Numbers 33:6

Summary

The verse records a segment of the Israelite itinerary list: departure from Succoth and encampment at Etham, a location described as being at the edge of the wilderness. It uses the standard narrative formula "they set out... they encamped..." found throughout Numbers 33.

Key words

• va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking sequential action ("and then they set out"); third person masculine plural, referring to the collective Israelite group.
• va-yachanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — parallel qal narrative verb, forming the second half of the standard travel-and-camp formula used throughout this chapter.
• asher ("which/that", H0834A) — relative particle introducing a descriptive clause that specifies the location of Etham.
• qetzeh ("edge of", H7097A) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be followed by another noun to complete its meaning ("edge of X").
• ha-midbar ("the wilderness", H4057B) — definite noun, the term completed by qetzeh in construct, together meaning "the edge of the wilderness."

What the text says

The verse follows a fixed grammatical pattern common to the itinerary lists in Numbers 33: a narrative vav + qal verb ("they set out"), followed by a prepositional phrase naming the place of departure (mi-Sukkot, "from Succoth"), then a second narrative vav + qal verb ("they encamped"), followed by a prepositional phrase naming the new location (be-Etam, "at Etham"). This two-verb structure creates a rhythmic, list-like cadence typical of the chapter, emphasizing sequence over description.

The final clause adds geographic specification through the relative particle asher ("which"), introducing a subordinate description of Etham's location. The construct chain qetzeh ha-midbar ("edge of the wilderness") uses the construct state of qetzeh, which cannot stand alone grammatically and depends on the following definite noun ha-midbar to complete its sense. This construct relationship is a common way in Biblical Hebrew to express spatial position without a separate word for "of."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew place name Etam (H0864) appears in the LXX as Βουθάν (Bouthan), a different transliteration/rendering than the Masoretic Etam. The LXX also renders the relative clause with ὅ ἐστιν ("which is") rather than a direct spatial preposition, paralleling the Hebrew asher but using a slightly different syntactic construction. The Vulgate's quæ est in extremis finibus solitudinis ("which is at the extreme borders of the wilderness") expands qetzeh ha-midbar ("edge of the wilderness") into a more elaborate Latin phrase, though the core geographic sense matches the Hebrew.