Numbers 21:11

Summary

The verse records two stages of Israel's journey: departure from Oboth and encampment at Iye-abarim, a location in the wilderness situated opposite Moab, toward the sunrise (east).

Key words

• va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal narrative verb (vav-consecutive), marking sequential action: "and then they departed."
• va-yachanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — qal narrative verb, parallel construction to the previous verb, continuing the chain of events.
• penei ("face of", H6440G) — masculine plural noun in construct state, used idiomatically to mean "in front of" or "opposite," linking to Mo'av ("Moab", H4124G).
• mimizrach ("from the rising of", H4217H) — masculine singular noun in construct state, combined with the preposition mi ("from", H9006), forming a directional phrase meaning "from the east" or "toward the sunrise."
• ha-shamesh ("the sun", H8121) — definite noun completing the construct chain mizrach ha-shamesh ("rising of the sun"), a standard idiom for "east."

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel narrative verbs, va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) and va-yachanu ("and they encamped", H2583), both in the qal narrative form with vav-consecutive, which in Biblical Hebrew signals sequential storytelling ("and then... and then..."). This grammatical pattern creates a simple itinerary structure typical of travel narratives in Numbers.

The location is specified through a chain of construct phrases. Iyei ha-Avarim ("Iye ha-Abarim", H5863) designates the place name, followed by ba-midbar ("in the wilderness", H4057B) with the definite article prefixed to the preposition. The relative clause asher al-penei Mo'av ("which [is] on the face of Moab") uses the construct noun penei ("face of", H6440G) idiomatically to indicate spatial relation — "opposite" or "facing" Moab — rather than a literal reference to a face.

The final phrase, mimizrach ha-shamesh ("from the rising of the sun", H4217H + H8121), is a construct chain functioning as a fixed directional expression for "east." This dual naming — both the wilderness's position relative to Moab and its position relative to the sunrise — provides two overlapping spatial references within a single verse.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Iyei ha-Avarim as ἐν χαλγαεὶ ἐκ τοῦ πέραν ("in Chalgai from the other side"), differing from the Hebrew place name structure. The Vulgate gives in Jeabarim, treating the two Hebrew elements Iyei and ha-Avarim as a single compound name, unlike the Hebrew text which presents them as a noun plus a defined place name in apposition.