out of the rock for them, and give the people and their cattle drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he gave him orders. Then Moses and Aaron made the people come together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Give ear now, you people whose hearts are turned from the Lord; are we to get water for you out of the rock? And lifting up his hand, Moses gave the rock two blows with his rod: and water came streaming out, and the people and their cattle had drink enough. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you had not enough faith in me to keep my name holy before the children of Israel, you will not take this people into the land which I have given them. These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel went against the Lord, and they saw that he was holy among them. Then Moses sent men from Kadesh to the king of Edom to say to him, Your brother Israel says, You have knowledge of all the things we have been through; How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we were living in Egypt for a long time; and the Egyptians were cruel to us and to our fathers: And the Lord gave ear to the voice of our cry, and sent an angel and took us out of Egypt: and now we are in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your land; Let us now go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, till we have gone past the limits of your land. And Edom said, You are not to go through my land, for if you do I will come out against you with the sword. And the children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway: and if we or our cattle take of your water, we will give you a price for it: only let us go through on our feet, nothing more. But he said, You are not to go through. And Edom came out against them in his strength, with a great army. So Edom would not let Israel go through his land; and Israel went in another direction. And they went on from Kadesh, and came, with all their people, to Mount Hor. And at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Aaron will be put to rest with his people; he will not go into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you went against my word at the waters of Meribah. So take Aaron and Eleazar, his son, up into Mount Hor; And take Aaron's robes off him and put them on Eleazar, his son: and death will come to Aaron there, and he will be put to rest with his people. So Moses did as the Lord had said, and before the eyes of all the people they went up Mount Hor. And Moses took off Aaron's robes, and put them on Eleazar, his son; and there on the top of the mountain death came to Aaron: then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. And when the people saw that Aaron was dead, all the children of Israel gave themselves up to weeping for him for thirty days.
And it came to the ears of the Canaanite, the king of Arad, living in the South, that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, and he came out against them and took some of them prisoners. Then Israel made an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give up this people into my hands, then I will send complete destruction on all their towns. read more. And the Lord, in answer to the voice of Israel, gave the Canaanites up to them; and they put them and their towns completely to destruction: and that place was named Hormah. Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way.
Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way.
Then the children of Israel went on and put up their tents in Oboth. And journeying on again from Oboth, they put up their tents in Iye-abarim, in the waste land before Moab looking east. read more. And moving on from there, they put up their tents in the valley of Zered. From there they went on and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon, which is on the waste land at the edge of the land of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the line of division between Moab and the Amorites:
From there they went on to Beer, the water-spring of which the Lord said to Moses, Make the people come together and I will give them water.
The fountain made by the chiefs, made deep by the great ones of the people, with the law-givers' rod, and with their sticks. Then from the waste land they went on to Mattanah:
The fountain made by the chiefs, made deep by the great ones of the people, with the law-givers' rod, and with their sticks. Then from the waste land they went on to Mattanah: And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: And from Bamoth to the valley in the open country of Moab, and to the top of Pisgah looking over Jeshimon.
Then the children of Israel, journeying on, put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan at Jericho.
Then the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made them wanderers in the waste land for forty years? till all that generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord was dead.
On the fifteenth day of the first month they went out from Rameses; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out by the power of the Lord before the eyes of all the Egyptians,
So the children of Israel went from Rameses and put up their tents in Succoth. And they went on from Succoth and put up their tents in Etham on the edge of the waste land. read more. And from Etham, turning back to Pi-hahiroth which is before Baal-zephon, they put up their tents before Migdol. And journeying on from before Hahiroth, they went through the sea into the waste land: they went three days' journey through the waste land of Etham and put up their tents in Marah.
And journeying on from before Hahiroth, they went through the sea into the waste land: they went three days' journey through the waste land of Etham and put up their tents in Marah. And from Marah they went on to Elim: and in Elim there were twelve water-springs and seventy palm-trees; and they put up their tents there. read more. And they went on from Elim and put up their tents by the Red Sea. Then from the Red Sea they went on and put up their tents in the waste land of Sin. And they went on from the waste land of Sin, and put up their tents in Dophkah. And they went on from Dophkah, and put up their tents in Alush. And they went on from Alush, and put up their tents in Rephidim, where there was no drinking-water for the people. And they went on from Rephidim, and put up their tents in the waste land of Sinai. And they went on from the waste land of Sinai and put up their tents in Kibroth-hattaavah.
