Rithmah

Biblical Text

Rithmah is mentioned twice in Numbers 33. Following the Exodus, this chapter lists in order the places where Israel encamped from its departure from Egypt until it reached the plains of Moab. Numbers 33:2 states that Moses recorded this itinerary at the commandment of the Lord.

• Numbers 33:18: "And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah."
• Numbers 33:19: "And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmonparez."

The text records no particular event at Rithmah. It identifies only the encampments that preceded and followed it in the order of march.

Background

The name Rithmah is generally thought to derive from the same Hebrew root as rotem, a shrub that grows in the wilderness and is usually identified as the broom tree (rendered "juniper" in the KJV). Accordingly, Rithmah is understood to mean something like "place of broom trees." The broom tree is the tree under which Elijah sat after fleeing from Jezebel into the wilderness (1 Kings 19:4–5), and it also appears in Psalms 120:4 in the expression "coals of juniper."

The location of Rithmah is unknown. Many of the encampments listed in Numbers 33:19–36 appear nowhere else in the Bible. For this reason, although various attempts have been made to match them with modern place names, none has been established.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Rithmah is one point in Israel's long sojourn in the wilderness, the forty years in the wilderness. Numbers 33 records one by one even encampments of which nothing but the name remains. Some interpreters take this as an indication that the entire wilderness journey was treated as history worth remembering.

The New Testament does not mention Rithmah directly. Paul, however, presents Israel's experiences in the wilderness as examples for later believers (1 Corinthians 10:11–12). The passage surrounding Hebrews 3:13 likewise cites the disobedience of the wilderness generation as a warning. As part of the wilderness itinerary, Rithmah falls within the scope of this New Testament reading.

Interpretations and Issues

• The tradition identifying it with Kadesh: Numbers 12:16 states that Israel departed from Hazeroth and encamped in the wilderness of Paran, and in chapter 13 the spies are sent out from there. Because Rithmah is the next stop after Hazeroth in Numbers 33, traditional Jewish commentators (such as Rashi) have associated Rithmah with the place from which the twelve spies were sent, that is, the region of Kadesh. Rashi is reported to have linked the name rotem to the "coals of juniper" in Psalm 120:3–4, explaining that the name arose from the spies' evil report.
• The view that it was a separate encampment: Numbers 33 mentions Kadesh separately and much later, in 33:36. For this reason, some scholars regard Rithmah as an encampment distinct from Kadesh Barnea.

The interpretation connecting Rithmah with the episode of the spies derives from the meaning of the name and from a comparison of the itineraries. It should be distinguished from the biblical text itself, which does not explicitly make this connection.