Numbers 33:25

Summary

Numbers 33:25 records one stage of the Israelites' wilderness itinerary: departure from Haradah and encampment at Makheloth. The verse follows the fixed formulaic pattern used throughout this chapter's travel list.

Key words

• va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal narrative verb (vav-consecutive), marking sequential action: "and then they set out."
• me- ("from", H9006) — preposition indicating the point of departure, attached directly to the place name.
• Charadah ("Haradah", H2732) — proper noun, a place name marking the starting point of this stage.
• va-yachanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — qal narrative verb (vav-consecutive), paralleling the first verb and marking the resulting action: "and then they encamped."
• be- ("at", H9003) — preposition indicating location, attached to the destination place name.

What the text says

The verse consists of two parallel clauses joined by the narrative vav construction (H9001), each built on the same pattern: verb + prepositional phrase with place name. The first clause, va-yis'u me-Charadah ("and they set out from Haradah"), uses the preposition me- (H9006, "from") to mark the point of origin. The second clause, va-yachanu be-Makhelot ("and they encamped at Makheloth"), uses be- (H9003, "at") to mark the point of arrival. Both verbs, yis'u (H5265) and yachanu (H2583), are qal forms with vav-consecutive, which in Biblical Hebrew narrative indicates sequential action tied to the preceding verses in the itinerary list — each stage in the chapter is linked to the next through this repeated verb pair.

The grammatical structure is minimal and formulaic: no additional subjects, objects, or modifiers appear beyond the two place names. This economy of language is characteristic of the itinerary genre in Numbers 33, where the text functions as a list rather than a developed narrative. The two prepositions me- and be- create a clear directional structure — departure from one point, arrival at another — without further elaboration on distance, duration, or circumstances of travel.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew place name Charadah (H2732) appears in the LXX as Charadath (Χαραδὰθ), with an added final consonant not reflected in the Masoretic form. The Vulgate omits any transliteration of Haradah and Makheloth's antecedent by name, instead using Inde ("from there"), a generic adverb rather than a specific place name, though it does retain Maceloth for the second location. The Hebrew Makhelot (H4722) corresponds to LXX Makēlōth and Vulgate Maceloth, showing only minor transliteration variance across versions.