Numbers 33:17

Summary

The verse records a single stage in the wilderness itinerary: the Israelites departed from Kibroth-hattaavah and set up camp at Hazeroth. It consists of two short narrative clauses joined by the conjunction "and," each reporting one movement in the journey.

Key words

• va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking sequential action: the first event of the verse, "and then they set out," plural subject (the people, implied).
• mi ("from", H9006) — prefixed preposition attached to the place name, indicating the point of departure.
• Kivrot ha-Ta'avah ("Kibroth-hattaavah", H6914) — proper noun, the place left behind; the Hebrew name itself is transparent, built from a root meaning "graves" combined with "craving/desire," though here it functions purely as a toponym marking location.
• va-yachanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — qal verb with narrative vav, the second sequential action, "and then they encamped," parallel in form to the first verb.
• ba ("at/in", H9003) — prefixed preposition attached to the destination name, indicating the place of arrival.

What the text says

The verse is built on a simple two-part chain typical of the Numbers 33 itinerary list: verb + preposition + place-name, repeated twice and linked by the narrative vav. Both main verbs, yis'u ("they set out", H5265) and yachanu ("they encamped", H2583), are qal forms in the same narrative (vav-consecutive) pattern, producing a rhythmic "and they set out... and they encamped..." structure that mirrors the surrounding verses in the chapter. The prepositions mi ("from", H9006) and ba ("at", H9003) are not independent words but prefixes attached directly to the place names, a common feature of Biblical Hebrew that compresses "from Kibroth-hattaavah" and "at Hazeroth" into single graphic units, mi-Kivrot ha-Ta'avah and ba-Chatzerot.

The two place names, Kivrot ha-Ta'avah ("Kibroth-hattaavah", H6914) and Chatzerot ("Hazeroth", H2698), function grammatically only as geographic markers within the itinerary; the Hebrew text gives no additional description or explanation of these locations in this verse, unlike the earlier narrative context elsewhere in Numbers that explains the naming of Kibroth-hattaavah. Here the verse simply records movement from one point to the next as part of the larger list of stations in the wilderness journey.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint renders Kivrot ha-Ta'avah as "Μνημάτων ἐπιθυμίας" (Mnēmatōn epithymias, "Graves/Monuments of desire"), translating the place name's components rather than transliterating it, while the Hebrew, Vulgate ("sepulchris concupiscentiae"), and modern versions (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) treat it either as a translated descriptive phrase (Vulgate) or as a transliterated proper name (RV1909, BSB, SBLIBRE). The second place name, Chatzerot ("Hazeroth", H2698), appears as a transliterated proper name across all versions (LXX Ἁσηρώθ, Vulgate Haseroth) without translation.