Calvin’s CommentariesNumbers 33
John Calvin
Read Numbers 33 in the BibleNumbers 33:3
Numbers 33:8
Numbers 33:39
39. And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old. It is not without reason that the great age of Aaron is expressly stated, inasmuch as his life had been prolonged to an unusual period, for the good of the people. At the age of an hundred he had already exceeded the ordinary extent of life; whereas, by God’s extraordinary blessing, he survived until the people were about to pass into the promised land. Hence their ingratitude was the more base in not acknowledging this paternal care of God, since it was for their advantage that He preserved so long the minister of His grace. Deuteronomy 10
6. And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead. 6. Filii autem Israel profecti sunt de Beeroth filiorem Jaacan in Moserah: illic mortus est Aharon, et illic sepultus est, functusque est sacerdotio Eleazar filius ejus pro eo.
7. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters. 7. Inde profecti sunt in Gudgodah, et de Gudgodah in Jobath terram torrentium aquarum.
Numbers 33:40
40. And king Arad the Canaanite. Although Moses gives no account of a battle, yet he briefly revives the recollection of the previous history; as much as to say, that in this part of their journey the Israelites at length met with their enemy, since they then began to fight with one of the nations of Canaan. In a word, the meaning is, that this was the beginning of their warfare, when the land which God had promised them as an inheritance was about to be occupied. Numbers 21
4. And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 4. Et profecti sunt de Hor monte per viam maris Suph, ut circuirent terram Edom: et angustiis affecta est anima populi in via.
5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 5. Itaque loquutus est populus contra Deum et Mosen, Ut quid ascendere nos fecistis ex Aegypto, ut moreremur in deserto? Non est enim panis neque aqua. Et taedet animam nostram super pane levi (aut, vili.)
6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 6. Misit igitur Jehova in populum serpentes urentes, qui momorderunt populum: ita ut morcretur populus multus ex Israele.
7. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned; for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee: pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 7. Tunc venit populus ad Mosen, et dixerunt, Peccavimus, quia loquuti sumus contra Jehovam et contra te: ora Jehovam ut auferat a nobis serpentes istos. Et oravit Moses pro populo.
8. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 8. Et dixit Jehova ad Mosen, Fac tibi urentem, et pone eum super vexillum: et erit, quicunque morsus fuerit, et aspexerit ilium, tunc vivet.
9. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. 9. Fecit ergo Moses serpentem aeneum, quem posuit supra vexillum: et fuit, quando momorderat serpens quenquam, aspiciebat ad serpentem aeneum, et vivebat.
10. And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. 10. Et profecti sunt filii Israel, et castrametati sunt in Oboth.
11. And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sun rising. 11. Profecti vero ex Oboth casstrametati sunt in Ije-abarim in deserto, quod erat in conspectu Moab ab ortu solis.
12. From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared. 12. Inde profecti castrametati sunt in valle Zered.
13. From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 13. Profecti deinde illinc castrametati sunt citra Arnon, qum est in deserto, et portenditur a termino Emorrhaei. Arnon enim est terminus Moab inter Moab et Emorrhaeum.
14. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon. 14. Ideirco dicetur in narratione praeliorum Jehovae, Vaheb in Suphah, et torrentes ad Arnon.
15. And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab, 15. Et decursum torrentium, qui pergit ut quiescat in Ar, et recumbit in termino Moab.
16. And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. 16. Illinc in Beer. Is est puteus de quo dixerat Jehova ad Mosen, Congrega populum, et dabo illis aquam.
17. Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: 17. Tunc cecinit Israel carmen hoc, Ascende Beer, canite ei.
18. The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah; 18. Puteus quem loderunt principes, loderunt eum principes populi cum legislatore baculis suis. Et e deserto in Mathanah.
19. And from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 19. Et e Mathanah in Nahaliel: et de Nahaliel in Bamoth.
20. And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon. 20. Et de Bamoth Hagaie, quae est in regione Moab, in vertice coilis, et respicit contra faciem deserti, (vel, Gessimon.)