And they went on from the waste land of Sinai and put up their tents in Kibroth-hattaavah. And they went on from Kibroth-hattaavah, and put up their tents in Hazeroth. read more. And they went on from Hazeroth, and put up their tents in Rithmah. And they went on from Rithmah, and put up their tents in Rimmon-perez. And they went on from Rimmon-perez, and put up their tents in Libnah. And they went on from Libnah, and put up their tents in Rissah. And they went on from Rissah, and put up their tents in Kehelathah. And they went on from Kehelathah, and put up their tents in Mount Shepher. And they went on from Mount Shepher, and put up their tents in Haradah. And they went on from Haradah, and put up their tents in Makheloth. And they went on from Makheloth, and put up their tents in Tahath. And they went on from Tahath, and put up their tents in Terah. And they went on from Terah, and put up their tents in Mithkah. And they went on from Mithkah, and put up their tents in Hashmonah. And they went on from Hashmonah, and put up their tents in Moseroth. And they went on from Moseroth, and put up their tents in Bene-jaakan. And they went on from Bene-jaakan, and put up their tents in Hor-haggidgad. And they went on from Hor-haggidgad, and put up their tents in Jotbathah. And they went on from Jotbathah, and put up their tents in Abronah. And they went on from Abronah, and put up their tents in Ezion-geber.
And they went on from Kadesh, and put up their tents in Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest went up into the mountain at the order of the Lord, and came to his death there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.
And from Mount Hor they went on, and put up their tents in Zalmonah. And they went on from Zalmonah, and put up their tents in Punon. read more. And they went on from Punon, and put up their tents in Oboth. And they went on from Oboth, and put up their tents in Iye-abarim at the edge of Moab. And they went on from Iyim, and put up their tents in Dibon-gad.
And they went on from Iyim, and put up their tents in Dibon-gad. And from Dibon-gad they went on, and put up their tents in Almon-diblathaim. read more. And from Almon-diblathaim they went on, and put up their tents in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. And they went on from the mountains of Abarim, and put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho;
So we went on past our brothers, the children of Esau, living in Seir, by the road through the Arabah, from Elath and Ezion-geber. And turning, we went by the road through the waste land of Moab.
Get up now, and go over the stream Zered. So we went over the stream Zered. Thirty-eight years had gone by from the time when we came away from Kadesh-barnea till we went over the stream Zered; by that time all the generation of the men of war among us were dead, as the Lord had said.
Get up now, and go on your journey, crossing over the valley of the Arnon: see, I have given into your hands Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and all his land: go forward to make it yours, and make war on him,
(And the children of Israel went on from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah: there death came to Aaron and he was put to rest in the earth; and Eleazar, his son, took his place as priest.
(And the children of Israel went on from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah: there death came to Aaron and he was put to rest in the earth; and Eleazar, his son, took his place as priest. From there they went on to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of streams of water.
For it is my desire, my brothers, that you may keep in mind how all our fathers were under the cloud, and they all went through the sea; And they all had baptism from Moses in the cloud and in the sea; read more. And they all took the same holy food; And the same holy drink: for they all took of the water from the holy rock which came after them: and the rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not pleased: for they came to their end in the waste land. Now these things were for an example to us, so that our hearts might not go after evil things, as they did. Then do not go after false gods, as some of them did; as it is said in the holy Writings, After resting and feasting, the people got up to take their pleasure. Again, let us not give way to the desires of the flesh, as some of them did, of whom twenty-three thousand came to their end in one day. And let us not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did, and came to their death by snakes. And do not say evil things against the Lord, as some of them did, and destruction overtook them. Now these things were done as an example; and were put down in writing for our teaching, on whom the last days have come. So let him who seems to himself to be safe go in fear of a fall. You have been put to no test but such as is common to man: and God is true, who will not let any test come on you which you are not able to undergo; but he will make with the test a way out of it, so that you may be able to go through it. For this cause, my dear brothers, give no worship to false gods.