Numbers 33:36

Summary

The verse records a stage in the wilderness itinerary: the Israelites set out from Ezion-Geber and encamped in the wilderness of Zin, which the text identifies as Kadesh. The sentence links two movement verbs joined by narrative vav-chains, followed by a place-name and an identifying clause.

Key words

• iyis'u ("they set out", H5265) — qal narrative verb, masculine plural, opening the sequence with "and then they set out."
• iyachanu ("they encamped", H2583) — second narrative verb, qal masculine plural, marking the next event in sequence: "and then they encamped."
• midbar- ("wilderness of", H4057B) — masculine singular noun in construct state, grammatically binding the following name Tzin ("Zin", H6790) as its qualifier.
• hi' ("she/that", H1931) — third-person feminine singular pronoun, functioning here as a demonstrative to introduce the identifying clause "that is Kadesh."
• Kadesh (H6946G) — proper name, feminine grammatically (agreeing with hi'), naming the location just described.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built from two parallel narrative clauses, each opened by a vav-consecutive verb: va-yis'u ("and they set out") and va-yachanu ("and they encamped"). This construction is typical of itinerary notices in the passage, presenting the movement as a simple sequential chain rather than a causally elaborated narrative. The first clause specifies the point of departure with the preposition me- ("from", H9006) attached to Etzyon Gever ("Ezion Geber", H6100), and the second clause specifies the destination with the preposition ve- ("in", H9003) attached to the construct phrase midbar-Tzin ("wilderness of Zin").

The final clause, hi' Kadesh ("that is Kadesh"), uses the pronoun hi' not as a subject of action but as a copula-like identifier, a common Biblical Hebrew device for glossing a place name with another name by which it is known. Grammatically, hi' is feminine, agreeing with the implied noun midbar being renamed, or with Kadesh itself, both being treated as feminine in this identifying formula.

Differences between versions

The LXXSWETE text contains material absent from the Hebrew, the Vulgate, and the modern translations: it adds a second departure and encampment ("they departed from the wilderness of Sein and camped in the wilderness of Pharan") before stating "this is Kades." The Hebrew, Vulgate, BSB, RV1909, and SBLIBRE all present only one departure and one encampment, identifying the wilderness of Zin directly with Kadesh. The Vulgate additionally omits explicit mention of Ezion-Geber in this verse, referring back to it only with inde ("from there"), relying on the prior verse for the place name.