Commentary
Old Testament : Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
The Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
![](images/minus.gif)
Text -- Numbers 21:1-30 (NET)
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Strongs On/Off
Context
Victory at Hormah
21:1 When the Canaanite king of Arad who lived in the Negev heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim , he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner .
21:2 So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said , “If you will indeed deliver this people into our hand , then we will utterly destroy their cities .”
21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites , and they utterly destroyed them and their cities . So the name of the place was called Hormah .
Fiery Serpents
21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea , to go around the land of Edom , but the people became impatient along the way .
21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses , “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness , for there is no bread or water , and we detest this worthless food .”
21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people , and they bit the people ; many people of Israel died .
21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said , “We have sinned , for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people .
21:8 The Lord said to Moses , “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole . When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live .”
21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole , so that if a snake had bitten someone , when he looked at the bronze snake he lived .
The Approach to Moab
21:10 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth .
21:11 Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim , in the wilderness that is before Moab , on the eastern side .
21:12 From there they moved on and camped in the valley of Zered .
21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon , in the wilderness that extends from the regions of the Amorites , for Arnon is the border of Moab , between Moab and the Amorites .
21:14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord , “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis , the Arnon
21:15 and the slope of the valleys that extends to the dwelling of Ar , and falls off at the border of Moab .”
21:16 And from there they traveled to Beer ; that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses , “Gather the people and I will give them water .”
21:17 Then Israel sang this song : “Spring up , O well , sing to it!
21:18 The well which the princes dug , which the leaders of the people opened with their scepters and their staffs .” And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah ;
21:19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel ; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth ;
21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab , near the top of Pisgah , which overlooks the wilderness .
The Victory over Sihon and Og
21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites , saying ,
21:22 “Let us pass through your land ; we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards , nor will we drink water from any well , but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders .”
21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border ; he gathered all his forces together and went out against Israel into the wilderness . When he came to Jahaz , he fought against Israel .
21:24 But the Israelites defeated him in battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok , as far as the Ammonites , for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended.
21:25 So Israel took all these cities ; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites , in Heshbon , and in all its villages .
21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites . Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control , as far as the Arnon .
21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs say , “Come to Heshbon , let it be built . Let the city of Sihon be established !
21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon , a flame from the city of Sihon . It has consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places of Arnon .
21:29 Woe to you, Moab . You are ruined , O people of Chemosh ! He has made his sons fugitives , and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites .
21:30 We have overpowered them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon . We have shattered them as far as Nophah , which reaches to Medeba .”
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Moses |
BIBLE, THE, IV CANONICITY |
IMAGES |
Sihon |
Amorites |
WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL |
Israel |
MOAB; MOABITES |
Heshbon |
Serpent |
Canaan |
Wars of the Lord, The Book of the |
AMMON; AMMONITES |
Suphah |
Arnon |
Ar |
Intercession |
Mattanah |
Beer |
Hormah |
more
![](images/cmt_minus_head.gif)
expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Num 21:1; Num 21:1; Num 21:1; Num 21:2; Num 21:2; Num 21:2; Num 21:2; Num 21:3; Num 21:3; Num 21:4; Num 21:4; Num 21:5; Num 21:5; Num 21:6; Num 21:6; Num 21:7; Num 21:8; Num 21:9; Num 21:10; Num 21:11; Num 21:11; Num 21:13; Num 21:14; Num 21:15; Num 21:15; Num 21:16; Num 21:16; Num 21:17; Num 21:18; Num 21:20; Num 21:21; Num 21:21; Num 21:22; Num 21:22; Num 21:23; Num 21:23; Num 21:23; Num 21:24; Num 21:24; Num 21:25; Num 21:26; Num 21:27; Num 21:27; Num 21:28; Num 21:29; Num 21:30; Num 21:30
NET Notes: Num 21:1 Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:2 On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָ&...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:3 In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject, and so here too is made passive. The name “Hormah” is etymologically connected to th...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:4 Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:5 The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹק...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:6 The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the w...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:7 The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may b...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:8 The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:9 The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating t...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:10 See further D. L. Christensen, “Numbers 21:14-15 and the Book of the Wars of Yahweh,” CBQ 36 (1974): 359-60; G. W. Coats, “The Wilde...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:14 The ancient versions show a wide variation here: Smr has “Waheb on the Sea of Reeds,” the Greek version has “he has set Zoob on fire...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:17 After the adverb “then” the prefixed conjugation has the preterite force. For the archaic constructions, see D. N. Freedman, “Archai...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:18 The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit be...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:22 Smr has “by the King’s way I will go. I will not turn aside to the right or the left.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:23 The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:26 There is a justice, always, in the divine plan for the conquest of the land. Modern students of the Bible often think that the conquest passages are c...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:28 Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of ב...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Num 21:29 The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)