And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.
Numbers 33:33 is a single line in a long list: Israel breaks camp at Hor-haggidgad and pitches at Jotbathah. Two names most readers have never heard — so why did God have Moses record stops that carry no story at all?
The place they came to
Jotbathah is more than a dot on a map. A reference work on Bible names links it to the list in Deuteronomy 10 and describes the ground there:
Morrish Bible DictionaryOne of the stopping places of Israel. Numbers 33:33-34; Deuteronomy 10:7. Scripture describes it as "a land of rivers of waters."
The ESV renders that phrase in Deuteronomy 10:7 as "a land with brooks of water." Another writer takes the meaning of the name itself as a picture of God giving more than Moses asked for:
Leslie M. Grant…along with this comes the abundant blessing of the Spirit of God, pictured in Jotbathah (verse 7), a name meaning "a well with much water." It shows that God answered Moses' prayer beyond all that Moses asked or thought.
Why the names were kept
Camp names in this list were not empty labels. They often recorded something about the place itself or about Israel's time there:
C E StuartThey left their different camping places in the wilderness in the same order in which they left Sinai. The names of those places often tell us something: either what they found there, and so what the country was like, or what happened to them there.
Commentators are careful here. One of them says that all these names "have meanings that point to some spiritual significance, however little we may be able to see it" (Leslie M. Grant).
A road that doubled back
Hor-haggidgad and Jotbathah sit on a stretch of road Israel travelled more than once. One writer sets these two names into the larger route:
J. N. DarbyThe first journey from Moseroth to Ezion-gaber went by way of Bene-jaakan, or "the sons of Jaakan," then Hor-hagidgad, then Jotbathah. The second journey went back from Ezion-gaber to the place where Aaron died.
Some readers see Deuteronomy 10 naming these places in a different order and call the record inaccurate. Another writer answers that the two lists trace the same road in two directions:
William KellyWe may add that Deuteronomy 10:6-7 agrees completely with the routes already described. Verse 6 shows us the last part of their journey up from Ezion-gaber to Mosera in Mount Hor, where Aaron died. Verse 7 then traces the later journey back down again as far as Jotbath, or Jotbathah… The places are out of order only in the minds of hasty readers, not in the Scriptures when we read them patiently.
Every stage under His eye
The value of a verse like this lies less in the geography than in who was keeping the log:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe chapter shows beautifully how the eye of God follows the journeys and wanderings of His people, and how He keeps a record of them. Nothing escapes His watchful eye. And despite their failures, He leads His people to the promised goal. Notice the long list of camps in their wanderings that have no history attached.
One writer explains why Israel was meant to keep this record in mind:
F. B. HoleGod took note of all their wanderings, and they were never to forget them, because every one of them was evidence of the patient, providing kindness of God.
The review still to come
This chapter is one long look back. One writer turns that backward look into a promise for the believer:
Samuel RidoutSomeone could write a whole book from this chapter of looking back. Every name surely has a special meaning, and the memories attached to many of them would bring back the whole wilderness journey. What a day it will be when Christ, at His judgment seat, goes back over our whole path with us, pointing out our failures and His faithfulness!
Summary
- Recorded — Jotbathah is named twice in Scripture: here in Numbers 33, and again in Deuteronomy 10:7.
- Route — both stops lie on the road between Moseroth and Ezion-gaber. Israel travelled that road in both directions, so the order in Deuteronomy shows a return journey, not a mistake.
- Refreshment — Jotbathah means a well with much water. Scripture calls it a land of rivers of waters, so this stage speaks of God giving more than Moses asked for.
- Remembrance — camp names often held what Israel found there, or what happened there. God kept the whole list as a witness to His kindness.
- Review — one day Christ will go back over the believer's whole path with him, pointing out the failures and His own faithfulness.