This pasuk (verse) concludes the book of Shemot (Exodus). How should we understand the word ma’asayhem which is often translated as ‘journeys’? Did the Jewish people in the desert also travel at night? At first glance, it appears to be a word connected to the Sidra (weekly Torah Reading) of Masei which appears at the end of the book of Bemidbar (Numbers).

Rashi, the premier Torah commentator, explains here that in fact the cloud rested in the place were the people camped, so that each camping place was also called a masa (singular of ma’asayhem). Since the camping places were an essential part of the journey, the camping places are included as an intrinsic part of the journey. This seems to parallel the meaning of masa in the Sidra of Masei.

Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra comments further that if the Torah wished to separate camping places from travelling routes, then the Torah would have used the word ‘machanayhem’. He also places this into the context of the journey of the Bnei Yisrael (children of Israel) as a whole, suggesting that since all of their journeys are directed towards the ultimate destination of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), both the camping places and the roads are included in the special designation of ‘ma’asayhem’.