Numbers 33:12 — Word Study
WLCוַיִּסְע֖וּ מִמִּדְבַּר־ סִ֑ין וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ בְּדָפְקָֽה׃
BSAThey set outnâçaʻ▸ [journeyed, traveled] from the Desertmidbâr [wilderness, open field] of SinÇîyn [an Egyptian town and its adjoining desert] and campedchânâh▸ [encamped, set up their tents] at DophkahDophqâh [a stopping place during Israel's wilderness journey]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַיִּסְע֖וּ | and they set out | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine plural |
| מִמִּדְבַּר־ | from [the] wilderness of | Preposition, noun common masculine singular construct |
| סִ֑ין | Sin | Noun proper |
| וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ | and they encamped | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine plural |
| בְּדָפְקָֽה׃ | at Dophka | Preposition, noun proper |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | They set out from the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah. |
| KJV | And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. |
| ASV | And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. |
| YLT | and they journey from the wilderness of Sin, and encamp in Dophkah. |
| WEB | They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. |
| BBE | And they went on from the waste land of Sin, and put up their tents in Dophkah. |
Translations agree on the actions described in this verse, focusing on the Israelites' departure and encampment.
The sentence consists of a main clause with two prepositional phrases providing context for the actions.
4 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, AdamClarke, Whedon & more — read them ›
clause
verbנָסַע
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Numbers 33:12
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Itinerary of the Israelitesgenerated
Numbers 33:12 describes a moment in the Israelites' journey through the wilderness, detailing their departure from the Desert of Sin and their encampment at Dophkah. This movement is part of a larger narrative that outlines the various locations where the Israelites camped during their travels toward the Promised Land. Each location marks a significant point in their journey, reflecting their experiences and God's guidance.
Cross References
The Key Word — נָסַע, vai.yis.'Ugenerated
The verb נָסַע (nāsaʿ) means to set out or depart, particularly in the context of a journey. This word is used frequently in the Bible to describe the Israelites' movements as they traveled through the wilderness, emphasizing the act of leaving one place for another.
The parsing as a sequential imperfect third person masculine plural indicates that this action is ongoing and involves a group. The Israelites are not just starting a journey; they are actively moving forward in their quest for the Promised Land.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
The verse is presented in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses set out and camped to convey the actions of the Israelites.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The finite verbs וַיִּסְע֖וּ (and they set out) and וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ (and they encamped) govern the structure of the verse, with a prepositional phrase indicating the origin of their journey and a noun phrase specifying their destination.
The sentence structure emphasizes the sequential nature of their travels, with the verbs leading the actions and the prepositional and noun phrases providing context.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates נָסַע as ἀπῆραν (they departed), which captures the essence of leaving a location. This choice reflects a straightforward rendering of the Hebrew verb, focusing on the action of departure.
The translation of חָנָה as παρενέβαλον indicates a similar emphasis on the act of encamping, aligning closely with the Hebrew meaning.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Numbers 33:12 tells us that the Israelites left the Desert of Sin and set up camp at Dophkah. This verse is part of their journey through the wilderness as they moved toward the Promised Land.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The Desert of Sin is an area the Israelites traveled through after leaving Egypt, associated with their wilderness wanderings.
Dophkah was a designated stopping place during the Israelites' journey, providing a location for rest and regrouping.
The journey represents the Israelites' transition from slavery in Egypt to freedom and the eventual arrival in the Promised Land.
This verse is part of a detailed itinerary that outlines the various locations where the Israelites camped, highlighting their experiences and God's guidance.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from the Israelites' journey through the wilderness?
- How does the act of setting out and camping relate to our own life journeys?
- In what ways can we recognize the places where we stop and rest during our own travels?
- What does it mean to follow God's guidance in our journey through life?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Early commentary on this verse highlights the significance of the Israelites' journey and their spiritual progress, as seen in Origen's reflections.
Raphaca [Dophkah] means “health.” You see the order of the progresses, how when the soul is once made spiritual and begins to have the discernment of heavenly visions, it arrives at health.… For the soul has many infirmities.Early Church Fathers on Numbers 33 →
Commentators on this verse — 4 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Numbers 33:12 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin,.... According to the account in Exodus, this was after they had the manna given them, see Exodus 17:1 and encamped at Dophkah; twelve miles
Read John Gill on Numbers 33 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. Dophkah ... Alush ... Rephidim.
