Text -- Numbers 21:10-20 (NET)

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.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Num 21:10

Not immediately, but after two other stations mentioned, Num 33:43-44.

Wesley: Num 21:12

Or rather, by the brook of Zared, which ran into the dead sea.

Wesley: Num 21:13

Or rather, on this side of Arnon, for so it now was to the Israelites, who had not yet passed over it.

Wesley: Num 21:13

Though formerly it and the land beyond it belonged to Moab, yet afterwards it had been taken from them by Sihon. This is added to reconcile two seemingly contrary commands of God, the one that of not meddling with the land of the Moabites, Deu 2:9, the other that of going over Arnon and taking possession of the land beyond it, Deu 2:24, because, saith he, it is not now the land of the Moabites, but of the Amorites.

Wesley: Num 21:14

This seems to have been some poem or narration of the wars and victories of the Lord, either by: or relating to the Israelites: which may be asserted without any prejudice to the integrity of the holy scripture, because this book doth not appear to have been written by a prophet, er to be designed for a part of the canon, which yet Moses might quote, as St. Paul doth some of the heathen poets. And as St. Luke assures us, that many did write an history of the things done, and said by Christ, Luk 1:1, whose writings were never received as canonical, the like may be conceived concerning this and some few other books mentioned in the old testament.

Wesley: Num 21:14

The brook, the plural number for the singular, as the plural number rivers is used concerning Jordan, Psa 74:15, and concerning Tigris, Nah 2:6, and concerning Euphrates, Psa 137:1, all which may be to called because of the several little streams into which they were divided.

Wesley: Num 21:15

A chief city in Moab.

Wesley: Num 21:16

This place and Mattanah, Nahaliel, and Bamoth named here, Num 21:19, are not mentioned among those places where they pitched or encamped, Num. 33:1-49. Probably they did not pitch or encamp in these places, but only pass by or through them.

Wesley: Num 21:16

In a miraculous manner. Before they prayed, God granted, and prevented them with the blessings of goodness. And as the brasen serpent was the figure of Christ, so is this well a figure of the spirit, who is poured forth for our comfort, and from him flow rivers of living waters.

Wesley: Num 21:17

Heb. ascend, that is, let thy waters, which now lie hid below in the earth, ascend for our use. It is either a prediction that it should spring up, or a prayer that it might.

Wesley: Num 21:18

Probably as Moses smote the rock with his rod, so they struck the earth with their staves, as a sign that God would cause the water to flow out of the earth where they smote it, as he did before out of the rock. Perhaps they made holes with their staves in the sandy ground, and God caused the water immediately to spring up.

Wesley: Num 21:20

This was the top of those high hills of Abarim.

JFB: Num 21:10

Along the eastern frontier of the Edomites, encamping in various stations.

JFB: Num 21:12

Literally, the "woody brook-valley" of Zared (Deu 2:13; Isa 15:7; Amo 6:14). This torrent rises among the mountains to the east of Moab, and flowing west, empties itself into the Dead Sea. Ije-Abarim is supposed to have been its ford [CALMET].

JFB: Num 21:13

Now El-Mojib, a deep, broad, and rapid stream, dividing the dominions of the Moabites and Amorites.

JFB: Num 21:14

A fragment or passage is here quoted from a poem or history of the wars of the Israelites, principally with a view to decide the position of Arnon.

JFB: Num 21:15

The capital of Moab.

JFB: Num 21:16

That is, a "well." The name was probably given to it afterwards [see Jdg 9:21], as it is not mentioned (Num. 33:1-56).

JFB: Num 21:17-18

This beautiful little song was in accordance with the wants and feelings of travelling caravans in the East, where water is an occasion both of prayer and thanksgiving. From the princes using their official rods only, and not spades, it seems probable that this well was concealed by the brushwood or the sand, as is the case with many wells in Idumea still. The discovery of it was seasonable, and owing to the special interposition of God.

Clarke: Num 21:12

They - pitched in the valley of Zared - נחל זרד nachal zared . This should be translated the brook Zared, as it is in Deu 2:13, Deu 2:14. This stream has its origin in the mountains eastward of Moab, and runs from east to west, and discharges itself into the Dead Sea.

Clarke: Num 21:13

Arnon - Another river which takes its rise in the mountains of Moab, and, after having separated the ancient territories of the Moabites and Ammonites, falls into the Dead Sea, near the mouth of Jordan.

Clarke: Num 21:14

The book of the wars of the Lord - There are endless conjectures about this book, both among ancients and moderns. Dr. Lightfoot’ s opinion is the most simple, and to me bears the greatest appearance of being the true one. "This book seems to have been some book of remembrances and directions, written by Moses for Joshua’ s private instruction for the management of the wars after him. See Exo 17:14-16. It may be that this was the same book which is called the book of Jasher, i. e., the book of the upright, or a directory for Joshua, from Moses, what to do and what to expect in his wars; and in this book it seems as if Moses directed the setting up of archery, see 2Sa 1:18, and warrants Joshua to command the sun, and expect its obedience, Jos 10:13.

Clarke: Num 21:14

What he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon - This clause is impenetrably obscure. All the versions, all the translators, and all the commentators, have been puzzled with it. Scarcely any two agree. The original is את והב בסופה eth vaheb besuphah , which our translators render, what he did in the Red Sea, following here the Chaldee Targum; but not satisfied with this version, they have put the most difficult words in English letters in the margin, Vaheb in Suphah. Calmet’ s conjecture here is ingenious, and is adopted by Houbigant; instead of והב vaheb , he reads זרד zared . Now a ז zain may be easily mistaken for a ו vau , and vice versa; and a ה he for a ר, resh , if the left limb happened to be a little obliterated, which frequently occurs, not only in MSS., but in printed books; the ב beth also might be mistaken for a ד daleth , if the ruled line on which it stood happened in that place to be a little thicker or blacker than usual. Thus then והב vaheb might be easily formed out of זרד zared , mentioned Num 21:12; the whole might then be read, They encamped at the brook Zared, and they came to Suphah, and thence to the brook Arnon. Take the passage as we may, it is evidently defective. As I judge the whole clause to have been a common proverb in those days, and Vaheb to be a proper name, I therefore propose the following translation, which I believe to be the best: From Vaheb unto Suph, and unto the streams of Arnon. If we allow it to have been a proverbial expression, used to point out extensive distance, then it was similar to that well known phrase, From Dan even unto Beersheba.

Clarke: Num 21:17

Spring up, O well, etc. - This is one of the most ancient war songs in the world, but is not easily understood, which is commonly the case with all very ancient compositions, especially the poetic. See the remarks Exo 15:1 (note), etc.

Clarke: Num 21:18

The princes digged the well - with their staves - This is not easily understood. Who can suppose that the princes dug this well with their staves? And is there any other idea conveyed by our translation? The word חפרו chapharu , which is translated they digged, should be rendered they searched out, which is a frequent meaning of the root; and במשענתם bemishanotham , which we render with their staves, should be translated on their borders or confines, from the root שען shaan , to lie along. With these corrections the whole song may be read thus: -

Spring up, O well! Answer ye to it

The well, the princes searched it out

The nobles of the people have digged it

By a decree, upon their own border

This is the whole of the quotation from what is called the book of the wars of the Lord. But see Dr. Kennicott’ s remarks at the end of this chapter.

Calvin: Num 21:10

10.And the children of Israel set forth Moses does not here enumerate all the stations, which will be mentioned hereafter, when he recapitulates them all separately and in order: for, in hastening to record certain memorable circumstances, he passes over those of minor importance, which, however, he does not omit elsewhere; since the account of their circuitous course, when they were turning away from the Edomites, was of some moment. For it was, as we have observed, no ordinary proof of obedience, when God had forbidden them to attack the Edomites, that they should undertake a difficult and rugged march. Still in this place Moses deemed it sufficient to mark the principal places in which they stopped. Meanwhile, what I have stated appears to be the case, that he hastens onwards to relate circumstances of much importance, for, when they came to Arnon, he highly magnifies the power of God, with which He succoured His people.

Calvin: Num 21:13

13.From thence they removed, and pitched I will presently add, what Moses relates in Deuteronomy respecting the Moabites and Ammonites. Since here he only briefly touches upon the main facts, he only specifies that the people came to the borders of their enemies, where it was necessary to give battle, because there was no means of entering the land of Canaan, except by force of arms. Here, then, was the end of their journeying, for, when the Amorites were conquered, they began to inhabit their cities. He, therefore, immediately adds, that this place would be memorable in all ages, because in it God again exerted His power, by putting to flight their enemies. Still translators appear to me to be mistaken as to the meaning of the words. Almost all of them render the word ספר , sepher, “the book;” and afterwards eagerly discuss what book it is, without coming to any satisfactory conclusion. I rather understand it to mean “narration;” as if Moses had said, that when the wars of Jehovah shall be recounted, the memory of this place would be celebrated; as David, when he is recounting, and magnifying God’s mercies, expressly mentions that king Sihon and Og were conquered.

There is also another ambiguity in the following words: for some suppose Vaheb to be the proper name of a city, and Suphah a noun common, which they translate “in a whirlwind;” ¹²³ but, since the shore of the Red Sea was not habitable, I do not see how mention could be suitably made of any city situated there. But if they think it was a city near Arnon, it is surprising that it should never be spoken of elsewhere, and yet here referred to, as if it were well known. I therefore rather incline to their opinion, who explain it as a vero, and suppose that ו (vau) is used for י (yod,) so that the sense should be; As God had begun to fight gloriously for the Israelites at the Red Sea, so also He continued the same grace at Arnon. I admit, that if the points be scrupulously insisted upon, this meaning would not be altogether accordant with grammar; but I prefer eliciting a probable meaning at the cost of a single point, than to go out of the way in search of poor conjectures, as they do who imagine Vaheb to be the proper name of a place. Appropriately, indeed, does Moses compare Arnon with the Red Sea, in order to shew that God’s grace, at its end, is thoroughly in accordance with its commencement. He had mightily fought against the Egyptians, and had destroyed the army of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, but small would have been the fruit of this deliverance, unless, with equal efficacy, He had succoured His people when they had to contend with the Canaanitish nations: for the question here is not as to God’s blessings in general, but only as to the victories, wherein it was manifested that the Israelites did not fight without the approval and guidance of God. Moses, therefore, does not recount the miracles performed in the desert: but only says, that in the history of the wars of God the name of Arnon would be equally renowned with that of the Red Sea. Still, in the word Arnon it must be observed that there is a synecdoche; forMoses comprehends in it all the subsequent battles. Since, therefore, from the time that the people arrived at Arnon, where their enemies came forth to meet them, God again lifted up His standard, and gloriously honored His people by continued victories — hence the special celebrity of the place arose. There is a poetical repetition in the verse, where, for the torrents, the stream of the torrents ¹²⁴ is spoken of, which descends to Ar, and reposes in the border of Moab.

