Numbers 33:34

Summary

This verse records one stage in the wilderness itinerary of the Israelites: they departed from Jotbathah and set up camp at Abronah. It follows the standard formula used throughout Numbers 33 to list successive stopping points.

Key words

• va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine plural, marking sequential action in the itinerary chain.
• mi-Yotvatah ("from Jotbathah", H3193) — proper place name with the preposition min ("from", H9006) prefixed, indicating the point of departure.
• va-yachanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine plural, parallel in form to va-yis'u, marking the resulting action.
• be-Avronah ("at Abronah", H5684) — proper place name with the preposition be ("at/in", H9003) prefixed, indicating the destination.

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel narrative clauses, each opened by the narrative vav (va, H9001) attached to a qal verb in the third person masculine plural: va-yis'u ("and they set out") and va-yachanu ("and they encamped"). This repeated structure — verb of movement followed by verb of settling — is the recurring pattern of the itinerary list in Numbers 33, where each stage is reported with minimal variation: departure from one place, arrival at the next.

The two place names, Yotvatah (H3193) and Avronah (H5684), are marked respectively by the prepositions min ("from") and be ("at/in"), which together frame the movement as a transition from a point of origin to a point of arrival. No additional information — no description of the location, no duration of stay, no explanatory clause — is attached to either verb or place name; the verse consists solely of the two-part formula. The grammatical parallelism (identical verb stems, identical subject marking, mirrored prepositional phrases) produces the rhythmic, list-like quality characteristic of this chapter.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew place name Avronah (H5684) is rendered by the LXX as Σεβρωνά (Sebrōná), showing a shift in the initial consonant compared to the Hebrew ayin. The Vulgate renders the same name as "Hebrona," which differs further from both the Hebrew and the Greek forms. The first place name, Yotvatah (H3193), appears as Σετεβάθα in the LXX and as "Jetebatha" in the Vulgate, both preserving the name more closely to the Hebrew consonantal shape than is the case with the second name.