Numbers 33:50
Numbers 33:54
and he should yield royal dainties”? (Genesis 49:20.) By the same prophecy the tribe of Judah obtained an inheritance rich in vines, and abounding in the best of pastures. Thus the division of the land, by lot, clearly showed that God had not formerly promised that land to Abraham in vain; because the proclamation of the gift by the mouth of Jacob was actually confirmed. The pious old man had been expelled from hence by famine; he was but a sojourner in Egypt, and twice an exile, and yet he assigns their portions to his descendants in the most authoritative manner, just as the father of a family might divide his few acres of land among his heirs. Yet God finally sealed what then might have seemed ridiculous. Hence it appears that things which, in the feebleness of our senses, we imagine to move at the blind impulse of chance, are directed by God’s secret providence; and that His counsel always proceeds in such a regular course, that the end corresponds with the beginning. Again he recommends to them the law of proportion, so that, according to their numbers, a greater or a less allotment should be given to the several tribes. The allegory which some conceive to be indicated here, viz., that we obtain our heavenly inheritance by God’s gratuitous good pleasure, as if by lot, although at first sight plausible, is easily refuted. Hebron was a part of the inheritance, but Caleb obtained it without casting lots: and a still more decided exception appears in the case of the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, who, by the consent of the rest, and not by lot, acquired by privilege, as it were, all the territory that had been won on the other side of Jordan. Let my readers, therefore, learn to abstain from such conceits, lest they should often be obliged to confess with shame, that they have caught at an empty shadow.
Numbers 33:55
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:
2. Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan, (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan, with the coasts thereof,) 2. Praecipe filiis Israel, et dices eis, Quum intraveritis terram Chenaan (ista est terra quae cadet vobis in haereditatem, terra Chenaan per terminos suos.)
3. Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin, along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward. 3. Erit vobis plaga meridiei a deserto Sin usque ad terminos Edom: erit inquam vobis terminus meridiei ab extremo maris salis ad orientem.
4. And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadesh-barnea, and shall go on to Hazar-addar and pass on to Azmon. 4. Et circuibit vobis iste terminus a Maale Acrabim, et transibit usque ad Sin: et erunt egressus ejus a meridie in Cades-Barnea, atque illinc egredietur ad villam Addar, et transibit usque ad Asmon.
5. And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. 5. Praeterea circuibit terminus iste ab Asmon usque ad flumen Aegypti: et erunt illinc egressus ejus ad occidentum.
6. And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border. 6. Terminum autem occidentalis erit vobis mare magnum, terminus, inquam, iste erit vobis terminus occidentalis.
7. And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor. 7. Iste vero erit vobis terminus aquilonaris, a mari magno describetis vobis Hor montem.
8. From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad. 8. Ab hoc monte describetis usque ad introitum Hamach: et erunt eggressus termini illius ad Sedad.
9. And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar-enan: this shall be your north border. 9. Et illinc egredietur terminus iste ad Ziphon, eruntque egressus ejus ad villam Enan: iste erit vobis terminus aquilonaris.
10. And ye shall point out your east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 10. Describetis praeterea vobis terminum ad orientem, a villa Enan usque ad Sepham.
11. And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. 11. Et destendet iste terminus a Sepham usque ad Riblah ab oriente Ain: et descendet terminus iste, provenietque ad latus maris Cinnereth ad orientem.
12. And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land, with the coasts thereof round about. 12. Et descendet iste terminus ad Jordanem, erunt que egressus ejus ad mare salis: ista erit vobis terra per terminos suos, per circuitum.
13. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe. 13. Praecepit autem Moses filiis Israel, dicendo: Haec est terra quam possidebitis sorte, et quam princepit Jehova dare novem tribubus, et dimidiae tribui.
14. For the tribe of the children of Reuben, according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad, according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance: 14. Acceperunt enim tribus filiorum Rubenitarum per domos patrum suorum, et tribus filiorum Gaditarum per domos patrum suorum, et dimidia tribus Manasse: acceperunt inquam haereditatem suam:
15. The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sun-rising. 15. Duae tribus et dimidia acceperunt possessionem suam citra Jordanera Jericho ad orientem ad exortum solis.
16. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 16. Loquutus est praeterea Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:
17. These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you; Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 17. Ista sunt nomina virorum qui possidendam vobis distribuent terram, Eleazar sacerdos, et Josue filius Nun.
18. And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance. 18. Et principes singulos de qualibet tribu capietis ad possidendam terram.
19. And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. 19. Ista sunt nomina virorun: de tribu Jehudah, Caleb filius Jephune.
20. And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 20. Et de tribu filiorum Simeon, Samuel filius Ammihud.
21. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 21. Et de tribu Benjamin, Elidad filius Chislon.
22. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli. 22. Et de tribu filiorum Dan, princeps Bucci filius Jogli.
23. The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Harmtel the son of Ephod. 23. De filiis Joseph, de tribu filiorum Manasse, princeps Huiel filius Ephod.
24. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 24. Et de tribu filiorum Ephraim, princeps Cemuel illius Siphtan.
25. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 25. Et de tribu filiorum Zabulon, princeps Elisaphan filius Parvaeh.
26. And the prince of the tribe of the children of lssachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 26. Et de tribu filiorum Issachar, princeps Paltiel illius Azzam.
27. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 27. Et de tribu filiorum Aser, princeps Ahihud filius Selomi.
28. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. 28. Et de tribu filiorum Nephthali, princeps Pedahel filius Ammihud.
29. These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan. 29. Isti sunt quibus praecepit Jehova, Ut distribuerent haereditatem filiis Israel in terra Chenaan.
Calvin’s Commentaries — John Calvin. Public domain
Numbers 33:1
1. These are the journeys of the children of Israel. Moses had not previously enumerated all the stations in which the people had encamped, but scarcely more than those in which something memorable had occurred, especially after the passage of the Red Sea; because it was of great importance that the actual localities should be set, as it were, before their eyes, until they were not only rescued from impending death by God’s amazing power, but a way unto life was opened to them through death and the lowest deep. In fact, in one passage he has as good as told us that he omitted certain stations, where he records that the people “journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord,” to Rephidim, (Exodus 17:1) here, however, he more accurately states every place at which they stopped, as if he were painting a picture of their journey of forty years. His object in this is, first, that the remembrance of their deliverance, and so many accompanying blessings, might be more deeply impressed upon them, since local descriptions have no little effect in giving certainty to history; and, secondly, that they might be reminded by the names of the places, how often and in how many ways they had provoked God’s anger against them; but especially that, now they were on the very threshold of the promised land, they might acknowledge that they had been kept back from it, and had been wandering by various tortuous routes, in consequence of their own depravity and stubbornness, until they had received the reward of their vile ingratitude. Whilst, at the same time, they might reflect that God had so tempered the severity of their punishment, that He still preserved and sustained the despisers of his grace, notwithstanding their iniquity and unworthiness; and also that He carried on to the children (of the transgressors) the covenant which He had made with Abraham. It is not without reason that Moses premises that “these were the journeys of the children of Israel;” for, at the period when they came out of the land of Goshen, they were affected with no ordinary fear and anxiety, when they saw themselves buried, as it were, in the grave; for they were shut in on every side either by the sea or the defiles of two mountains, or by the army of Pharaoh. Having entered the desert, they had seven stations before they arrived at Mount Sinai, in which they must have perished a hundred times over by hunger and thirst, and a dearth of everything, unless God had marvellously succoured them. And although they might have completed their whole journey in so many days, even then their obstinate perversity began to subject them to delay. If the lack of bread and water beset them, they ought to have been more effectually stirred up by it to have recourse humbly to God. So little disposed, however, were they to that humility, which might have taught them to ask of God by prayer and supplication a remedy for their need, that they rather rebelled against Moses: and not only so, but they petulantly assailed God Himself with their impious taunts, as if He were a cruel executioner instead of their Redeemer. Hence, therefore, it came to pass that it was not before the fortieth day that they were at length brought to Mount Sinai. Scarcely had the Law been promulgated, and whilst the awful voice of God was still ringing in their ears, whereby He had bound them to Himself as His people, when, behold, suddenly a base, nay, a monstrous falling away into idolatry, whence it was not their own fault that, having rejected God’s grace, and as far as depended upon themselves having annulled the promise, they did not perisist miserably as they deserved. By this impediment they were again withheld from further progress. With the same obstinacy they constantly raged against God, and, though warned by many instances of punishment, never returned to a sound mind. The climax of their insane contumacy was, that when arrived at the borders of the promised land, they repudiated God’s kindness, and exhorted each other to return, as if God were adverse to them, and His inestimable deliverance, which ought to have been a perpetual obligation to obedience, were utterly distasteful to them. The stations, which then follow, express in a more, lively manner how, — like a ship which is driven away from its port by a tempest, and whirled round by various currents, — they were carried away from approaching the land, and wandered by circuitous courses: as if they deserved that God should thus lead them about in mockery. It will be well for us to keep our eyes on this design of Moses, in order that we may read the chapter with profit. He calls the order of their marches journeys (profectiones,) in contradistinction to their stations: for they did not strike their camp unless the signal were given, i.e., when the cloud left the sanctuary, and moved to another spot, as if God stretched forth His hand from heaven to direct their way: and hence it was more clearly apparent, that they were retained in the desert by this power.