Calvin: Num 21:16

16.And from thence they went to Beer Some think that a circumstance is here narrated, which had never been mentioned before, since a song is recorded, which we do not find elsewhere. But since Moses repeats the same words which he had used before, and speaks as of a very notorious matter, that he was there commanded to assemble the people, to partake of the water which God had given, it appears probable to me that the name was given to the place, whereby both God’s goodness and the people’s ingratitude might be testified to posterity. I do not, however, contend that this is the same place, from whence we previously read that water was extracted: for it was not there only that the people was satisfied by drinking it, but it flowed forth beside them wherever they went. In which sense Paul writes that “the Rock followed them,” (1Co 10:4;) not that the rock was torn from its roots, but because God miraculously drew on the water which flowed from it, so that it should accompany them, and thus continually supply them with drink. And this we gather also from the next verse, where Moses says, that the people “sang this song, Ascend, Beer.” ¹²⁵ For when they saw that, contrary to nature, the water rose into higher levels from the source which was recently called into existence, so as to supply them with drink in dry places, they began to pay more attention to the miracle, and to celebrate the grace of God. Still it might be the case that the water did not flow down like a river, but bubbled up from the open veins of the earth, whenever it was required. At any rate, by its ascent he indicates an extraordinary effect produced by God. When it is said, that “the princes digged the well,” there is, in my opinion, an implied contrast between a few persons, and those but little fitted for manual labors, and a great body of engineers. Whenever armies have need of water, the soldiers dig wells with much labor; here quite another mode of proceeding is expressed, viz., that the leaders of the people, together with Moses, dug the well, not by artificial or mechanical means, but by the simple touch of a staff. Moses, indeed, speaks of “staves,” in the plural nmnber, because mention of the princes is made; but I have no doubt but that the rod of Moses is contrasted with all other implements, in order to exalt the power and grace of God. I think, too, that the name of Beer was given to the place, where that water forsook the Israelites; since they had come to well-watered regions, which would supply water in abundance without miraculous interference. Let us, however, learn from this canticle, that, although the people had at first impiously rebelled against God, still, by long experience of the blessing, they were at length induced to gratitude, so as to burst forth into praise of God. Hence we gather, that they were not obstinate in their senselessness.

Defender: Num 21:12

It is difficult to trace the various moves of the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness. The itineraries in chapters 21 and 33, for example, seem impossible to correlate in any detail. It must be remembered, however, that the Israelite nation consisted of several million people plus all their cattle, horses and equipment. They must have been scattered over a large area of the wilderness in order to have pasturage for their flocks and herds. It is possible that much of the moving described in the Mosaic records refers mainly to moving the tabernacle and its attendants (along with Moses) - perhaps making a circuit among the various tribal encampments."

TSK: Num 21:10

Num 33:43-45

TSK: Num 21:11

Oboth : Probably Oboda, a city of Arabia Petrea, mentioned by Ptolemy. Pliny assigns it to the Helmodians; but Stephanus to the Nabatheans.

Ijeabarim : or, heaps of Abarim, Num 21:11

TSK: Num 21:12

the valley of Zared : Deu 2:13, Deu 2:14, the brook Zered

TSK: Num 21:13

Num 21:14, Num 22:36; Deu 2:24; Jdg 11:18; Isa 16:2; Jer 48:20

TSK: Num 21:14

in the book : Jos 10:13; 2Sa 1:18

What he did : or, Vaheb in Suphah, The following seems to be the sense of this passage: ""From Vaheb in Suphah, and the torrents of Arnon, even the effusion of the torrents, which goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth for the boundary of Moab; even from thence to the well; (which is the well of which Jehovah spake unto Moses, Gather the people, and I will give them water. Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O Well! Answer ye to it. The well, princes digged it; even nobles of the people digged it, by a decree, upon their borders); and from the wilderness (or the well, as in LXX) to Mattanah; and from Mattanah,""etc. The whole of this, from Num 21:14-20, is a fragment from ""the book of the wars of Jehovah,""probably a book of remembrances or directions written by Moses for the use of Joshua, and describes the several boundaries of the land of Moab. This rendering removes every obscurity, and obviates every difficulty.

TSK: Num 21:15

Ar : Num 21:28; Deu 2:9, Deu 2:18, Deu 2:29; Isa 15:1

lieth : Heb. leaneth

TSK: Num 21:16

Beer : Jdg 9:21

Gather : Num 20:8; Exo 17:6; Isa 12:3, Isa 41:17, Isa 41:18, Isa 43:20, Isa 49:10; Joh 4:10, Joh 4:14; Joh 7:37-39; Rev 21:6, Rev 22:1, Rev 22:17

TSK: Num 21:17

sang : Exo 15:1, Exo 15:2; Jdg 5:1; Psa 105:2, Psa 106:12; Isa 12:1, Isa 12:2, Isa 12:5; Jam 5:13

Spring up : Heb. ascend

sing ye : or answer

TSK: Num 21:18

princes : 2Ch 17:7-9; Neh 3:1, Neh 3:5; 1Ti 6:17, 1Ti 6:18

the lawgiver : Deu 5:31, Deu 33:4; Isa 33:22; Joh 1:17; Jam 4:12

And from : Num 33:45-47

TSK: Num 21:20

country : Heb. field, Num 22:1, Num 26:63, Num 33:49, Num 33:50; Deu 1:5

to the : Num 23:14; Deu 3:27, Deu 4:49, Deu 34:1

Pisgah : or the hill

Jeshimon : or, the wilderness, Num 23:28

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Num 21:10-11

The earlier stations in this part of their journey were Zalmonah and Punon Num 33:41-42. Oboth was north of Punon, east of the northern part of Edom, and is pretty certainly the same as the present pilgrim halting-place el-Ahsa. Ije ("ruinous heaps") of Abarim, or Iim of Abarim, was so called to distinguish it from another Iim in southwestern Canaan Jos 15:29. Abarim denotes generally the whole upland country on the east of the Jordan. The Greek equivalent of the name is Peraea.

Barnes: Num 21:12

The valley of Zared - Rather, the brook or watercourse of Zared "the willow."It is probably the present Wady Ain Franjy.

Barnes: Num 21:13

The Arnon, now the Wady Mojeb, an impetuous torrent, divided the territory which remained to the Moabites from that which the Amorites had wrested from them, Num 21:26.

Barnes: Num 21:14

Of "the book of the wars of the Lord"nothing is known except what may be gathered from the passage before us. It was apparently a collection of sacred odes commemorative of that triumphant progress of God’ s people which this chapter records. From it is taken the ensuing fragment of ancient poetry relating to the passage of the Arnon River, and probably also the Song of the Well, and the Ode on the Conquest of the Kingdom of Sihon Num 21:17-18, Num 21:27-30.

What he did ... - The words which follow to the end of the next verse are a reference rather than a quotation. Contemporaries who had "the Book"at hand, could supply the context. We can only conjecture the sense of the words; which in the original are grammatically incomplete. The marg. is adopted by many, and suggests a better sense: supplying some such verb as "conquered,"the words would run "He"(i. e. the Lord) "conquered Vaheb in Suphah, and the brooks, etc."Suphah would thus be the name of a district remarkable for its reeds and water-flags in which Vaheb was situated.

Barnes: Num 21:15

To the dwelling of Ar - Ar (compare Num 21:28; Isa 15:1) was on the bank of the Arnon, lower down the stream than where the Israelites crossed. Near the spot where the upper Arnon receives the tributary Nahaliel Num 21:19, there rises, in the midst of the meadow-land between the two torrents, a hill covered with the ruins of the ancient city (Jos 13:9, Jos 13:16; compare Deu 2:36).

Barnes: Num 21:16

Beer is probably the "Well,"afterward known as Beer-elim, the "well of heroes"Isa 15:8.

Barnes: Num 21:17-18

This song, recognized by all authorities as dating from the earliest times, and suggested apparently by the fact that God in this place gave the people water not from the rock, but by commanding Moses to cause a well to be dug, bespeaks the glad zeal, the joyful faith, and the hearty cooperation among all ranks, which possessed the people. In after time it may well have been the water-drawing song of the maidens of Israel.

Num 21:18

By the direction of the lawgiver - Some render, with the lawgiver’ s scepter; i. e. under the direction and with the authority of Moses; compare Gen 49:10, and note.

Barnes: Num 21:19

Nahaliel - i. e. "brook of God;"the modern Wady Enkheileh. The Israelites must have crossed the stream not much above Ar.

Bamoth - Otherwise Bamoth-baal, "the high places of Baal"Num 22:41 : mentioned as near Dibon (Dhiban) in Jos 13:17, and Isa 15:2. See Num 32:34.

Barnes: Num 21:20

In the country of Moab - Rather, in the field of Moab: the upland pastures, or flat downs, intersected by the ravine of Wady Waleh.

Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon - Or, "toward the waste."See Num 33:47. Pisgah was a ridge of the Abarim mountains, westward from Heshbon. From the summit the Israelites gained their first view of the wastes of the Dead Sea and of the valley of the Jordan: and Moses again ascended it, to view, before his death, the land of promise. The interest attaching to the spot, and the need of a convenient name for it, has led Christians often to designate it as "Nebo,"rather than as "the mountain of, or near to, Nebo;"but the latter is the more correct: Nebo denoted the town Isa 15:2; Jer 48:1, Jer 48:22 on the western slope of the ridge.

Poole: Num 21:10

Not immediately, but after two other stations, mentioned Nu 33 .

Poole: Num 21:11

Moab is called the wilderness of Moab , Deu 2:8 .

Poole: Num 21:12

Or rather, by the torrent or brook of Zared , as we render it, Deu 2:13 ; which ran into the Dead Sea, and from which the valley also might be so called.

Poole: Num 21:13

On the other side of Arnon or rather, on this side of Arnon , for so it now was to the Israelites, who had not yet passed over it, as appears from Deu 2:24 . But the same words, Jud 11:18 , are to be rendered on the other side of Arnon , for so it was to Jephthah; and the same preposition signifieth on this side, or beyond , according to the circumstances of the place.

Between Moab and the Amorite i.e. though formerly it and the land beyond it belonged to Moab, yet afterwards it had been taken from them by Sihon, Num 21:26,28 . This is added to reconcile two seemingly contrary commands of God, the one that of not meddling with the land of the. Moabites, Deu 2:9 , the other that of going over Arnon and taking possession of the land beyond it, Deu 2:24 , because, saith he, it is not now the land of the Moabites, but of the Amorites.

Poole: Num 21:14

The book of the wars of the Lord seems to have been some poem or narration of the wars and victories of the Lord, either by or relating to the Israelites; which may be asserted without any prejudice to the integrity of the Holy Scripture, because this book doth not appear to have been written by a prophet, or to be designed for a part of the canon, but by some other ingenious person, who intended only to write an historical relation of these matters, which yet Moses might quote, as St. Paul doth some of the heathen poets. And as St. Luke assures us that many did write a history of the things done and said by Christ, Luk 1:1 , whose writings were never received as canonical, the like may be justly conceived concerning this and some few other books mentioned in the Old Testament; though the words may be thus rendered, Wherefore it shall be said in the relation, or narration (for so the Hebrew sepher is confessed to signify)

of the wars of the Lord In the Red Sea; or, at Vaheb in Suphah, or in the land of Suph . Vaheb seems to be the name not of a man, but of a city or place, and Suphah the name of the country where it was; and the Hebrew particle eth is oft rendered at . And whereas the sense seems to be imperfect, it must be noted, that he quotes only a fragment or piece of the book, and that principally to prove the situation of Arnon, which he had asserted Num 21:13 , from which end the passage quoted is sufficient. And the sense is easily to be understood, for it is plain enough that this poet or writer is describing the wars and works of God by the several places where they were done; and having begun the sentence before, and mentioned other places, he comes to these here mentioned, at Vaheb in Suphah, and at the brooks of Arnon , &c. And it seems probable that the war here designed was that of Sihon against the Moabites, mentioned below, Num 21:26 , which is fitly ascribed to the Lord, because it was undertaken and perfected by the singular direction and assistance of God, and that for the sake of the Israelites, that by this means that country might be invaded and possessed by them, without taking it away from the Moabites, which they were forbidden to meddle with or to disturb, Deu 2:9 , and so their title to it might be more just and unquestionable. See Jud 11:12,13,27 .

In the brooks of Arnon i.e. the brook , the plural number for the singular, as the plural number rivers is used concerning Jordan, Psa 74:15 , and concerning Tigris, Nah 2:6 , and concerning Euphrates, Psa 137:1 , and concerning Thermodoon in Virgil, all which may be so called because of the several little streams into which they were divided.

Poole: Num 21:15

Ar a chief city in Moab, as appears from Isa 15:1 , of which Num 21:28 .

Poole: Num 21:16

Beer and Mattanah, Nahaliel, and Bamoth named here, Num 21:19 , are not mentioned among those places where they pitched or encamped, Nu 33 . Either therefore they did not pitch or encamp in these places, but only pass by or through them, nor indeed is it here said they pitched or encamped in these places, which is said of those places, Nu 33 , but only that they went to them, Num 21:18 ; or, these are stations omitted there, and to be supplied from hence; for though it be there said they went from such a place, and pitched in such a place, yet it is not said they went immediately from the one place to the other, and therefore they might take these places in their way.

Will give them water to wit, in a miraculous manner.

Poole: Num 21:17

Israel sang this song to praise God for giving them such a seasonable blessing, before they asked it, or complained for the want of it.

Spring up give forth thy waters that we may drink. Heb. Ascend , i.e. let thy waters, which now lie hid below in the earth, ascend for thy use. It is either a prediction that it should spring up, or a prayer that it might, or a command in the name of God directed to the well, by a usual prosopopaeia, as when God bids the heavens hear , and the earth give ear , Isa 1:2 . Any of these ways it shows their faith. Sing ye unto it ; or, sing ye of it ; or, answer to it or concerning it ; it being the manner of the Jewish singers that one should answer to another, of which see Exo 15:21 1Sa 18:7 .

Poole: Num 21:18

The princes digged either by themselves, or by others whom they commanded to do it. By the direction of the lawgiver , or, with the lawgiver , i.e. Moses; they together with Moses, or they by Moses’ s direction and appointment, which is signified Num 21:16 .

Their staves are here mentioned, either,

1. As the ensigns of their authority, Jud 5:14 , by which they gave this command of digging.

2. As the instruments of their work; not that they, did formally and effectually dig the well or receptacle for the water, for which spades were more proper than staves, but that as Moses smote the rock with his rod, so they struck the earth with their staves, making only some small impression for form sake, or as a sign that God would cause the water to flow forth out of the earth where they smote it, as he did before out of the rock.

Poole: Num 21:19

See Poole "Num 21:16" .

Poole: Num 21:20

In the valley or, the valley , which might be called Bamoth , not because it was a place naturally high, but from divers other reasons, which may be easily guessed. Or, to the valley , or to that valley , that famous or rather infamous valley, to wit, of Abel-shittim , Num 33:49 , where they committed those foul abominations recorded Nu 25

Pisgah was the top of these high hills of Abarim; of which see Deu 3:17,27 32:49 34:1,6 .

Haydock: Num 21:10

Oboth, where Obodas, an ancient king of the Nabatheans, was adored. Hither they came from Phunon, celebrated for its copper-mines, where Bochart believes the Hebrews were bitten by the serpents, though others say that judgment was inflicted upon them at Salmona; which may be derived from tselem enu, "our image."

Haydock: Num 21:11

Jeabarim, means "the ford, (of Zared, ver. 12,) or the straits of passages, passengers, or Hebrews; or the hills Abarim," which extended over the eastern parts of Moab. It was the 38th station, (Calmet) at the southern extremity of Mount Abarim. (Haydock) ---

After which Moses specifies those of Zared, (ver 12,) Mathana, Nahaliel, Bamoth, Arnon, (ver. 19,) Dibon-gad, and Helmon-dablataim, (Calmet) all on the sides of that mountain, before they came to the summit, which was also called Phasga and Nabo, chap. xxxiii. 45, &c. But Pococke reckons only the two last among the stations, and makes those of Abarim and Shittim the 41st and 42d. The Septuagint read, "they encamped in Achelgai, on the other side, in the desert." (Haydock) ---

Eusebius and St. Jerome call this station of Jee, Gai or Hai, which they place near Petra, Jeremias xlix. 4. ---

East. The Samaritan here inserts, (Deuteronomy ii. 9,) "And the Lord said to Moses, Fight not, " &c.

Haydock: Num 21:12

Zared. The Israelites passed over this torrent, 38 years after the murmur at Cades-barne, (Deuteronomy ii. 14,) when God ordered Moses not to attack the Moabites.

Haydock: Num 21:13

Against. Hebrew, "on the other, or on this side of (the river, ver. 14) Arnon," which runs from the east, almost in the same direction as the torrent of Zared, but empties itself into the Dead Sea higher up, near the mouth of the Jordan. (Calmet) ---

It divides the Moabites from their brethren, the children of Ammon, who lay to the north-east. The Hebrews encamped on the south side of this river, in the desert of Cademoth, (Deuteronomy ii. 26,) whence they sent to ask leave of Sehon to pass through his dominions; but, on his refusal, God ordered them to cross the Arnon by force. (Calmet)

Haydock: Num 21:14

The book of the wars, &c. An ancient book, which, like several others quoted in Scripture, has been lost. (Challoner) ---

St. Augustine (q. 42) thinks this book was written by one of that country. Others believe that Moses wrote a more detailed account of the wars which he had to wage with the Amalecites, (Exodus xvii. 14,) and these other nations, out of which he has only inserted some of the heads in the Pentateuch. But whether these two verses were taken from another work of Moses, or from the history of some other person, they are now of divine authority. Saul says to David, (1 Kings xviii. 17,) fight the battles of the Lord,....and the children of God and of Ruben pass all armed for war before the Lord, (chap xxxii. 29.; Calmet) whence it appears, that the wars of the Hebrews were attributed to God. Tostat is of opinion, that the Book of the Just, is the same with that to which Moses here refers. See Josue x. 13., and 2 Kings i. 18. But Theodoret thinks rather, that the former was a more extensive account of the transactions of Josue, out of which the book which bears his name was compiled. Such records certainly existed, to which the sacred historians frequently refer: and it is very probable, that a work of this nature was compiled in the days of Moses, or perhaps before his time. (St. Augustine, City of God xviii.) As it contained a prediction, respecting the future wars, in which the Hebrews were about to engage, it could not but make a suitable impression upon them. It might already be in every one's mouth, and the Hebrew may insinuate, that it would be handed down to the latest posterity: "Wherefore in the history, or account of the wars of the Lord, this also shall be mentioned," jamor, dicetur. According to this interpretation, it would not be necessary to suppose, that Moses refers to any more ancient book, as sepher means also, "a narration" by word of mouth; and Rabbi Menachem believes, that God had revealed this event to Moses, encouraging him with the assurance, that he would give him the victory over the nations bordering upon the Arnon, as he had done over the Egyptians and Amalecites at the Red Sea. See Sixt. Senens. (Haydock) ---

