Numbers 10:11-13 New English Translation
The Journey From Sinai to Kadesh
11 [a] On the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony.[b] 12 So the Israelites set out[c] on their journeys from the desert[d] of Sinai; and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran.
Judah Begins the Journey
13 This was the first time they set out on their journey according to the commandment[e] of the Lord, by the authority[f] of Moses.
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- Numbers 10:11 sn This section is somewhat mechanical: It begins with an introduction (vv. 11, 12), and then begins with Judah (vv. 13-17), followed by the rest of the tribes (vv. 18-27), and finally closes with a summary (v. 28). The last few verses (vv. 29-36) treat the departure of Hobab.
- Numbers 10:11 tc Smr inserts a lengthy portion from Deut 1:6-8, expressing the command for Israel to take the land from the Amorites.tn The expression is difficult; it is מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת (mishkan haʿedut). The reference is to the sacred shrine that covered the ark with the commandments inside. NEB renders the expression as “tabernacle of the Token”; NAB has “the dwelling of the commandments.”
- Numbers 10:12 sn The verb is the same as the noun: “they journeyed on their journeyings.” This underscores the point of their continual traveling.
- Numbers 10:12 tn The Hebrew term מִדְבָּר (midbar) refers to a dry region which may be characterized as receiving less than twelve inches of rain per year. It therefore cannot support trees but may have sparse vegetation if it receives at least six inches of rain. At less than six inches of rain the term “desert” is certainly appropriate, though this would not mean a sandy desert. The Sinai peninsula includes both treeless “wilderness” and “desert.” While there is some dispute about the location of Mt. Sinai, NET has chosen “desert of Sinai” as the designation for the region around Mt. Sinai. The same Hebrew term is used later in the verse in connection with Paran, but rendered as the “wilderness of Paran.”
- Numbers 10:13 tn Heb “mouth.”
- Numbers 10:13 tn Heb “hand.”
New English Translation (NET)
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