Komentarz do Liczb 33:41

AND THEY JOURNEYED FROM MOUNT HOR, AND PITCHED IN ZALMONAH. These places — Zalmonah and Punon¹⁵Verse 42 here. — were by the way of the Red Sea circling the land of Edom, and the soul of the people became impatient because of the way,¹⁶Above, 21:10. and they [therefore] spoke against G-d, and Moses¹⁷Ibid., Verse 5. on the way, and G-d sent against them the fiery serpents whilst they were travelling and when they rested in camp. Then Moses made the serpent of brass, which they carried upon a pole¹⁸Ibid., Verse 9. all the way, and [kept it] when they encamped in Zalmonah and Punon, and it was not removed from them until they pitched in Oboth.¹⁹Verse 43 here. Therefore Scripture there, in narrating this episode [of the fiery serpents, above in Chapter 21], did not mention the name of the place [from which they set forth again, i.e., Zalmonah and Punon] and [merely] stated, And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in Oboth,²⁰Above, 21:10. without saying “and they journeyed from such-and-such a place and pitched in Oboth,” as it does with all the [other stages of their] journeyings. This is because the matter [of the brass serpent] continued throughout this way — from the time that they journeyed from Mount Hor until they pitched in Oboth, and they journeyed from Oboth and pitched in Ije-abarim.²¹Ibid., Verse 11. — Verse 44 here. From there they journeyed and they pitched in Divon-gad, and then in Almon-diblathaim, and [finally] in the mountains of Abarim,²²Verses 45-47 here. [all these] being places in the valley of Zered.²³Above, 21:12.

ויסעו מהר ההר ויחנו בצלמות ויסעו מצלמות ויחנו בפונן ויסעו מפונן ויחנו באובות., “They journeyed from Hor Hahar and encamped at Tzalmavet. They journeyed from Tzalmavet and encamped at Punan. They journeyed from Punan and encamped at Ovot. In Parshat Chukat (Numbers 21,10) we did not hear about these places at all, but were only told that when journeying from Ovot that the people became very frustrated at the long detour they had to take. It is not even stated there from which place they set out before arriving at Ovot. Nachmanides writes that the reason for the failure to mention Tzalmavet and Punan in Parshat Chukat is that they were located along the detour around the territory of Edom, and the people passed there while full of discontent at this lengthy detour. They spoke out against G’d on that occasion so that He dispatched the snakes, etc., against them. Eventually, Moses constructed the copper snake, and the people carried that snake on a pole all the way until they came to Ovot. That snake was removed only at that time. Seeing that the phenomenon of the copper snake continued during these journeys, the stops in between were not considered as relevant, as nothing in the condition of the people had changed due to their having made camp.