Numbers 10:33

New American Standard Bible

So they moved on from the mountain of the LORD three days' journey, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD going on in front of them for the three days, to seek out a resting place for them.

Parallel Translations

Geneva Bible (1587)
So they departed from the mount of the Lorde, three dayes iourney: and the Arke of the couenant of the Lorde went before them in the three dayes iourney, to searche out a resting place for them.

George Lamsa Translation
And they departed from the mount of God three days journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them a days journey to prepare a resting place for them.

Hebrew Names Version
They set forward from the Mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.

Easy-to-Read Version
So they began traveling from the mountain of the Lord . The priests took the Box of the Lord 's Agreement and walked in front of the people. They carried the Holy Box for three days, looking for a place to camp.

English Standard Version
So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

American Standard Version
And they set forward from the mount of Jehovah three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.

Bible in Basic English
So they went forward three days' journey from the mountain of the Lord; and the ark of the Lord's agreement went three days' journey before them, looking for a resting-place for them;

Contemporary English Version
The people of Israel began their journey from Mount Sinai. They traveled three days, and the Levites who carried the sacred chest led the way, so the Lord could show them where to camp.

Complete Jewish Bible
So they set out from Adonai 's mountain and traveled for three days. Ahead of them on this three-day journey went the ark of Adonai 's covenant, searching for a new place to stop.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they set forward from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.

King James Version (1611)
And they departed from the Mount of the Lord three dayes iourney: and the Arke of the Couenant of the Lord went before them in the three dayes iourney, to search out a resting place for them.

Amplified Bible
So they set out from the mountain of the LORD (Sinai) three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went in front of them during the three days' journey to seek out a resting place for them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they departed from the mount of the Lord a three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them a three days’ journey to provide rest for them.

English Revised Version
And they set forward from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

Berean Standard Bible
So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

Lexham English Bible
And so they set out from the mountain of Yahweh a journey of three days, with the ark of the covenant of Yahweh setting out ahead of them three days' journey to search out a resting place for them;

Literal Translation
And they pulled up stakes from the mount of Jehovah three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of Jehovah pulled out before them, three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

New Century Version
So they left the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days. The Ark of the Lord 's Agreement went in front of the people for those three days, as they looked for a place to camp.

New English Translation
So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days' journey, to find a resting place for them.

New King James Version
So they departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them.

New Living Translation
They marched for three days after leaving the mountain of the Lord , with the Ark of the Lord 's Covenant moving ahead of them to show them where to stop and rest.

New Life Bible
So they traveled for three days from the mountain of the Lord with the special box with the Law of the Lord in front of them looking for a place for them to rest.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So then they went forward, from the mountain of Yahweh, a journey of three days, - and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, was going before them a journey of three days, to search out for them a resting-place,

Douay-Rheims Bible
So they marched from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, for three days providing a place for the camp.

Revised Standard Version
So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

Good News Translation
When the people left Sinai, the holy mountain, they traveled three days. The Lord 's Covenant Box always went ahead of them to find a place for them to camp.

King James Version
And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them.

Darby Translation
And they set forward from the mountain of Jehovah [and went] three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting-place for them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And therfor thei yeden forth fro the hil of the Lord the weie of thre daies; and the arke of boond of pees of the Lord yede bifor hem, bi thre daies, and purueyde the place of tentis.

Young's Literal Translation
And they journey from the mount of Jehovah a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is journeying before them the journey of three days, to spy out for them a resting-place;

World English Bible
They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.

Update Bible Version
And they set forward from the mount of Yahweh three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days' journey, to seek a resting-place for them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they departed from the mount of the Lorde three dayes iourney, and the arke of the couenaunt of the Lorde went before them in ye three dayes iourney, to search out a resting place for the.

Christian Standard Bible®
They set out from the mountain of the Lord on a three-day journey with the ark of the Lord’s covenant traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
So they departed from the mount of the LORDE thre dayes iourney, & the Arke of the LORDES couenaunt wente before them those thre dayes iourney, to shewe the where they shulde rest.

THE MESSAGE
And so off they marched. From the Mountain of God they marched three days with the Chest of the Covenant of God in the lead to scout out a campsite. The Cloud of God was above them by day when they marched from the camp. With the Chest leading the way, Moses would say, Get up, God ! Put down your enemies! Chase those who hate you to the hills! And when the Chest was set down, he would say, Rest with us, God , Stay with the many, Many thousands of Israel.

New Revised Standard
So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey with the ark of the covenant of the Lord going before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Thus 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.

Legacy Standard Bible
Thus they set out from the mount of Yahweh three days' journey, with the ark of the covenant of Yahweh journeying in front of them for the three days, to spy out a resting place for them.

