Exodus 13:20 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. Encamped in Etham - As for the reasons assigned on Exodus 13:17, God would not lead the Israelites by the way of the Philistines' country, he directed them towards the wilderness of Shur, Exodus 15:22, upon the edge or extremity of which, next to Egypt, at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, lay Etham, which is the second place of encampment mentioned. See the extracts from Dr. Shaw at the end of Exodus. See Clarke's note on Exodus 40:38.