Numbers 10:33-36 meaning

Verses 33 – 36 give an account of the first leg of the journey from Mount Sinai. It was a three-day trek. The ark led the way on their journey. The cloud guided them as to when they were to move during the day and when they needed to camp for the night. Moses also composed two prayers, one for when they departed from a place and another for when they camped.

Finally, they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey (v. 33). After almost a year at the mount of the LORD (Mount Sinai) it was time to move on toward the Promised Land of Canaan. They departed in an orderly fashion, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord journeying in front of them. The ark, probably with the cloud hovering over it, was a visible reminder to the people that the LORD was present among them and that He was their Leader and Guide.

This first part of the journey lasted for the three days. The ark went before them to seek out a resting place for them.

To summarize their departure, Moses stated that the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp (v. 34). As stated earlier, the cloud was the visible representation of the LORD’s presence. Through it the LORD guided, protected, and (at night) illuminated the camp.

Verse 35 describes the prayer of Moses when it came about when the ark set out (v. 35). What Moses said at this time was something resembling a call to arms. He cried out rise up, O Lord! This was a request for the LORD to defend His people. He proclaimed that, as a result of the LORD rising up, that His enemies be scattered and, using synonymous parallelism, wished for those who hate You flee before You.

This seems to be a harbinger of things to come. Later in the book of Numbers, enemies arose to block the Israelites’ path to Canaan. They needed to be defeated, and Moses was asking the LORD to ensure victory for His people. Some have called this the “battle cry of Moses.”

The occasion for the second prayer of Moses was when it came to rest (v. 36). That is, when the Israelites set up camp, he said, “Return, O Lord, To the myriad thousands of Israel.” The phrase myriad thousands is literally “tens of thousands of thousands” in the Hebrew text. This hyperbole was meant to include all of the people in the camp, no matter how many there were. In this prayer, Moses was asking the LORD to abide among His people during the night in order to watch over them and protect them from harm.

There is an interesting fact about Moses’s prayer that attended the movement of the ark in verses 35-36. This is the only place in the Hebrew scripture that has an inverted (upside down and backward) Hebrew letter “nun” before and after, like a parenthesis in English. Jewish tradition holds that this is a signal that this prayer is out of chronological order, and is there to provide a break prior to the very negative incident we will see in chapter 11. This prayer expressing confidence in God does, at a minimum, provide a stark contrast with Israel’s behavior in chapter 11, where the people will complain that God isn’t doing enough for them.

To sum up, the first prayer contains Moses asking for the LORD’s presence during the day to lead His people in battle, thus ensuring their victory. The second prayer was a request by Moses for the LORD to dwell among His people through the night. Put together, Moses was entreating the LORD to maintain His presence with them all of the time (day and night).

Biblical Text

³³Thus they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord journeying in front of them for the three days, to seek out a resting place for them. ³⁴The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.
³⁵Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said,
“Rise up, O Lord!
And let Your enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate You flee before You.”
³⁶When it came to rest, he said,
“Return, O Lord,
To the myriad thousands of Israel.”

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

The book of Numbers is the fourth of the five books of Moses that comprise the Torah, which means “Law.” It gets its English name from the Greek Old Testament called the Septuagint (or LXX). The LXX named this book, “Arithmoi,” meaning “Numbers.” Its Hebrew name means “in the desert” or “in the wilderness.” Both names are appropriate. The Hebrew name is appropriate because Numbers covers the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness (or “desert”) from Sinai to the plains of Moab. The Greek name is also appropriate because of the many lists, and the numbers within those lists.

At the beginning of the book, the Israelites had been camped at Mount Sinai for about a year. The book of Exodus covered their escape from Egypt and their journey to Sinai. The LORD commanded Moses to organize the people in preparation to leave Sinai and go to the Promised Land. The book covers around 38 years of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, and describes many of Israel’s failures, including mutinies against Moses and outright disobedience to the word of the LORD. In Numbers, the LORD declares that the generation that left Egypt would die in the wilderness due to their disobedience. Only two, Joshua and Caleb, were allowed to enter the Promised Land, due to their faithfulness. Even Moses died without entering the Land due to disobedience.

The book of Numbers can be outlined in many ways. The most general outline involves the generation that leaves Egypt and the one after it, as seen below:
• Events Involving the Exodus Generation (Num. 1 – 25)
• Events Involving the Second Generation (Num. 26 – 36)

Another outline sees the book having three major divisions based on the major encampments of the Israelites:
• Israel at Sinai (Num. 1:1 – 10:10)
• Israel at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 10:11 – 19:22)
• Israel on the Plains of Moab (Num. 20:1 – 36:13)

Still another outline (the one followed here) is as follows:
• The Exodus Generation in the Wilderness (chaps. 1 – 25)
◦ The Israelites Prepare to Leave Mount Sinai (1:1 – 10:10)
◦ The Israelites Depart to Kadesh Barnea (10:11 – 14:45)
◦ The Israelites Journey to the Plains of Moab (15:1 – 22:1)
◦ The Israelites Are Confronted by Balaam the Prophet (22:2 – 25:18)
• The Second Generation Prepares to Enter the Promised Land (26:1 – 36:13)
◦ The Rules Concerning Inheritance (Num. 26:1 – 27:11)
◦ The Provision for Moses’ Successor (Num. 27:12 – 23)
◦ The Laws Concerning Offerings (Num. 28:1 – 29:40)
◦ The Laws Concerning Vows (Num. 30:1 –16)
◦ The LORD’s Judgment Against the Midianites (Num. 31:1 – 54)
◦ The Inheritance of the Eastern Tribes (Num. 32:1 – 42)
◦ The Review of the Journey to Canaan (Num. 33:1 – 56)
◦ The LORD’s Instructions Before Conquering Canaan (Num. 33:50 – 36:13)

There are two themes that flow from the book of Numbers. The first concerns the LORD’s infinite grace in light of the people’s many failures and transgressions. There is hardly a book in the Bible where the LORD had to exercise His grace to His people more often than this one. The book of Numbers contains a record of Israel’s failure after failure and the LORD’s gracious forgiveness after forgiveness. Even when He judged them, there was grace.

Second, and related to the first, the book stresses the importance of obedience. God chose the Israelites unconditionally; they were the LORD’s chosen people regardless of their behavior. However, He demanded obedience to show His people that their obedience results in blessing. God set forth a way of life for His people in the covenant He and the people entered into at Sinai (Exodus 19:5-8). The Ten Commandments made it clear that God would make the law, and that the pinnacle requirement of His law was for the people to respect and serve one another. The strong were to serve the weak. This was in stark contrast to the surrounding cultures, which centered around the strong exploiting the weak (Leviticus 18). God’s judgment brought discipline upon Israel in order to shepherd them toward living in harmony and service to one another.

Chapter Context

In Numbers 10, the crafting of two silver trumpets was ordered by the LORD. Also, after a year at Mount Sinai, the Israelites depart and make their way through the wilderness to the Promised Land.

Numbers 10 can be outlined as follows:

The Two Silver Trumpets (Numbers 10:1 – 10)
The Israelites Leave Sinai (Numbers 10:11 – 36)
- The Journey Begins (Numbers 10:11 – 13)
- The Tribes March in an Orderly Way (Numbers 10:14 – 28)
- Hobab is Invited to Join the Journey (Numbers 10:29 – 32)
- The Journey Begins with a Three-Day March (Numbers 10:33 – 36)

Numbers 10:33-36 meaning

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

Chapter Context

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Videos

The Bible Project - Numbers Summary

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