Of Arnon, the waters of which are supposed to have given the Hebrews a passage, as the Chaldean asserts on the authority of Psalm lxxiii. 15. Habacuc (iii. 13) also mentions that several rivers were dried up by God. The Hebrew text is almost unintelligible, "From, or against, Vahab to Supha." As there is no verb, some translate, "he (Sehon) fought against Vaheb (Grotius reads Moab) at Supha, or he came to Veb. " But Calmet would substitute Zared instead of Vaheb: "The encamped at the torrent of Zared, and came to Supha, (Deuteronomy i. 1, where we read the Red Sea ) to the torrent of Arnon." Protestants translate, "What he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, (16) and at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling or Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab." (Haydock)

Haydock: Num 21:15

The rocks. Some assert that the rocks fell upon the enemy: others, that they gave way and opened a passage for the Hebrews, while the rivers were also dried up. Hebrew, "They encamped on the stream of the torrents, which bends towards the dwelling (or city) of Ar, and rests upon the frontiers of Moab." Thus the book to which Moses alludes, confirms his account of these different encampments. (Calmet) ---

The Septuagint give rather a different turn of these two verses: "Hence it is said in a book, The war of the Lord has burnt Zoob and the torrents of Arnon---and has sent the torrents to inhabit Er: and it lies upon the borders of Moab." The river, it seems, had been removed out of its bead by a subterraneous fire or earthquake, and deluged the city of Ar, belonging to Moab. The mighty hand of God terrified those nations, while all nature fought against the wicked and the unwise, Wisdom v. 21. (Haydock) ---

Rocks were hurled upon the heads of the Amorrhites, and the waters conveyed their dead bodies into the vale of Moab. (Worthington)

Haydock: Num 21:16

Well. Hebrew Beer. (Haydock) ---

This station is not mentioned under the same name at least, chap. xxxiii. Probably the inhabitants had covered up this well with sand, and God having discovered it to Moses, he informed the princes, who pushed their staves down. Upon which the waters appearing, the people sung a hymn of thanksgiving and joy. Water is very scarce, and, of course, of course, of great value in those deserts, where even still the Arabs conceal their wells, and often fight to hinder passengers from taking any of the water. (Calmet)

Haydock: Num 21:17

They sung. Hebrew, "sing ye unto it," in chorus, men and women. Septuagint, "commence a canticle unto it. This well the princes dug, the kings of nations hewed in the rock, in their kingdom, while they held dominion."

Haydock: Num 21:18

Mathana. Perhaps they did not stop here, though all the encampments are not specified, chap. xxxiii. Nahaliel, "God my torrent," and Bamoth, "the heights," are also situated upon the Arnon.

Haydock: Num 21:20

Desert. Hebrew and Chaldean, "Yeshimon," (Josue xiii. 28; Ezechiel xxv. 9,) a city of the Moabites.

Gill: Num 21:10

And the children of Israel set forward,.... From Zalmonah, and came to Punon, which, according to the above writer, was twenty miles from it; though here indeed, some think, the brazen serpent was set up, here being, as before observed, brass mines to furnish with that metal:

and pitched in Oboth; which was twenty four miles from Punon, as says the same writer: the word signifies bottles; perhaps here the Israelites got water and filled their bottles, or, as others think, they filled them with the wine of Moab, and called the name of the place from thence; it is perhaps the same with the Eboda of Ptolemy ^h, which he places in Arabia Petraea; and of which Pliny ⁱ also makes mention.

Gill: Num 21:11

And they journeyed from Oboth,.... How long they stayed there is not certain:

and pitched at Ijeabarim; which, according to Bunting ^k, was sixteen miles from Oboth; Jarchi says it was the way that passengers pass by Mount Nebo to the land of Canaan, and which divides between the land of Moab and the land of the Amorites:

in the wilderness which is before Moab; called the wilderness of Moab, Deu 2:8.

towards the sunrising; the east side of the land of Moab, Jdg 11:18.

Gill: Num 21:12

From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zered. Or the brook Zered, as in Deu 13:14 that is near it: this seems to be the same station with Dibongad, Num 33:45, and which, according to the above writer, was sixteen miles from Ijeabarim.

Gill: Num 21:13

From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon,.... A river on the borders of Moab:

which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites; according to Jarchi, they went round the land of Moab, all to the south and east, and came not into the border of Moab, as Jephthah said, Jdg 11:18 but before they came hither they had a station at Almondiblathaim, Num 33:46.

for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites; a river which divided these two countries, and bounded them; and Moses is the more particular in this account, to show that the Israelites took nothing from the Moabites, but what the Amorites had taken from them, they being charged not to distress the Moabites and Ammonites, Deu 2:9, see Jephthah's defence, Jdg 11:15.

Gill: Num 21:14

Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord,.... A history of wars in former times, which the Lord had suffered to be in the world; and which, as Aben Ezra thinks, reached from the times of Abraham and so might begin with the battle of the kings in his time, and take in others in later times, and particularly those of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and his conquests of some parts of Moab; and to this book, which might be written by some one of those nations, Moses refers in proof of what he here says:

what he did in the Red sea; that is, what Sihon king of the Amorites did, or the Lord by him, "at Vaheb in Suphah", as the words may be rendered; either against a king, or rather city, of Moab, whose name was Vaheb, in the borders of the land of Moab, or how he destroyed that city Vaheb with a storm or terrible assault ^l:

and in the brooks of Arnon: some places situated on the streams of that river, which were taken by the Amorites from the Moabites, as the book quoted plainly testified.

Gill: Num 21:15

And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar,.... All that part of the country which lay upon the stream, as far as the city of Ar, the metropolis of Moab, called Ar of Moab, Isa 15:1,

and lieth upon the border of Moab; as that city did; so far goes the quotation out of the aforesaid book, as a proof of what was taken by the Amorites from the Moabites, and were not in their possession when Israel were upon their borders; and therefore, in taking them from the Amorites, did no wrong to Moab.

Gill: Num 21:16

And from thence they went to Beer,.... A place so called from a well which sprung up here, of which the following account is given:

that is, the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses; promising him to give it to the children of Israel, without asking for it; which was a very singular favour, and for which they were thankful: saying to him:

gather the people together, and I will give them water; for as they were now gone from the river Arnon, and the streams and brooks of it, they might be in want of water, though they did not murmur as they had been used to do; and without their petition for it, the Lord promises to give it to them; and that they might be witness of the miracle that would be wrought for them, they are ordered to be gathered together.

Gill: Num 21:17

Then Israel sang this song,.... Being affected with the free favour and good will of God towards them:

spring up, O well; for the springing up of which they prayed in faith, believing in the promise of God, that it would spring up; and so encouraged one another not only to believe it, but even to sing on account of it before it actually did:

sing ye unto it; or on account of it praise the Lord for it; or "answer to it" ^m, it being their manner to sing their songs by responses, or alternately.

Gill: Num 21:18

The princes digged the well,.... The princes and heads of the several tribes:

the nobles of the people digged it; the seventy elders, according to the Targum of Jonathan:

by the direction of the lawgiver; either the Lord himself, the lawgiver of his people, who pointed out the spot, and directed the princes where to dig, that is, be did this by Moses; and who, as Jarchi thinks, is the lawgiver, and not amiss: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem render the word by Scribes, in the plural number, and interpret them of Moses and Aaron: and this the princes and nobles "dug with their staves"; either their walking sticks, or their rods, the ensigns of their authority; with these they smote the ground, or stuck them in a soft and sandy place, upon which the waters bubbled up and flowed out. Dr. Shaw ⁿ chooses to render the words, "with their united applause", or "clapping of hands", as the word שען in Chaldee signifies; or it may be expressed, as by Dr. Hunt, quoted by him, "by describing" or "marking out" the figure or fashion of the well "with staves". Mr. Ainsworth thinks that this well signified Christ, the fountain of gardens, and well of living waters; and the waters of it the Spirit and his graces, which are a well of living water springing up unto everlasting life; the means of which are the labours of the governors of the church, the ministers of Christ,by preaching the word, and opening the Scriptures; and such grace is worthy of a song, and to be had with joy out of the wells of salvation, Isa 12:3,

and from the wilderness they went to Mattanah; from the wilderness near Arnon, which came out of the coasts of the Amorites, Num 21:13 to a place which signifies a gift. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem render it,"and from the wilderness it was given to them for a gift''that is, the well; and so the people of God, that are called out of the wilderness of this world, and come up from it, are called to partake of the gifts and blessings of grace, which are freely given unto them of God.

Gill: Num 21:19

And from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth. All the Targums interpret this, and the following verse, not of the journeying of the children of Israel, but of the motion of the well, that that, from the place from whence it was given them, descended with them into the valleys, and from thence to the high places, as these words signify: and indeed those places are not mentioned in the journeys of the children of Israel, Num 33:1 and were not stations where they pitched, but places they passed through before they came to Abarim, and the wilderness of Kedemoth.

Gill: Num 21:20

And from Bamoth, in the valley,.... Or rather "to the valley", as the Targum of Onkelos, since Bamoth signifies high places; though, according to the Jerusalem Talmud ^o, Bamoth, Baal, which seems to be the same place, was in a plain:

that is in the country of Moab; the valley belonged to Moab, into which Israel came:

to the top of Pisgah; not that the valley reached to the top, nor did the children of Israel go to the top of it, only Moses, but rather to the bottom, which indeed is meant; for it intends the beginning of it, where Pisgah, which was an high mountain near the plains of Moab, began, and which was properly the foot of it:

which looketh towards Jeshimon; that is, Pisgah, as Jarchi rightly interprets it, which looked over a place called Jeshimon; and which signifies a wilderness, and is no other indeed than the wilderness of Kedemoth, Deu 2:26 for from thence the following messengers were sent.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 21:10

¹ sn 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 Wilderness Itinerary,” CBQ 34 (1972): 135-52; G. I. Davies, “The Wilderness Itinerary,” TB 25 (1974): 46-81; idem, The Way of the Wilderness; G. E. Mendenhall, “The Hebrew Conquest of Palestine,” BA 25 (1962): 66-87.