Contextual Overview

²⁹ Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out to the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will do you good, for the LORD has promised good concerning Israel." ³⁰ But he said to him, "I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives." ³¹ Then he said, "Please do not leave us, since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us. ³² "So it will be, if you go with us, that whatever good the LORD does for us, we will do for you." ³³ So they moved on from the mountain of the LORD three days' journey, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD going on in front of them for the three days, to seek out a resting place for them.³⁴ And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp. ³⁵ Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, "Rise up, LORD! And may Your enemies be scattered, And those who hate You flee from Your presence." ³⁶ And when it came to rest, he said, "Return, LORD, To the myriad thousands of Israel."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the mount: Exodus 3:1, Exodus 19:3, Exodus 24:17, Exodus 24:18

the ark: Deuteronomy 9:9, Deuteronomy 31:26, Joshua 4:7, Judges 20:27, 1 Samuel 4:3, Jeremiah 3:16, Hebrews 13:20

went before: Exodus 33:14, Exodus 33:15, Deuteronomy 1:33, Joshua 3:2-6, Joshua 3:11-17, Jeremiah 31:8, Jeremiah 31:9, Ezekiel 20:6

a resting place: Psalms 95:11, Isaiah 28:12, Isaiah 66:1, Jeremiah 6:16, Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 4:3-11

Reciprocal: Genesis 22:4 - third Exodus 37:1 - General Exodus 40:36 - when Numbers 9:17 - when the cloud Numbers 11:1 - And when Numbers 14:44 - the ark Numbers 33:16 - they removed Deuteronomy 9:11 - the tables of the covenant Joshua 3:3 - General Joshua 3:6 - Take up 2 Samuel 7:6 - walked 1 Chronicles 15:29 - as the ark 1 Chronicles 17:6 - walked 2 Chronicles 5:2 - the ark Jeremiah 31:2 - when Revelation 11:19 - the ark

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey,...., From Mount Sinai, so called, because the Lord descended upon it, and gave the law from it; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan,

"from the mount on which the glory of the Lord (or of his Shechinah or divine Majesty) was revealed.''

This they left, after they had been nearly twelve months about it, and travelled three days' journey from it before the cloud rested, so as to abide, otherwise is stopped no doubt to give them time to eat their food, and take sleep and rest. The Targum of Jonathan expressly says, they went thirty six miles on that day; but, according to Bunting o, Taberah or Kibrothhattaavah, to which the children of Israel first came, and where they abode a month, was but eight miles from Sinai; wherefore the three days' journey were not successively one after another, but the first day's journey was to Taberah, where they continued a month; the second day's journey was to Hazeroth, where they stayed seven days; and the third day's journey was to the wilderness of Paran, and there the cloud rested, Numbers 10:12; and there was their resting place, for there they continued long, from whence the spies were sent to the good land, and whither they returned after forty days,

Numbers 13:1;

and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them; the ark being carried by the Kohathites, must proceed in the middle of the camps, after the camps of Judah and Reuben, and before the camps of Ephraim and Dan, according to the order of the marches of the children of Israel, Numbers 10:21; wherefore Aben Ezra thinks, that this three days' journey was different from all their other journeys; and that in this the ark went before them, which in other journeys was carried in the midst of them; yet others think it may be said to go before, though in the middle; just as a general of an army may be said to go before, and lead his army, though he is not directly in the front of it; so the cloud being always over the ark, directing the march, it may be said to go before and point out a convenient place to rest in; for searching cannot be properly ascribed to the ark, nor even to the Lord himself, and can only signify pointing out or discovering a proper place to take up their abode in: this ark of the covenant, so called because the covenant or law was laid up in it, was a type of Christ the end of the law for righteousness, and who is the forerunner of his people, is gone before them to prepare a place for them; and the three days' journey may have respect to his resurrection from the dead on the third day for their justification, which is the foundation of their rest, peace, and joy.

o Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 82.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Three days’ journey - Probably a technical expression for such a distance as could not be traversed in a single day, and therefore not without intervals of encampment and due provision: compare Genesis 30:36; Exodus 3:18; Exodus 5:3; Exodus 8:27; Exodus 15:22. The technical use of the phrase “Sabbath-day’s journey” for another average distance, Acts 1:12, is similar.

The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them - From Numbers 10:21; Numbers 2:17 it would appear that the usual place of the ark during the march was in the midst of the host. It was evidently an exceptional case when, in Joshua 3:3, Joshua 3:6, the ark preceded the people into the bed of the Jordan. Hence, the words “went before them” do not here imply local precedence. The phrase, or its equivalent, is used of a leader going out in command of his troops, Numbers 27:17; Deu 31:3; 1 Samuel 18:16; 2 Chronicles 1:10; and similarly the ark may well be said to have gone at the head of the Israelites, when it was borne solemnly in the midst of them as the outward embodiment of the presence whose sovereign word was their law.

A resting place - literally, “rest.” It is commonly understood of each successive encampment; or, in particular, of the first encampment. Yet the term would hardly be here employed, did it not carry with it a higher meaning, pointing to the promised rest of Canaan, for which the Israelites were now in full march, and from the speedy enjoyment of which no sentence of exclusion as yet debarred them. Compare the marginal references.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 10:33. The ark - went before them — We find from Numbers 10:21 that the ark was carried by the Kohathites in the center of the army; but as the army never moved till the cloud was taken up, it is said to go before them, i. e., to be the first to move, as without this motion the Israelites continued in their encampments.