Bene-jaakan

Bene-jaakan is a wilderness camp on Israel's itinerary out of Egypt, named for a tribe whose wells gave the site its identity. The location is mentioned only in the two travel accounts, and the second names it more fully as Beeroth Bene-jaakan — "the wells of the sons of Jaakan."

A Stage on the Wilderness Itinerary

The Numbers itinerary places Bene-jaakan between Moseroth and Hor-haggidgad. "And they journeyed from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene-jaakan. And they journeyed from Bene-jaakan, and encamped in Hor-haggidgad" (Num 33:31-32). The camp is one stop in the long sequence of stations that traces Israel's route through the wilderness.

Beeroth Bene-jaakan and the Death of Aaron

Deuteronomy gives the longer name — Beeroth Bene-jaakan, "the wells of the sons of Jaakan" — and frames the same itinerary around Aaron's death and the priestly succession. "And the sons of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son served in the priest's office in his stead" (Deut 10:6). The Numbers and Deuteronomy itineraries reverse the order of the camps relative to one another, but both anchor Bene-jaakan as a known waypoint on the route.