Read Robert Jamieson on Numbers 33 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleSTAT. VIII. Verse 12. DOPHKAH.] This place is not mentioned in Exodus and its situation is not known.
Read AdamClarke on Numbers 33 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the BibleTHE OF THE , Numbers 33:1-49.Having reached the Land of Promise, and taken possession of its eastern portion, it is proper that the history of the desert wandering should close with a list of
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Numbers 33 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
They set out from the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
They set out from the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
They traveled from the wilderness of Zin and camped in Dophkah.
Tyndale line
And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and pitched in Dophkah.
And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
And they tooke their iourney out of the wildernesse of Sin, and set vp their tentes in Dophkah.
Strictly literal
And they removed from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
and they journey from the wilderness of Sin, and encamp in Dophkah.
And they journey from the wilderness of Sin and encamp in Dophkah.
And they removed from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
They set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
From the Latin
And they removed from thence, and came to Daphca.
Simplified
They moved on from the Desert of Sin and set up camp at Dophkah.
And they went on from the waste land of Sin, and put up their tents in Dophkah.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text is supported by the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch, both of which agree with the Hebrew wording in this verse. The Septuagint's translations match the Hebrew words one-to-one, confirming the consistency of the text across these ancient witnesses.
וַיִּסְע֖וּ מִמִּדְבַּר־ סִ֑ין וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ בְּדָפְקָֽה׃
5 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
ויסעו ממדבר סין ויחנו בדפקה
Agrees with the Masoretic Text here, word for word.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Numbers 33:12
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
נָסַע (naca`) means to pull out or up, particularly in the context of setting out on a journey. It encompasses actions like departing, marching, and removing, with nuances related to both physical movement and the wind. The word can also imply causing someone or something to set out or be led away.
נָסַע 147 vb. pull out or up, set out, journey
Qal 137
pull out or up
hence (from pulling up tent-pegs),
set out
depart
journey, march (by stages)
of wind
Niph. be pulled up, removed
Hiph.
cause to set out, lead out
remove
base
H5265 נָסַע pull out or up, set out, journey .. pull out or up
. hence (from pulling up tent-pegs), . set out
. depart
. journey, march (by stages)
. of wind
. be pulled up, removed
. . cause to set out, lead out
. remove
5265 naca` naw-sah'
a primitive root; properly, to pull up, especially the
tent-pins, i.e. start on a journey:--cause to blow, bring,
get, (make to) go (away, forth, forward, onward, out), (take)
journey, march, remove, set aside (forward), X still, be on
his (go their) way.
נָסַע (na.sa) — to set out.
1) to pull out, pull up, set out, journey, remove, set forward, depart
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to pull out or up
1a2) to set out, depart
1a3) to journey, march
1a4) to set forth (of wind)
1b) (Niphal) to be pulled up, be removed, be plucked up
1c) (Hiphil)
1c1) to cause to set out, lead out, cause to spring up
1c2) to remove, quarry
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3mp — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine pluralHc/Vqw3mp
מִדְבָּר (midbar) primarily means 'mouth' in the sense of an organ of speech, but it also refers to 'wilderness' or 'desert.' The word is derived from a root meaning to drive, suggesting open fields for pasturing cattle. It encompasses various forms of uninhabited land and is notably used in contexts related to the wilderness, such as the Wilderness of Sinai.
[מִדְבָּר] n.m. mouth, as organ of speech, Ct 4:3
ref
מִדְבָר 270 n.m. wilderness
tracts of land, used for the pasturage of flocks and herds
uninhabited land
large tracts of such land bearing various names, in certain districts of which there might be towns and cities
fig.
base
H4057a מִדְבָּר mouth, as organ of speech H4057b מִדְבָר wilderness
4057 midbar mid-bawr'
from 1696 in the sense of driving; a pasture (i.e. open
field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert;
also speech (including its organs):--desert, south, speech,
wilderness.
see HEBREW for 01696
מִדְבָּר (mid.bar) — mouth.
1) mouth
1a) mouth (as organ of speech)
מִדְבָּר (mid.bar) — wilderness.
1) wilderness
1a) pasture
1b) uninhabited land, wilderness
1c) large tracts of wilderness (around cities)
1d) wilderness (fig.)
מִדְבָּר (mid.bar) — Wilderness (of Sinai).
This name means wilderness, uninhabited land
Prep | N-ms — Preposition · noun common masculine singular constructHR/Ncmsc
ov:
(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.
OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]
1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.
For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.
Lamentations 3:1.
The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.
Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.
That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.
Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…
סִין (Sin) refers to both an ancient Egyptian city, Pelusium, and a wilderness area located between Elim and Sinai. The name is thought to derive from terms meaning 'thorn' or 'clay.' The lexicons indicate that its exact derivation is uncertain, but they consistently identify its geographical significance.
סִין n.pr.loc. Sin, i.e. Pelusium, E. frontier city of Egypt (Egypt. ’Imt = clay, of which סין is transl.)
base
סִין n.pr.loc. wilderness between Elim and Sinai
base
H5512a סִין Sin, i.e. Pelusium, E. frontier city of Egypt (Egypt. ’Imt = clay, of which סין is transl.) H5512b סִין wilderness between Elim and Sinai
5512 Ciyn seen
of uncertain derivation; Sin the name of an Egyptian town and
(probably) desert adjoining:--Sin.
סִין (sin) — Pelusium.
§ Sin = "thorn" or "clay"
a town in eastern Egypt
סִין (sin) — Sin.
§ Sin = "thorn" or "clay" the tract of wilderness between Elim and Sinai
N-proper — Noun properHNpl
Sin
Is “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God” (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Rom. 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is “not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God. Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters, (1) ill-desert, guilt (reatus); and (2) pollution (macula).”, Hodge’s…
a city of Egypt, mentioned only by Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 30:15,16) The name is Hebrew, or at least Semitic, perhaps signifying clay . It is identified in the Vulgate with Pelusium, "the clayey or muddy" town. Its antiquity may perhaps be inferred from the mention of "the wilderness of Sin" in the journeys of the Israelites. (Exodus 16:1; Numbers 33:11) Ezekiel speaks of Sin as "Sin the strongholds of Egypt." (Ezekiel 30:15) This place was held by Egypt from that time until the period of the Romans. Herodotus relates that Sennacherib advanced against Pelusium, and that near Pelusium Cambyses defeated Psammenitus. In like manner the decisive battle in which Ochus defeated the…
1. Any thought, word, desire, action, or omission of action, contrary to the law of God, or defective when compared with it.
The origin of sin is a subject which baffles all investigation; and our inquiries are much better directed when we seek through Christ a release from its penalty and power, for ourselves and the world. Its entrance into the world, and infection of the whole human race, its nature, forms, and effects, and its fatal possession of every unregenerate soul, are fully described in the Bible, Ge 6:5 Ps 51:5 Mt 15:19 Ro 5:12 Jas 1:14,15.
bush
חָנָה (chanah) is a Hebrew verb meaning to decline, bend down, or encamp. It conveys the idea of inclining or settling, particularly in the context of pitching a tent or establishing a temporary dwelling. The word appears in various forms, including the act of encamping or laying siege. It is associated with the imagery of the evening's slanting rays and the conclusion of a day's journey.
חָנָה 143 vb. decline, bend down, encamp
Qal
decline, of day drawing to its close
encamp (prop. verge toward, incline to, settle at, of goal of day’s march)
base
H2583 חָנָה decline, bend down, encamp
2583 chanah khaw-naw'
a primitive root (compare 2603); properly, to incline; by
implication, to decline (of the slanting rays of evening);
specifically, to pitch a tent; gen. to encamp (for abode or
siege):--abide (in tents), camp, dwell, encamp, grow to an
end, lie, pitch (tent), rest in tent.
see HEBREW for 02603
חָנָה (cha.nah) — to camp.
1) to decline, incline, encamp, bend down, lay siege against
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to decline
1a2) to encamp
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3mp — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine pluralHc/Vqw3mp
דָּפְקָה (dophqah) refers to a location called Dophkah, which is noted as a stopping place for the Israelites during their wilderness journey. The term is derived from the root meaning 'a knock.' It appears in the context of the Israelites' travels after leaving the Desert of Sin.
דָּפְקָה n.pr.loc. first station of Isr. after מדבר סין
base
H1850 דָּפְקָה
1850 Dophqah dof-kaw'
from 1849; a knock; Dophkah, a place in the Desert:--Dophkah.
see HEBREW for 01849
דׇּפְקָה (doph.qah) — Dophkah.
§ Dophkah = "knocking"
a stopping place during Israel's wilderness wandering
Prep | N-proper — Preposition · noun properHR/Npl