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Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
Numbers 22:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
  • KJV And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.
  • NKJV Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.
  • NASB Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.
  • NLT Then the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped east of the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Israel encamps in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho, on the threshold of the Promised Land. It sets the stage for the Balaam narrative and the final approach to Canaan.

Overview

This staging point becomes the location for much of the rest of Numbers and Deuteronomy. Poised just opposite Jericho, Israel stands at the edge of entering the land. The setting heightens the drama as a foreign king now seeks to curse the people God is about to bless with the land.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Josh 3:16the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
  • Num 36:13These are the commandments and ordinances that the LORD gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
  • Num 33:48–50They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
  • Num 32:19Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”
  • Deut 34:1Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,
  • Deut 3:8At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon—
  • Deut 34:8The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.
  • Num 34:15These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
  • Deut 1:5On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:
  • Num 21:20and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 22:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 22:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.