The Israelites left Egypt and made camp at Etham, “in the edge of the wilderness.” That is nearly all Exodus 13:20 says, and Numbers 33 repeats it as one stop in a long list of journeys. The next verse adds a turn: they “removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth.” So Etham is a camp on the road, between Succoth and the open desert, a place of pausing rather than arriving. Read Numbers 33:6-7 to follow the travellers to their next camp.
3 verses
And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baalzephon: and they pitched before Migdol.
Matthew George Easton, 1897
Perhaps another name for Khetam, or “fortress,” on the Shur or great wall of Egypt, which extended from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez. Here the Israelites made their third encampment (Ex. 13:20; Num. 33:6). The camp was probably a little to the west of the modern town of Ismailia. Here the Israelites were commanded to change their route (Ex. 14:2), and “turn” towards the south, and encamp before Pi-hahiroth. (See EXODUS; PITHOM.)
William Smith, 1884
(bounded by the sea), one of the early resting-places of the Israelites when they quitted Egypt; described as "in the edge of the wilderness." (Exodus 13:20; Numbers 33:6,7) Etham may be placed where the cultivable land ceases, near the Seba Biar or Seven Wells, about three miles from the western side of the ancient head of the gulf.