Komentaryo sa Mga Bilang 33:25: Chatam Sofer

"And they travelled from Charada, and they camped in Makhelot, and they travelled from Makhelot, and they camped in Tachat" (Bamidbar 33:24-5). This is an allusion to a saying of Chaza"l regarding the verse "Efrayim is joined to idols; let him be" (Hoshea 4:17) - that if there is togetherness and peace to the Jews, even if they serve idolatry, no evil will rule them. And this is why the generation of the Flood was punished more than the generation of the Dispersal [i.e. tower of Babel], even though the sin of the generation of the Dispersal was great (for they denied the main principle) - since they were in togetherness until God mixed up their languages. This is "they travelled from Charada [חרדה]" - they had no need to be afraid [lehachrid להחריד], since "they camped in Makhelot" [can also mean "in communities"] - in togetherness. But after this, "they travelled from Makhelot, and they camped in Tachat" [תחת] - in the lowest [tachtonah תחתונה] floor, until they returned and camped - and after this, in "Mitka" [מתקה] (Bamidbar 33:28) and in "Yotvata" [יטבתה] (Bamidbar 33:34) - sweet [matok מתוק] and good [tov טוב]. And this is easy to understand. (From there it is told).