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Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Numbers 22:1 · New American 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.
  • BSB Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
  • NKJV Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from 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 waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho.
  • Num 36:13These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
  • Num 33:48–50They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
  • Num 32:19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.”
  • Deut 34:1Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan,
  • Deut 3:8We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon.
  • Deut 34:8The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended.
  • Num 34:15The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
  • Deut 1:5Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying,
  • Num 21:20and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert.

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.