Bible Strands
Numbers 20:1
In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the entire Israelite congregation arriving at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin during the first month, immediately preceding the water crisis described in the next verse.
The words — The text foregrounds וַיָּבֹאוּ (va/i.ya.Vo.'u), translating literally as "and they came," paired with כָּל־הָעֵדָה (kol-ha-'edah), "all the congregation," to emphasize the collective movement into the specified region.
The thread — The Wilderness of Zin and Kadesh recur in Numbers 13:21 as the launch point for the spies, Numbers 33:36 as a formal campsite, and Exodus 15:20 establishes Miriam’s identity as Aaron’s sister and a prophetess.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to note the exact chronological and geographical placement of Miriam’s burial alongside the congregation’s arrival, which directly sets the stage for the immediate shortage of water.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
Cross-references
- Numbers 13:21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
- Exodus 15:20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
- Numbers 33:36 They set out from Ezion-geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.
- Numbers 26:59 and Amram’s wife was named Jochebed. She was also a daughter of Levi, born to Levi in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
- Numbers 27:14 for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah in Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin.
- Exodus 2:4 And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
- Exodus 2:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
- Numbers 12:1 Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.
- Numbers 12:10 As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,
- Numbers 12:15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again.