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Numbers 21

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Israel Defeats King Arad 1–3

1
And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. ​
2
And Israel vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. ​
3
And Jehovah hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah. ​

The Plague of Fiery Serpents 4–9

4
And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. ​
5
And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. ​
6
And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ​
7
And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. ​
9
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. ​

Israel's Journey Continues 10–20

10
And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in Oboth.
11
And they journeyed from Oboth, and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.
12
From thence they journeyed, and encamped in the valley of Zered.
13
From thence they journeyed, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that cometh out of the border of the Amorites: for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ​
14
Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, And the valleys of the Arnon, ​
15
And the slope of the valleys That inclineth toward the dwelling of Ar, And leaneth upon the border of Moab.
16
And from thence they journeyed to Beer: that is the well whereof Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. ​
17
Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: ​
18
The well, which the princes digged, Which the nobles of the people delved, With the sceptre, and with their staves. And from the wildernessthey journeyedto Mattanah;
19
and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;
20
and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert.

Conquest of Sihon, King of the Amorites 21–32

21
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ​
22
Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed thy border.
23
And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel.
24
And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. ​
25
And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the towns thereof.
26
For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto the Arnon. ​
27
Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come ye to Heshbon; Let the city of Sihon be built and established: ​
28
For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon: It hath devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
29
Woe to thee, Moab! Thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: He hath given his sons as fugitives, And his daughters into captivity, Unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
30
We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, And we have laid waste even unto Nophah, Whichreacheth unto Medeba.
31
Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
32
And Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took the towns thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

Conquest of Og, King of Bashan 33–35

33
And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. ​
34
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. ​
35
So they smote him, and his sons and all his people, until there was none left him remaining: and they possessed his land.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 21

Verse 1

king Arad the Canaanite — The king 'dwelt in the south' (negeb), the dry southland of Canaan, where Israel had been beaten back to Hormah after the spies' report (Num 14:45). 'The way of the spies' translates Atharim, a word found only in this verse. He 'took some of them prisoners' (shebi, captives) before Israel answered.

Verse 2

vowed a vow — A vow made to the LORD on condition of his answer, like Jacob's at Bethel (Gen 28:20) and Jephthah's (Judg 11:30). 'Utterly destroy' is charam, to put under the ban and devote to the LORD, so that the cities would be his and not Israel's to keep.

Verse 3

Hormah — The name, Chormah, comes from the verb charam of the vow in v.2 ('utterly destroyed'), so the place carries the ban in its name. It lies where Israel had earlier been routed after the spies' report (Num 14:45; Deut 1:44). Here 'the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel' and delivered up the Canaanites.

Verse 4

much discouraged — Qatsar, literally 'to be cut short', the verb of 'Is the LORD'S hand waxed short?' (Num 11:23) and kin to the noun in 'anguish of spirit' (Ex 6:9). The route 'to compass the land of Edom' was forced on Israel when 'Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border' (Num 20:21).

Verse 5

light bread — Qeloqel, 'light' or insubstantial, a word found only here; the bread loathed is the manna. The people 'spake against God, and against Moses', the sin Psalm 78:19 recalls: 'they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?'

Verse 6

fiery serpents — Saraph, 'burning', used of a poisonous serpent. The same word names the 'seraphims' of Isa 6:2. The LORD 'sent' them among the people, and Moses recalls 'fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought' in Deut 8:15. Paul cites the event: 'some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents' (1 Cor 10:9).

Verse 8

set it upon a pole — The Hebrew is nes, a standard raised so that all can see it, rendered 'ensign' in Isa 11:10. The remedy is a saraph in image, set where it can be seen. To 'look' (ra'ah) is the whole requirement, and 'shall live' is promised to 'every one that is bitten'.

Verse 9

serpent of brass — The metal is nechosheth, brass or copper, a likeness in the shape of the serpent. Christ applies the pole to himself: 'as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up' (John 3:14). Centuries later Hezekiah broke it, 'for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it' (2 Kgs 18:4).

Verse 13

the other side of Arnon — Israel pitched beyond the Arnon, 'the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites'. Jephthah later recalls that Israel 'came not within the border of Moab' (Judg 11:18), as the LORD had commanded: 'Distress not the Moabites' (Deut 2:9).

Verse 14

the book of the wars of the LORD — A written record quoted by name, and named nowhere else in Scripture; compare the 'book of Jasher' (Josh 10:13). The fragment names 'the Red sea' and 'the brooks of Arnon' as places where the LORD acted, and it is cited just after Arnon is named as the border of Moab (v.13).

Verse 16

Beer — Be'er is a well, and the place is named for it. The word came from the LORD: 'Gather the people together, and I will give them water.' The verb 'give' (nathan) is the one used at the rock, 'it shall give forth his water' (Num 20:8). The well is then dug by 'the princes' and 'the nobles of the people' (v.18).

Verse 17

Spring up, O well — Israel's song at the well recalls the earlier 'Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD' (Ex 15:1). 'Sing ye unto it' translates anah, which usually means to answer or respond, so the lines may have been sung in answer to one another.

Verse 21

messengers unto Sihon — The request repeats the one made to Edom (Num 20:14–21), and Moses recounts it as 'words of peace' (Deut 2:26). Jephthah quotes the same sending when he answers Ammon: 'And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites' (Judg 11:19).

Verse 24

from Arnon unto Jabbok — The conquest reached the Jabbok, the river Jacob crossed at the 'ford' (Gen 32:22), and stopped at Ammon, 'for the border of the children of Ammon was strong'. That land the LORD had reserved: 'I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession' (Deut 2:19). The victory is praised in Ps 136:19.

Verse 26

Heshbon — The city was Sihon's, but he had taken it from 'the former king of Moab' and 'all his land… even unto Arnon', so Israel took Amorite territory and not Moab's. Jephthah uses this when answering Ammon: Israel 'dwelt in Heshbon and her towns' for three hundred years (Judg 11:26).

Verse 27

they that speak in proverbs — The participle is mashal, the verb behind a proverb, taunt or parable, as in the 'proverb against the king of Babylon' (Isa 14:4). The song vv.27–30 begins 'Come into Heshbon' and goes on to say that 'a fire gone out of Heshbon' consumed 'Ar of Moab' (v.28).

Verse 33

Og the king of Bashan — Israel 'turned and went up by the way of Bashan', and Og came out 'to the battle at Edrei'. Moses retells it nearly word for word in Deut 3:1. Og is described as one 'who remained of the remnant of the giants' (Josh 13:12).

Verse 34

Fear him not — The LORD's words to Moses are repeated in Deut 3:2: 'Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand.' The defeat of Sihon is the pattern: 'as thou didst unto Sihon'. The result is given in Deut 3:3, 'until none was left to him remaining'.