Water and Death: This concluding chapter of the middle section of the book suggests that the camp is ready to move again, but the events in chapter 20 delay any progress, and the loss of the exodus generation becomes more pressing with the deaths of two of its leaders. This chapter accounts for the exclusion of Moses and Aaron from the land. The movement of the wilderness generation is slow and painful, and frequently interrupted by trouble.

20:1  The chapter begins with a chronological and geographical note. The first month is specified, but no year. Still, it is clear that we are nearing the conclusion of the wilderness era. The year is probably the fortieth (see Num. 33:36–39). We will return to the issue of the route through the wilderness, but up to this point, Numbers suggests that th…