Numbers 33:31

Summary

Numbers 33:31 records a stage in the wilderness itinerary of the Israelites: they departed from Moseroth and set up camp at Bene-jaakan. The verse is a short narrative notice consisting of two consecutive verbs of movement and settlement, each followed by a place name.

Key words

• va-yisʿu ("and they set out", H5265) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking sequential action: the group's departure as the next event in the itinerary chain.
• mi ("from", H9006) — preposition attached to the place name, indicating the point of origin of the journey.
• Moserot ("Moseroth", H4149B) — proper noun, a place name marking the starting point of this leg of travel.
• va-yaḥanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — qal verb with narrative vav, describing the resulting action of stopping and setting camp.
• Bene Yaʿaqan ("Bene-jaakan", H1142G) — proper noun, a place name marking the destination/encampment site.

What the text says

The verse follows the standard pattern of the itinerary list in Numbers 33: a verb of departure, the preposition mi ("from", H9006) plus a place name, followed by a verb of encampment and a second place name introduced by the preposition bi ("at", H9003). Both verbs, va-yisʿu ("and they set out", H5265) and va-yaḥanu ("and they encamped", H2583), are qal forms carrying the narrative vav, which links this verse to the preceding and following verses as part of a continuous sequence of stages. The subject "they" is not stated as a separate noun but is embedded in the plural verb form, referring back to the group described earlier in the chapter.

The two place names, Moserot ("Moseroth", H4149B) and Bene Yaʿaqan ("Bene-jaakan", H1142G), function purely as geographic markers with no further grammatical elaboration — no adjectives, no descriptive clauses. The verse's brevity and repetitive structure (departure–arrival) is typical of the list format used throughout Numbers 33 to record successive stops in the wilderness journey.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Moserot as Μασσουρούθ (Massourouth) and Bene Yaʿaqan as Βαναία (Banaia), showing different transliteration choices for the same Hebrew place names. The Vulgate transliterates the second name as "Benejaacan," closely matching the Hebrew Bene Yaʿaqan ("Bene-jaakan", H1142G), while the LXX's rendering diverges more noticeably in form.