NET Notes: Num 21:11

¹ sn These places are uncertain. Oboth may be some 15 miles (25 km) from the south end of the Dead Sea at a place called ‘Ain el-Weiba. Iye Abarim may be the modern Mahay at the southeastern corner of Moab. See J. Simons, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament.

² tn Heb “the rising of the sun.”

NET Notes: Num 21:13

¹ tn Or “border.”

NET Notes: Num 21:14

¹ tc 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 and the torrents of Arnon.” Several modern versions treat the first line literally, taking the two main words as place names: Waheb and Suphah. This seems most likely, but then there would then be no subject or verb. One would need something like “the Israelites marched through.” The KJV, following the Vulgate, made the first word a verb and read the second as “Red Sea” – “what he did in the Red Sea.” But subject of the passage is the terrain. D. L. Christensen proposed emending the first part from אֶת וָהֵב (’et vahev) to אַתָּה יְהוָה (’attah yehvah, “the Lord came”). But this is subjective. See his article “Num 21:14-15 and the Book of the Wars of Yahweh,” CBQ 36 (1974): 359-60.

NET Notes: Num 21:15

¹ tc There are many variations in this text, but the MT reading of something like “the descent of the torrents/valleys” is preferable, since it is describing the topography.

² sn The place is unknown; it is apparently an important city in the region.

NET Notes: Num 21:16

¹ tn The words “they traveled” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied here because of English style. The same phrase is supplied at the end of v. 18.

² sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.

NET Notes: Num 21:17

¹ tn After the adverb “then” the prefixed conjugation has the preterite force. For the archaic constructions, see D. N. Freedman, “Archaic Forms in Early Hebrew Poetry,” ZAW 72 (1960): 101-7. The poem shows all the marks of being ancient.

NET Notes: Num 21:18

¹ sn 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 because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.

NET Notes: Num 21:20

¹ tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon.”

Geneva Bible: Num 21:14

Wherefore it is said in the ^{( e )} book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,

^{( e )} Which seems to be the book of the Judges, or as some think, a book which is lost.

Geneva Bible: Num 21:17

Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; ^{( f )} sing ye unto it:

^{( f )} You that receive the convenience of it, give praise for it.

Geneva Bible: Num 21:18

The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by [the direction of] the ^{( g )} lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness [they went] to Mattanah:

^{( g )} Only Moses and Aaron, the heads of the people, struck the rock with the rod or staff, which gave water as a well that was deep digged.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Num 21:1-35

1 Israel destroys the Canaanites at Hormah.

4 The people murmuring are plagued with fiery serpents.

7 They repenting are healed by a brazen serpent.

10 Sundry journeys of the Israelites.

21 Sihon is overcome,

33 and Og.

MHCC: Num 21:10-20

We have here the removes of the children of Israel, till they came to the plains of Moab, from whence they passed over Jordan into Canaan. The end of their pilgrimage was near. " They set forward." It were well if we did thus; and the nearer we come to heaven, were so much the more active and abundant in the work of the Lord. The wonderful success God granted to his people, is here spoken of, and, among the rest, their actions on the river Arnon, at Vaheb in Suphah, and other places on that river. In every stage of our lives, nay, in every step, we should notice what God has wrought for us; what he did at such a time, and what in such a place, ought to be distinctly remembered. God blessed his people with a supply of water. When we come to heaven, we shall remove to the well of life, the fountain of living waters. They received it with joy and thankfulness, which made the mercy doubly sweet. With joy must we draw water out of the wells of salvation, Isa 12:3. As the brazen serpent was a figure of Christ, who is lifted up for our cure, so is this well a figure of the Spirit, who is poured forth for our comfort, and from whom flow to us rivers of living waters, Joh 7:38, Joh 7:39. Does this well spring up in our souls? If so, we should take the comfort to ourselves, and give the glory to God. God promised to give water, but they must open the ground. God's favours must be expected in the use of such means as are within our power, but still the power is only of God.

Matthew Henry: Num 21:10-20

We have here an account of the several stages and removals of the children of Israel, till they came into the plains of Moab, out of which they at length passed over Jordan into Canaan, as we read in the beginning of Joshua. Natural motions are quicker the nearer they are to their centre. The Israelites were now drawing near to the promised rest, and now they set forward, as the expression is, Num 21:10. It were well if we would do thus in our way to heaven, rid ground in the latter end of our journey, and the nearer we come to heaven be so much the more active and abundant in the work of the Lord. Two things especially are observable in the brief account here given of these removals: -

1. The wonderful success which God blessed his people with, near the brooks of Arnon, Num 21:13-15. They had now compassed the land of Edom (which they were not to invade, nor so much as to disturb, Deu 2:4, Deu 2:5), and had come to the border of Moab. It is well that there are more ways than one to Canaan. The enemies of God's people may retard their passage, but cannot prevent their entrance into the promised rest. Care is taken to let us know that the Israelites in their march religiously observed the orders which God gave them to use no hostility against the Moabites (Deu 2:9), because they were the posterity of righteous Lot; therefore they pitched on the other side of Arnon (Num 21:13), that side which was now in the possession of the Amorites, one of the devoted nations, though formerly it had belonged to Moab, as appears here, Num 21:26, Num 21:27. This care of theirs not to offer violence to the Moabites is pleaded by Jephtha long afterwards, in his remonstrance against the Ammonites (Jdg 11:15, etc.), and turned to them for a testimony. What their achievements were, now that they pitched on the banks of the river Arnon, we are not particularly told, but are referred to the book of the wars of the Lord, perhaps that book which was begun with the history of the war with the Amalekites, Exo 17:14. Write it (said God) for a memorial in a book, to which were added all the other battles which Israel fought, in order, and, among the rest, their actions on the river Arnon, at Vaheb in Suphah (as our margin reads it) and other places on that river. Or, it shall be said (as some read it) in the rehearsal, or commemoration, of the wars of the Lord, what he did in the Red Sea, when he brought Israel out of Egypt, and what he did in the brooks of Arnon, just before he brought them into Canaan. Note, In celebrating the memorials of God's favours to us, it is good to observe the series of them, and how divine goodness and mercy have constantly followed us, even from the Red Sea to the brooks of Arnon. In every stage of our lives, nay, in every step, we should take notice of what God has wrought for us; what he did at such a time, and what in such a place, ought to be distinctly remembered.

2. The wonderful supply which God blessed his people with at Beer (Num 21:16), which signifies the well or fountain. It is said (Num 21:10) they pitched in Oboth, which signifies bottles, so called perhaps because there they filled their bottles with water, which should last them for some time; but by this time, we may suppose, it was with them as it was with Hagar (Gen 21:15), The water was spent in the bottle; yet we do not find that they murmured, and therefore God, in compassion to them, brought them to a well of water, to encourage them to wait on him in humble silence and expectation and to believe that he would graciously take cognizance of their wants, though they did not complain of them. In this world, we do at the best but pitch in Oboth, where our comforts lie in close and scanty vessels; when we come to heaven we shall remove to Beer, the well of life, the fountain of living waters. Hitherto we have found, when they were supplied with water, they asked it in unjust discontent, and God gave it in just displeasure; but here we find, (1.) That God gave it in love (Num 21:16): Gather the people together, to be witnesses of the wonder, and joint-sharers in the favour, and I will give them water. Before they prayed, God granted, and anticipated them with the blessings of his goodness. (2.) That they received it with joy and thankfulness, which made the mercy doubly sweet to them, Num 21:17. Then they sang this song, to the glory of God and the encouragement of one another, Spring up, O well! Thus they pray that it may spring up, for promised mercies must be fetched in by prayer; they triumph that it does spring up, and meet it with their joyful acclamations. With joy must we draw water out of the wells of salvation, Isa 11:3. As the brazen serpent was a figure of Christ, who is lifted up for our cure, so is this well a figure of the Spirit, who is poured forth for our comfort, and from whom flow to us rivers of living waters, Joh 7:38. Does this well spring up in our souls? We should sing to it; take the comfort to ourselves, and give the glory to God; stir up this gift, sing to it, Spring up, O well! thou fountain of gardens, to water my soul (Son 4:15), plead the promise, which perhaps alludes to this story (Isa 41:17, Isa 41:18), I will make the wilderness wells of water. (3.) That whereas before the remembrance of the miracle was perpetuated in the names given to the places, which signified the people's strife and murmuring, now it was perpetuated in a song of praise, which preserved on record the manner in which it was done (Num 21:18): The princes digged the well, the seventy elders, it is probable, by direction of the lawgiver (that is, Moses, under God) with their staves; that is, with their staves they made holes in the soft and sandy ground, and God caused the water miraculously to spring up in the holes which they made. Thus the pious Israelites long afterwards, passing through the valley of Baca, a dry and thirsty place, made wells, and God by rain from heaven filled the pools, Psa 84:6. Observe, [1.] God promised to give them water, but the must open the ground to receive it, and give it vent. God's favours must be expected in the use of such means as lie within our power, but still the excellency of the power is of God. [2.] The nobles of Israel were forward to set their hands to this work, and used their staves, probable those that were the ensigns of their honour and power, for the public service, and it is upon record to their honour. And we may suppose that it was a great confirmation to them in their offices, and a great comfort to the people, that they were made use of by the divine power as instruments to this miraculous supply. By this it appeared that the spirit of Moses, who must shortly die, rested in some measure upon the nobles of Israel. Moses did not strike the ground himself, as formerly the rock, but gave them direction to do it, that their staves might share in the honour of his rod, and they might comfortably hope that when he should leave them yet God would not, but that they also in their generation should be public blessings, and might expect the divine presence with them as long as they acted by the direction of the lawgiver. For comfort must be looked for only in the way of duty; and, if we would share in divine joys, we must carefully follow the divine direction.

