and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;
After the well at Beer, the account turns into a bare list of camps — one name after another, with no events attached. Commentators ask why God recorded these stops at all, and what the names themselves mean.
Something has changed by this point in the book.
These journeys of Israel are no longer simply wanderings. They are journeys that bring them nearer to the place from which they are to enter the land of Canaan. Various names mark the stages of the journey, and all of them, without doubt, have meanings that point to some spiritual significance — even though we can see so little of it.
Nahaliel was a real camp, not just a symbol. Reference works still try to place it.
One of the stations of the Israelites. Numbers 21:19. Some identify it with the ravine of the Zerka Main.
Bamoth, the last name in the verse, is the final camp before the mountain that overlooks the land:
The stopping place of the Israelites before they reached Pisgah, Numbers 21:19-20.
One writer gives the meanings of the stops along this stretch, while admitting that they are open to debate.
As to all but two, we have little besides the names, which I give with their meanings, though even about these there will be differences of judgment: —
Oboth: either "hollows" or "[water-] skins."
Ije-Abarim: "heaps of the passages."
Zared: "willow."
Arnon: "continual stream."
Beer: "the well."
Mattanah: "gift."
Nahaliel: "the inheritance of God (El)."
Ramoth: "heights."
Pisgah: "survey."
The meanings in this verse run from a gift, to the inheritance of God, to the heights. The heights had a history. The same writer treats a name like this verse's last stop as ground where idols were adored.
Bamoth-Baal, the "heights" where men adore their idols, fall into the hands of faith; as does Beth-baal-meon, the "house of the Baal of the dwelling," the home of idolatry in the house and heart.
Why keep a record of ordinary stopping places? And why does this list differ from the longer one later in the book?
Now we come to the account of the journeying. Only certain stages are marked out, and the list, with few exceptions, differs from the one in Numbers 33, which has a different purpose. Here the camps give us, no doubt, stages of true progress, although — and it is to our shame — we can tell little about them. There are nine of them (3 x 3), the number of God showing Himself, intensified. One day they will speak for God in glory, as the history of our lives will. Meanwhile we have been busier fixing their places on the map (and failing) than looking in them for any spiritual meaning.
Whatever stays uncertain about the middle names, the end of the road is not in doubt.
And now we see them journeying on, healed and victorious. Nine places are mentioned. The last is Pisgah. From there they see the land, and they can look back over the desert lands that are now forever behind them.
The writer who could tell little about the middle stops had no such trouble with the last one:
The end, at least, is clear: — thank God, the end is clear!
- Well. The stretch begins at Beer, "the well" — the stop just before this verse, where wandering has turned into a march.
- Gift. The next camp is Mattanah, "gift" — the journey moves on by what God gives.
- Inheritance. Nahaliel means "the inheritance of God" — commentators note the meanings are debated, but the road now runs toward what belongs to God.
- Heights. Bamoth is the last stop before Pisgah. A name like it belongs to ground where idols were once adored — high places that pass into the hands of faith.
- Survey. Pisgah means "survey". The desert lies behind forever, and the land lies open in front. So a string of plain camp names turns out to be a record of progress — one that will speak for God one day, as the history of our own lives will.
and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the fields of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks over the surface of the waste.
Numbers 21 closes its travel record with a short list of camp sites. The journey ends on high ground in Moab, with the land in view and a wasteland spread out below — and these last names carry more weight than a map suggests.
One writer lists the last camp names with their meanings, and finds more in them than geography.
These camp sites surely give us stages of true progress, though — to our shame — we can tell little about them. They are nine in number (3 x 3), the number of divine manifestation intensified. One day they will speak gloriously for God, as the history of our lives will… For all but two we have little beside the names. I give them with their meanings, though even here people will judge differently: Beer: "the well." Mattanah: "gift." Nahaliel: "the inheritance of God (El)." Ramoth: "heights." Pisgah: "survey."
Whatever is uncertain about the individual stops, the same writer insists the destination is not in doubt.
The end, at least, is clear: — thank God, the end is clear! — they reach the spot where the land, their own land, stretches before them; and they are able to look back, too, over the desert passed.
Pisgah turns up again later in Israel's story, and for very different reasons.
Mountain on the east of the Jordan. Balaam offered sacrifices there, and it was the spot from which Moses viewed the promised land, and near to which he died. It was linked with Nebo, and said to face Jericho.
One writer takes the name itself as a picture of what faith does with a promise not yet in hand.
Pisgah must speak of faith's "survey" of the future inheritance; Beth-jeshimoth, the "house of the wastes," of provision for the wilderness. These together imply God's sovereignty over the future and the present.
The ESV's "the desert" translates the word Jeshimon. Commentators differ on whether it is a place name at all.
Plain or desert seen from the tops of Pisgah and Peor. Num. 21:20; Num. 23:28… Some do not treat Jeshimon as a proper name, but translate it "the waste" in all places.
Balaam later looked out over the same waste from a nearby height. One writer draws out what he saw.
The new point of view was "the top of Peor, that looks towards Jeshimon" (meaning, "the waste"). This time Balaam had to give a delightful description of the people as God saw them. But the people were not yet in Canaan, resting in possession of every promised blessing. They were still in the desert wastes.
Israel had avoided Edom earlier. Moab was different.
Though they had turned away from Edom, and had gone round it by this time, they did not avoid Moab. They came into a valley in that land, and even to the top of Mount Pisgah (v.20). Not much later, God gave Moses a view from there of all the land that Israel was to live in (Deut. 34:1-4). They did not even ask permission to pass through Moab, and it seems Moab had no power to stop them.
By this stage the mood of the journey has changed.
And now we see them journeying on, healed and victorious. Nine places are mentioned. The last is Pisgah, from which they get a vision of the land and can look back over the desert lands which are now forever behind them. Two songs are recorded. Israel begins now to sing again. There were no songs in the wilderness, nothing but murmurings.
A view from the top can become a substitute for going in. One writer names the danger.
People often do a great deal of looking from far off, a great deal of mere admiration — and the admiration is not untrue. The view from Pisgah captures the heart. They see the land that the Lord our God cares for, and on which His eyes rest continually, but they never enter it or live in it. They see it in a way that spoils everything else for them, yet gives them nothing better to possess.
- Well — The climb begins at Beer, "the well." Israel moves on healed and victorious, and songs replace the murmuring.
- Gift — Mattanah means "gift," and Nahaliel "the inheritance of God." The names move from one gift received to a whole inheritance.
- Heights — The stop before Pisgah means "heights." Israel is climbing now, not just walking.
- Survey — Pisgah means "survey." Faith looks ahead to the inheritance, and back over the desert now behind.
- Waste — Below lies Jeshimon, "the waste." The view from the top does not remove the wilderness. Admiring a land is not the same as living in it.