Limitless Word
And there on the plains of Moab they camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.
Numbers 33:49 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab.
  • KJV And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.
  • NKJV They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jesimoth as far as the Abel Acacia Grove in the plains of Moab.
  • NASB They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim, in the plains of Moab.
  • NLT Along the Jordan River they camped from Beth-jeshimoth as far as the meadows of Acacia on the plains of Moab.

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 along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab. This describes the broad spread of the camp before the crossing.

Overview

The extent of the encampment, stretching along the river, conveys the size of the assembled nation poised to enter Canaan. Shittim would be the site of the seduction into idolatry with Moab (Numbers 25) and later the place from which Joshua sent spies (Joshua 2-3). The location holds both warning and promise as Israel waits at the edge of fulfillment.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Ezek 25:9therefore I will indeed expose the flank of Moab beginning with its frontier cities—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim—the glory of the land.
  • Num 25:1–9While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
  • Exod 25:10And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
  • Exod 25:5ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood;
  • Josh 13:20Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth—
  • Exod 25:23You are also to make a table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.
  • Josh 2:1Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

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 33:49YouTube · 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 33:49 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.