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 21:10-20

March of Israel round Edom and Moab, to the Heights of Pisgah in the Field of Moab (cf. Num 33:41-47). - Num 21:10. From the camp in the Arabah, which is not more particularly described, where the murmuring people were punished by fiery serpents, Israel removed to Oboth . According to the list of stations in Num 33:41., they went from Hor to Zalmonah , the situation of which has not been determined; for C. v. Raumer's conjecture ( der Zug der Israeliten, p. 45), that it was the same place as the modern Maan , has no firm basis in the fact that Maan is a station of the Syrian pilgrim caravans. From Zalmonah they went to Phunon , and only then to Oboth . The name Phunon is no doubt the same as Phinon , a tribe-seat of the Edomitish Phylarch (Gen 36:41); and according to Jerome ( Onom. s. v. Fenon ), it was "a little village in the desert, where copper was dug up by condemned criminals (see at Gen 36:41), between Petra and Zoar."This statement suits very well, provided we imagine the situation of Phunon to have been not in a straight line between Petra and Zoar, but more to the east, between the mountains on the edge of the desert. For the Israelites unquestionably went from the southern end of the Arabah to the eastern side of Idumaea, through the Wady el Ithm ( Getum ), which opens into the Arabah from the east, a few hours to the north of Akaba and the ancient Ezion-geber. They had then gone round the mountains of Edom, and begun to "turn to the north"(Deu 2:3), so that they now proceeded farther northwards, on the eastern side of the mountains of Edom, "through the territory of the sons of Esau,"no doubt by the same road which is taken in the present day by the caravans which go from Gaza to Maan, through the Ghor. "This runs upon a grassy ridge, forming the western border of the coast of Arabia, and the eastern border of the cultivated land, which stretches from the land of Edom to the sources of the Jordan, on the eastern side of the Ghor"(v. Raumer , Zug, p. 45). On the western side of their mountains the Edomites had refused permission to the Israelites to pass through their land (Num 20:18.), as the mountains of Seir terminate towards the Ghor (the Arabah) in steep and lofty precipices, and there are only two or three narrow wadys which intersect them from west to east; and of these the Wady Ghuweir is the only one which is practicable for an army, and even this could be held so securely by a moderate army, that no enemy could force its way into the heart of the country (see Leake in Burckhardt , pp. 21, 22; and Robinson, ii. p. 583). It was different on the eastern side, where the mountains slope off into a wide extent of table-land, which is only slightly elevated above the desert of Arabia. Here, on the weaker side of their frontier, the Edomites lost the heart to make any attack upon the Israelites, who would now have been able to requite their hostilities. But the Lord had commanded Israel not to make war upon the sons of Esau; but when passing through their territory, to purchase food and water from them for money (Deu 2:4-6). The Edomites submitted to the necessity, and endeavoured to take advantage of it, by selling provisions, "in the same way in which, at the present day, the caravan from Mecca is supplied with provisions by the inhabitants of the mountains along the pilgrim road"( Leake in Burckhardt , p. 24). The situation of Oboth cannot be determined.

Num 21:11-12

The next encampment was " Ije-Abarim in the desert, which lies before Moab towards the sun-rising,"i.e., on the eastern border of Moabitis (Num 33:44). As the Wady el Ahsy, which runs into the Dead Sea, in a deep and narrow rocky bed, from the south-east, and is called el Kerahy in its lower part ( Burckhardt , Syr. pp. 673-4), separates Idumaea from Moabitis; Ije-Abarim (i.e., ruins of the crossings over) must be sought for on the border of Moab to the north of this wady, but is hardly to be found, as Knobel supposes, on the range of hills called el Tarfuye , which is known by the name of Orokaraye, still farther to the south, and terminates on the south-west of Kerek , whilst towards the north it is continued in the range of hills called el Ghoweithe and the mountain range of el Zoble; even supposing that the term Abarim , "the passages or sides,"is to be understood as referring to these ranges of hills and mountains which skirt the land of the Amorites and Moabites, and form the enclosing sides. For the boundary line between the hills of el-Tarfuye and those of el-Ghoweithe is so near to the Arnon, that there is not the necessary space between it and the Arnon for the encampment at the brook Zared (Num 21:12). Ije-Abarim or Jim cannot have been far from the northern shore of the el Ahsy , and was probably in the neighbourhood of Kalaat el Hassa (Ahsa), the source of the Ahsy , and a station for the pilgrim caravans ( Burckhardt , p. 1035). As the Moabites were also not to be attacked by the Israelites (Deu 2:9.), they passed along the eastern border of Moabitis as far as the brook Zared (Num 21:12). This can hardly have been the Wady el-Ahsy (Robinson, ii. p. 555; Ewald , Gesch. ii. p. 259; Ritter, Erdk. xv. p. 689); for that must already have been crossed when they came to the border of Moab (Num 21:11). Nor can it well have been "the brook Zaide , which runs from the south-east, passes between the mountain ranges of Ghoweithe and Tarfuye , and enters the Arnon, of which it forms the leading source,"- the view adopted by Knobel , on the very questionable ground that the name is a corruption of Zared . In all probability it was the Wady Kerek , in the upper part of its course, not far from Katrane , on the pilgrim road ( v. Raumer, Zug, p. 47: Kurtz , and others).

Num 21:13

The next encampment was " beyond (i.e., by the side of) the Arnon, which is in the desert, and that cometh out of the territory of the Amorites ."The Arnon, i.e., the present Wady Mojeb, is formed by the union of the Seyl (i.e., brook or river) Saïde , which comes from the south-east, not far from Katrane, on the pilgrim road, and the Lejum from the north-east, which receives the small rivers el Makhreys and Balua, the latter flowing from the pilgrim station Kalaat Balua , and then continues its course to the Dead Sea, through a deep and narrow valley, shut in by very steep and lofty cliffs, and covered with blocks of stone, that have been brought down from the loftier ground ( Burckhardt , pp. 633ff.), so that there are only a few places where it is passable; and consequently a wandering people like the Israelites could not have crossed the Mojeb itself to force an entrance into the territory of the hostile Amorites.

(Note: It is utterly inconceivable that a whole people, travelling with all their possessions as well as with their flocks, should have been exposed without necessity to the dangers and enormous difficulties that would attend the crossing of so dreadfully wild and so deep a valley, and that merely for the purpose of forcing an entrance into an enemy's country. - Ritter, Erdk . xv. p. 1207.)

For the Arnon formed the boundary between Moab and the country of the Amorites. The spot where Israel encamped on the Arnon must be sought for in the upper part of its course, where it is still flowing "in the desert;"not at Wady Zaïde , however, although Burckhardt calls this the main source of the Mojeb, but at the Balua , which flows into the Lejum. In all probability these streams, of which the Lejum came from the north, already bore the name of Arnon ; as we may gather from the expression,"that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites."The place of Israel's encampment, " beyond the Arnon in the desert," is to be sought for, therefore, in the neighbourhood of Kalaat Balua , and on the south side of the Arnon (Balua) . This is evident enough from Deu 2:24, Deu 2:26., where the Israelites are represented as entering the territory of the Amoritish king Sihon, when they crossed the Arnon, having first of all sent a deputation, with a peaceable request for permission to pass through his land (cf. Num 21:21.). Although this took place, according to Deu 2:26, "out of the wilderness of Kedemoth ,"an Amoritish town, it by no means follows that the Israelites had already crossed the Arnon and entered the territory of the Amorites, but only that they were standing on the border of it, and in the desert which took its name from Kedemoth, and ran up to this, the most easterly town, as the name seems to imply, of the country of the Amorites. After the conquest of the country, Kedemoth was allotted to the Reubenites (Jos 13:18), and made into a Levitical city (Jos 21:37; 1Ch 6:64).

The Israelites now received instructions from the Lord, to cross the river Arnon, and make war upon the Amoritish king Sihon of Heshbon, and take possession of his land, with the assurance that the Lord had given Sihon into the hand of Israel, and would fill all nations before them with fear and trembling (Deu 2:24-25). This summons, with its attendant promises, not only filled the Israelites with courage and strength to enter upon the conflict with the mightiest of all the tribes of the Canaanites, but inspired poets in the midst of them to commemorate in odes the wars of Jehovah, and His victories over His foes. A few verses are given here out of one of these odes (Deu 2:14.), not for the purpose of verifying the geographical statement, that the Arnon touches the border of Moabitis, or that the Israelites had only arrived at the border of the Moabite and Amorite territory, but as an evidence that there, on the borders of Moab, the Israelites had been inspired through the divine promises with the firm assurance that they should be able to conquer the land of the Amorites which lay before them.

Num 21:14-15

"Therefore," sc., because the Lord had thus given king Sihon, with all his land, into the hand of Israel, " it is written in the book of the wars of the Lord: Vaheb (Jehovah takes) in storm, and the brooks of Arnon and the valley of the brooks, which turns to the dwelling of Ar, and leans upon the border of Moab." The book of the wars of Jehovah is neither an Amoritish book of the conflicts of Baal, in which the warlike feats performed by Sihon and other Amoritish heroes with the help of Baal were celebrated in verse, as G. Unruh fabulously asserts in his Zug der Isr. aus Aeg. nach Canaan (p. 130), nor a work "dating from the time of Jehoshaphat, containing the early history of the Israelites, from the Hebrew patriarchs till past the time of Joshua, with the law interwoven,"which is the character that Knobel's critical fancy would stamp upon it, but a collection of odes of the time of Moses himself, in celebration of the glorious acts of the Lord to and for the Israelites; and "the quotation bears the same relation to the history itself, as the verses of Körner would bear to the writings of any historian of the wars of freedom, who had himself taken part in these wars, and introduced the verses into his own historical work"(Hengstenberg).

