Why does the Torah not state from where they traveled, like it does in all other places? And why does the Torah omit here that they went to Tzalmonah and Punon before Ovos, like it states in 33:41-43?
Ramban (in 33:41): Because the snakes started damaging from when they left Hor ha'Har; Moshe made the copper snake and they took it with them when traveling. The issue ceased only when they came to Ovos.
Chizkuni (in 33:42): Here the Torah mentions only Ovos, since it is in the southeast corner, and when they reached it, they turned northwards.
Hadar Zekenim: The plague actually began somewhere between Hor ha'Har and Ovos, when they were in Tzamon and Punon, and they arrived in Ovos after the plague of snakes terminated. In fact, it is called Ovos, because there they became Oyvim (enemies) of Hashem.
"Vayachanu be'Ovos ? Vayachanu be'Iyei ha'Avarim'(Pasuk 11) . What is the significance of these places?
R. Bachye (citing the Tanchuma): "Ovos" - they were enemies of Hashem; 'Iyei ha'Avarim' - they were full of (Hashem's) anger - during the thirty-eight years from the episode of the Spies that they journeyed in the desert, when they were under the Cherem that Hashem had placed on them.
Why does the Torah mention these places that they went (even though it does not mention what happened there)?
Moshav Zekenim: The Torah tells us where the Cloud rested, three days ahead of their encampment.
