 | BeShalach |  |
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| | 13:19 |
Moses took Joseph's remains with him. Joseph had bound the Israelites by an oath: 'God will grant you special providence, and you must then bring my remains out of here with you.'
Vayikach Moshe et-atsmot Yosef imo ki hashbea hishbia et-beney Yisra'el lemor pakod yifkod Elohim etchem veha'alitem et-atsmotay mizeh itchem. |
| 13:20 |
[The Israelites] moved on from Sukkoth, and they camped in Etham, at the edge of the desert.
Vayis'u miSukot vayachanu ve'Etam biktseh hamidbar. |
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Commentary:
God will grant you
See Genesis 50:25.
| Sukkoth
See Exodus 12:37.
| Etham
See Numbers 33:6,7. In Numbers 33:8, we see that after crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites were again in Etham. If we say that the 'Red Sea' is the Gulf of Suez, this would indicate that Etham was to the north-east of the gulf. The Israelites went into this area, and then turned back (see Exodus 14:1) and went along the west coast of the gulf, crossing the sea back to Etham. Some identify Etham with the Shur Desert (Ibn Ezra; see Exodus 15:22). Significantly, in ancient Egyptian, etam means 'seashore.' Some identify Etham with the Egyptian Chetem, which denotes a fortress. There was a Chetem near Pelusium, just west of Lake Sirbonis.
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