(Note: "That such a book should arise in the last days of Moses, when the youthful generation began for the first time to regard and manifest itself, both vigorously and generally, as the army of Jehovah, is so far from being a surprising fact, that we can scarcely imagine a more suitable time for the commencement of such a work" (Baumgarten) . And if this is the case, the allusion to this collection of odes cannot be adduced as an argument against the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, since Moses certainly did not write out the history of the journey from Kadesh to the Arboth Moab until after the two kings of the Amorites had been defeated, and the land to the east of the Jordan conquered, or till the Israelites had encamped in the steppes of Moab, opposite to Jericho.)

The strophe selected from the ode has neither subject nor verb in it, as the ode was well known to the contemporaries, and what had to be supplied could easily be gathered from the title, "Wars of Jehovah." Vaheb is no doubt the proper name of an Amoritish fortress; and בּסוּפה , "in storm,"is to be explained according to Nah 1:3, "The Lord, in the storm is His way.""Advancing in storm, He took Vaheb and the brooks of Arnon,"i.e., the different wadys, valleys cut by brooks, which open into the Arnon. הנּחלים אשׁד , lit., pouring of the brooks, from אשׁד , effusio , the pouring, then the place where brooks pour down, the slope of mountains or hills, for which the term אשׁדה is generally used in the plural, particularly to denote the slopes of the mountains of Pisgah (Deu 3:17; Deu 4:49; Jos 12:3; Jos 13:20), and the hilly region of Palestine, which formed the transition from the mountains to the plain (Jos 10:40 and Jos 12:8). שׁבת , the dwelling, used poetically for the dwelling-place, as in 2Sa 23:7 and Oba 1:3. ער (Ar), the antiquated form for עיר , a city, is the same as Ar Moab in Num 21:28 and Isa 15:1, "the city of Moab, on the border of the Arnon, which is at the end of the (Moabitish) territory"(Num 22:36). It was called Areopolis by the Greeks, and was near to Aroër (Deu 2:36 and Jos 13:9), probably standing at the confluence of the Lejum and Mojeb, in the "fine green pasture land, in the midst of which there is a hill with some ruins,"and not far away the ruin of a small castle, with a heap of broken columns ( Burckhardt , Syr. p. 636). This Ar is not to be identified with the modern Rabba , in the midst of the land of the Moabites, six hours to the south of Lejum, to which the name Areopolis was transferred in the patristic age, probably after the destruction of Ar , the ancient Areopolis, by an earthquake, of which Jerome gives an account in connection with his own childhood (see his Com. on Isa 15:1-9), possibly the earthquake which occurred in the year a.d. 342, and by which many cities of the East were destroyed, and among others Nicomedia (cf. Hengstenberg, Balaam , pp. 525-528; Ritter, Erdkunde , xv. pp. 1212ff.; and v. Raumer, Palästina , pp. 270, 271, Ed. 4).

Num 21:16-19

They proceeded thence to Beer ( a well ), a place of encampment which received its name from the fact that here God gave the people water, not as before by a miraculous supply from a rock, but by commanding wells to be dug. This is evident from the ode with which the congregation commemorated this divine gift of grace. " Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well! Sing ye to it! Well which princes dug, which the nobles of the people hollowed out, with the sceptre, with their staves." ענה , as in Exo 15:21 and Exo 32:18. מחקק , ruler's staff, cf. Gen 49:10. Beer , probably the same as Beer Elim (Isa 15:8), on the north-east of Moab, was in the desert; for the Israelites proceeded thence" from the desert to Mattanah "(Num 21:18), thence to Nahaliel, and thence to Bamoth. According to Eusebius (cf. Reland, Pal. ill . p. 495), Mattanah ( Μαθθανέμ ) was by the valley of the Arnon, twelve Roman miles to the east (or more properly south-east or south) of Medabah , and is probably to be seen in Tedun , a place now lying in ruins, near the source of the Lejum ( Burckhardt , pp. 635, 636; Hengstenberg, Balaam , p. 530; Knobel , and others). The name of Nahaliel is still retained in the form Encheileh . This is the name given to the Lejum, after it has been joined by the Balua, until its junction with the Saide ( Burckhardt , p. 635). Consequently the Israelites went from Beer in the desert, in a north-westerly direction to Tedun , then westwards to the northern bank of the Encheileh , and then still farther in a north-westerly and northerly direction to Bamoth . There can be no doubt that Bamoth is identical with Bamoth Baal , i.e., heights of Baal (Num 22:4). According to Jos 13:17 (cf. Isa 15:2), Bamoth was near to Dibon (Dibân) , between the Wady Wale and Wady Mojeb, and also to Beth-Baal Meon , i.e., Myun , half a German mile (2 1/2 English) to the south of Heshbon; and, according to Num 22:41, you could see Bamoth Baal from the extremity of the Israelitish camp in the steppes of Moab. Consequently Bamoth cannot be the mountain to the south of Wady Wale, upon the top of which Burckhardt says there is a very beautiful plain (p. 632; see Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 532); because the steppes of Moab cannot be seen at all from this plain, as they are covered by the Jebel Attarus. It is rather a height upon the long mountain Attarus , which runs along the southern shore of the Zerka Maein, and may possibly be a spot upon the summit of the Jebel Attarus, "the highest point in the neighbourhood,"upon which, according to Burckhardt (p. 630), there is "a heap of stones overshadowed by a very large pistachio-tree."A little farther down to the south-west of this lies the fallen town Kereijat (called Körriat by Seetzen , ii. p. 342), i.e., Kerioth , Jer 48:24; Amo 2:2.

Num 21:20

From Bamoth they proceeded " to the valley, which (is) in the field of Moab, upon the top of Pisgah, and looks across the face of the desert." הפּסנּה ראשׁ , head, or height of the Pisgah , is in apposition to the field of Moab. The " field of Moab" was a portion of the table-land which stretches from Rabbath Ammân to the Arnon, which "is perfectly treeless for an immense distance in one part (viz., the neighbourhood of Eleale ), but covered over with the ruins of towns that have been destroyed,"and which "extends to the desert of Arabia towards the east, and slopes off to the Jordan and the Dead Sea towards the west"(v. Raumer , Pal. p. 71). It is identical with "the whole plain from Medeba to Dibon "(Jos 13:9), and "the whole plain by Medeba "(Num 21:16), in which Heshbon and its cities were situated (Num 21:17; cf. Num 21:21 and Deu 3:10). The valley in this tableland was upon the height of Pisgah , i.e., the northern part of the mountains of Abarim, and looked across the surface of the desert. Jeshimon , the desert, is the plain of Ghor el Belka , i.e., the valley of desolation on the north-eastern border of the Dead Sea, which stretches from the Wady Menshalla or Wady Ghuweir (el Guer) to the small brook el Szuême ( Wady es Suweimeh on Van de Velde's map) at the Dead Sea, and narrows it more and more at the northern extremity on this side. " Ghor el Belka consists in part of a barren, salt, and stony soil; though there are some portions which can be cultivated. To the north of the brook el Szuême , the great plain of the Jordan begins, which is utterly without fertility till you reach the Nahr Hesbân , about two hours distant, and produces nothing but bitter, salt herbs for camels"( Seetzen , ii. pp. 373, 374), and which was probably reckoned as part of Jeshimon , since Beth-jeshimoth was situated within it (see at Num 23:28). The valley in which the Israelites were encamped in the field of Moab upon the top of Pisgah, is therefore to be sought for to the west of Heshbon, on the mountain range of Abarim, which slopes off into the Ghor el Belka. From this the Israelites advanced into the Arboth Moab (see Num 22:1).

If we compare the places of encampment named in Num 21:11-20 with the list of stations in Num 33:41-49, we find, instead of the seven places, mentioned here between Ijje Abarim and the Arboth Moab ,-viz., Brook Zared, on the other side of the Arnon in the desert, Beer, Mattana, Nahaliel, Bamoth, and the valley in the field of Moab upon the top of Pisgah-only three places given, viz., Dibon of Gad, Almon Diblathaim , and Mount Abarim before Nebo . That the last of these is only another name for the valley in the field of Moab upon the top of Pisgah, is undoubtedly proved by the fact that, according to Deu 34:1 (cf. Num 3:27), Mount Nebo was a peak of Pisgah , and that it was situated, according to Deu 32:49, upon the mountains of Abarim , from which it is evident at once that the Pisgah was a portion of the mountains of Abarim , and in fact the northern portion opposite to Jericho (see at Num 27:12). The two other differences in the names may be explained from the circumstance that the space occupied by the encampment of the Israelites, an army of 600,000 men, with their wives, children, and cattle, when once they reached the inhabited country with its towns and villages, where every spot had its own fixed name, must have extended over several places, so that the very same encampment might be called by one or other of the places upon which it touched. If Dibon Gad (Num 33:45) was the Dibon built (i.e., rebuilt or fortified) by the Gadites after the conquest of the land (Num 32:3, Num 32:34), and allotted to the Reubenites (Jos 13:9, Jos 13:17), which is still traceable in the ruins of Dibân , an hour to the north of the Arnon ( v. Raumer, Pal . p. 261), (and there is no reason to doubt it), then the place of encampment, Nahaliel ( Encheile ), was identical with Dibon of Gad, and was placed after this town in Num 33:45, because the camp of the Israelites extended as far as Dibon along the northern bank of that river. Almon Diblathaim also stands in the same relation to Bamoth . The two places do not appear to have been far from one another; for Almon Diblathaim is probably identical with Beth Diblathaim , which is mentioned in Jer 48:22 along with Dibon, Nebo , and other Moabite towns, and is to be sought for to the north or north-west of Dibon. For, according to Jerome ( Onom. s. v. Jassa ), Jahza was between Medaba and Deblatai , for which Eusebius has written Δηβούς by mistake for Διβών ; Eusebius having determined the relative position of Jahza according to a more southerly place, Jerome according to one farther north. The camp of the Israelites therefore may easily have extended from Almon or Beth-diblathaim to Bamoth, and might very well take its name from either place.

