Numbers 33:29

Summary

This verse records a single stage in the itinerary of the Israelites in the wilderness: they departed from a place called Mitqah (H4989) and set up camp at Chashmonah (H2832). It follows the same formulaic pattern used throughout Numbers 33 to list stations of the journey.

Key words

• va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine plural, continuing the chain of the itinerary with "and then they set out."
• mi-Mitqah ("from Mithcah", H4989 with preposition H9006) — proper place name marking the point of departure.
• va-yachanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine plural, marking the resulting action, "and then they camped."
• be-Chashmonah ("at Hashmonah", H2832 with preposition H9003) — proper place name marking the destination/encampment site.

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel narrative clauses, each following the same pattern: a narrative vav (H9001) prefixed to a qal verb in the third person masculine plural, followed by a place name introduced by a preposition. The first clause, va-yis'u mi-Mitqah ("and they set out from Mithcah"), uses the preposition mi (H9006, "from") to mark the point of origin. The second clause, va-yachanu be-Chashmonah ("and they encamped at Hashmonah"), uses the preposition be (H9003, "at/in") to mark the location of arrival.

This structure — departure verb + "from" + place, then arrival verb + "at" + place — is repeated with only the place names changing across the surrounding verses of Numbers 33. The verse contains no additional grammatical elements: no adjectives, no subordinate clauses, no explicit subject noun (the subject "they" is carried by the verb form itself, as is standard in Biblical Hebrew narrative verbs). The two place names, Mitqah and Chashmonah, function purely as geographical markers within the itinerary list, with no descriptive or etymological commentary attached to them in this verse.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew place name Chashmonah (H2832) is rendered as Σελμωνά (Selmona) in the LXX, differing in initial consonant from the Hebrew chash- form. The Vulgate gives Hesmona, closer to the Hebrew consonantal shape than the LXX's Selmona. The place name Mitqah (H4989) appears as Ματεκκά (Mateka) in the LXX and Methca in the Vulgate, both recognizable transliterations of the Hebrew form. The verbal structure (departure/encampment pattern) is preserved consistently across the Hebrew, LXX, and Vulgate.