Numbers 33:1

As the Israelites had ended their wanderings through the desert, when they arrived in the steppes of Moab by the Jordan opposite to Jericho (Num 22:1), and as they began to take possession when the conquered land beyond Jordan was portioned out (ch. 32), the history of the desert wandering closes with a list of the stations which they had left behind them. This list was written out by Moses "at the command of Jehovah" (Num 33:2), as a permanent memorial for after ages, as every station which Israel left behind on the journey from Egypt to Canaan "through the great and terrible desert," was a memorial of the grace and faithfulness with which the Lord led His people safely "in the desert land and in the waste howling wilderness, and kept him as the apple of His eye, as an eagle fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings" (Exo 19:4; Deu 32:10.). Num 33:1-15 The first and second verses form the heading: "These are the marches of the children of Israel, which they marched out," i.e., the marches which they made from one place to another, on going out of Egypt. מסּע does not mean a station, but the breaking up of a camp, and then a train, or march (see at Exo 12:37, and Gen 13:3). לצבאתם (see Exo 7:4). בּיד, under the guidance, as in Num 4:28, and Exo 38:21. למסעיהם מוצאיהם, "their goings out (properly, their places of departure) according to their marches," is really equivalent to the clause which follows: "their marches according to their places of departure." The march of the people is not described by the stations, or places of encampment, but by the particular spots from which they set out. Hence the constant repetition of the word ויּסעוּ, "and they broke up." In Num 33:3-5, the departure is described according to Exo 1…

In this chapter God directs Moses, and he is to direct Israel, I. Concerning the bounds and borders of the land of Canaan (Num 34:1-15). II. Concerning the division and distribution of it to the tribes of Israel (Num 34:16, etc.).

33:1-56 This review of the entire wilderness period contains the longest integrated list of place-names in the Old Testament, from Israel’s departure from Egypt (33:3; cp. Exod 12:37) until their arrival in the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho (Num 33:49; cp. 22:1). The forty-two way stations on this itinerary represent far more than a geographical journey; they recall Israel’s forty-year spiritual pilgrimage. In their travels between Rameses in Egypt (33:3) and AcaciaAbel-shittim on the plains of Moab (33:49), Israel finally became the people who could invade the land of Canaan and claim the promises God made to Abraham. • This itinerary does not provide enough data to plot an accurate, specific route. Most of the places cannot be identified with certainty; many of the sites appear nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, and there are not enough clues to pinpoint their locations precisely. Furthermore, this list is partial or selective, omitting some of the place-names mentioned earlier in the journey. 33:1-2 The itinerary contains features that reflect detailed record keeping. This is the only place where Numbers says that Moses kept a record of Israel’s history (cp. Exod 24:4).