(Note: Neither this difference in the names of the places of encampment, nor the material diversity, - viz., that in the chapter before us there are four places more introduced than in Num 33, whereas in every other case the list in Num 33 contains a larger number of stations than we read of in the historical account-at all warrants the hypothesis, that the present chapter is founded upon a different document from Num 33. For they may be explained in a very simple manner, as Kurtz has most conclusively demonstrated (vol. iii. pp. 383-5), from the diversity in the character of the two chapters. Num 33 is purely statistical. The catalogue given there "contains a complete list in regular order of all the stations properly so called, that is to say, of those places of encampment where Israel made a longer stay than at other times, and therefore not only constructed an organized camp, but also set up the tabernacle."In the historical account, on the other hand, the places mentioned are simply those which were of historical importance. For this reason there are fewer stations introduced between Mount Hor and Ijje Abarim than in Num 33, stations where nothing of importance occurred being passed over; but, on the other hand, there are a larger number mentioned between Ijje Abarim and Arboth Moab, and some of them places where no complete camp was constructed with the tabernacle set up, probably because they were memorable as starting-points for the expeditions into the two Amorite kingdoms.)

Constable: Num 21:10-20

The journey toward Moab 21:10-20

The list of stopping places Moses recorded here differs from the one in 33:41-49. Apparently neither list is complete but both are selective. Archaeologists have not yet identified most of the sites Moses mentioned here. The route of the Israelites was around Edom in a counter-clockwise direction until they came to the Wadi Zered (v. 12).¹⁹¹ A wadi (Arabic, Heb. nahal) was a river or stream bed that was dry during most of the year but became a rushing torrent during the rainy season. The Israelites took the Way of the Wilderness, a route that ran generally parallel to but east of the King's Highway (20:17, 19).

The Zered flowed westward, in the rainy season, into the Arabah near the south end of the Dead Sea. It constituted the boundary between Edom and Moab.

Moving farther north, through Moab, the nation crossed the Arnon Wadi that feeds into the east side of the Dead Sea about at its mid-point north to south. This river was the border between the Moabites and the Amorites (v. 13). This crossing brought Israel to the threshold of the Promised Land.

The Amorites were, ". . . the mightiest of all the tribes of the Canaanites."¹⁹²

Here the Israelites received direction from God to make war with Sihon, a king of the Amorites, and to possess his land. God promised them that they would be victorious (Deut. 2:24-25). This revelation filled the Israelites with joy and courage.

The "Book of the Wars of the Lord" (v. 14) was a collection of songs that commemorated God's glorious acts on behalf of the Israelites. Apparently Moses or one of his contemporaries wrote or edited it. The fragment of one of these songs that the writer included here (vv. 14-15) describes the Arnon. The fact that Moses inserted this strophe reflects the joy that the Israelites felt on this occasion.

At Beer (lit. Well) God provided water for the people by instructing them to dig wells (vv. 16-18). This proved to be another occasion of great rejoicing as God provided for His needy people.

Moses mentioned several other sites as camping places before the nation settled down on the tableland of the Pisgah range of mountains. This area lay east of the place where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea. The "wasteland" (Jeshimon) is the desert directly to the northeast of the Dead Sea.

Guzik: Num 21:1-35

Numbers 21 - On the Way to Canaan

A. The serpent in the wilderness.

1. (1-3) Defeat of the king of Arad the Canaanite.

The king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. So Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities." And 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 that place was called Hormah.

a. The king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming: As the new generation of Israel begin their approach to the Promised Land, the new generation encounters their first hostile army - Arad the Canaanite, in the South.

b. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners: After having some men lost to Arad, Israel vowed to God that they will utterly destroy the cities of Arad. That is, they would devote the cities of Arad unto God by completely destroying them. God then granted them victory (the LORD listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites).

i. It is strange idea to our way of thinking, but Israel at this time would show that property was completely given to God by destroying it - thus making it unusable to anyone else. It was an expensive and whole-hearted way to give things to the LORD. This was Israel's way of saying, "we're not fighting this battle for our own profit, but for the glory of God."

c. So the name of that place was called Hormah: It was at Hormah that Israel was defeated in their ill-advised attempt to enter the Promised Land by force after rejecting it by faith. Now God has brought them back to the same place, and given them the victory. A real turning point for the nation!

2. (4-5) Israel, provoked by the difficult journey, speaks against God.

Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 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 food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread."

a. To go around the land of Edom: They had to go far out of their way because the Edomites refused them passage (Numbers 20:14-21). In fact, to go around the Edomites, they had to turn back towards the wilderness and away from Canaan. This was obviously discouraging.

i. They had a reason to be discouraged but they had no excuse for their discouragement. They faced a real challenge and something that is no fun at all. Yet, they had no excuse for not trusting in God, and for not looking for His victory through it all.

b. The people spoke against God and against Moses: Sadly, the new generation sounded like the old. If they continued in the steps of their fathers, this new generation would be no better able to enter the Promised Land than the previous generation was.

i. In fact, they perhaps acted worse than their fathers here. In eight previous passages (Exodus 15:24, 16:2, 17:3; Numbers 12:1, 14:2, 16:3, 16:41 and 20:2), the children of Israel are described as speaking against Moses. In those situations, Moses knew (Exodus 16:7-8) and the LORD knew (Numbers 14:27) they were really speaking against God - but the people were not brazen enough to do it directly. Now they are brazen enough, because it says the people spoke against God and against Moses!

ii. This was a major problem: They were on the threshold of the Promised Land, closer to it than the previous generation of unbelief had been, and now they were beginning to act with the same unbelief - or worse! Something drastic had to be done.

3. (6) The LORD sends fiery serpents.

So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

a. The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people: How were the serpents fiery? Some think they were a red color, like the color of fire. Others believe their bite caused an intense burning sensation, so they were called fiery serpents.

b. The LORD sent fiery serpents: These came from God, to get the nation's attention at this critical place in their journey to the Promised Land. If they kept going in the direction they showed in the previous verses, they would never enter in.

c. Many of the people of Israel died: These victims were mostly those of the older generation of unbelief, and this was God's final way of fulfilling His promise that they would perish in the wilderness, and not enter the Promised Land.

3. (7-9) Deliverance through looking at the bronze serpent.

Therefore 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 take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

a. We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you: If this new generation was capable of deeper sin (such as openly complaining against the LORD in Numbers 21:5), they also have hearts softer and quicker to repent - they quickly humble themselves before the LORD and Moses.

i. They ask Moses to pray for them; they know their answer lies only in the saving work of God. They are not trusting in luck or medical expertise, but only in God.

b. Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live: God commanded Moses to make a serpent (and Moses makes it out of bronze), to set it on pole, so that those who looked upon it could be saved - and they were.

i. This was an unusual direction from God and miracle resulting. There is no immediate logical connection between merely looking at a serpent on a pole and living; or refusing to look and dying. But God commanded that such a "foolish" thing be used to bring salvation to Israel.

c. Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole: Jesus refered to this remarkable event in John 3:14-15: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus clearly said there is a similarity between what Moses did here, and what Jesus did on the cross.

i. But how can a serpent have a similarity to Jesus? Serpents are often used as pictures of evil in the Bible (Genesis 3:1-5; Revelation 12:9). However, bronze is a metal associated with judgment in the Bible, because bronze must be made by passing through the "fires" of judgment.

ii. So, a bronze serpent does speak of evil; but evil having been judged - just as Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us on the cross, and our sin was judged in Jesus. A bronze serpent is a picture of evil judged and dealt with.

iii. We would have wanted to diminish our sense of sin, and put the image of a man up on the pole; a man, we might say, is some good and some bad. But a serpent we can more easily see the badness of!

iv. In addition, if the serpent lay horizontally on the vertical pole, it is easy to see how this was a visual representation of the cross as well. However, many traditions show the serpent being wrapped around the pole, and this is the source for the ancient figure of healing and medicine - a serpent, wrapped around a pole.

d. If a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived: The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something as seemingly foolish as looking at serpent on a pole was enough to save them. Surely, some perished because they thought it too foolish to do that.

i. As it says in Isaiah 45:22: Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him - to look to Him.

ii. Charles Spurgeon gave his life to Jesus Christ after hearing a message on Isaiah 45:22, and hearing that text applied to this account of Moses lifting the serpent in the wilderness, and the people looking and living. Spurgeon was so impressed by this picture of the gospel and salvation in the Book of Numbers that he chose an engraving of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness as a logo for his publications.

iii. When Israel was complaining against the LORD and against Moses, they were not looking to the LORD they way they should. They were looking at themselves, they were looking at the hard circumstances - but they were not looking to the LORD. What will it take to get you to look to the LORD?

e. So Moses made a bronze serpent: God command Moses to make an image of a serpent, even though such images were seemingly forbidden in Exodus 20:4. Actually, Exodus 20:4 forbids the making of idols, and this was no idol - it was a symbol, sanctioned by God, that they could look to in faith and be saved.

i. Sadly, even this God-ordained symbol was made into an idol. In the reforms of King Hezekiah, he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4). Fallen man can take any good and glorious thing from God and find an idolatrous use for it.

B. On the way to the Promised Land.

1. (10-20) The journey into Moab.

Now the children of Israel moved on and camped in Oboth. And they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Ije Abarim, in the wilderness which is east of Moab, toward the sunrise. From there they moved and camped in the Valley of Zered. From there they moved and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: "Waheb in Suphah, the brooks of the Arnon, and the slope of the brooks that reaches to the dwelling of Ar, and lies on the border of Moab." From there they went to Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water." Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well! All of you sing to it; the well the leaders sank, dug by the nation's nobles, by the lawgiver, with their staves." And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah, from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.

a. Now the children of Israel moved on and camped: Besides the names of the places Israel passes through on their way towards the Promised Land, brief passages of poetry are also recorded, giving the sense of elation they must have felt.

b. The Book of the Wars of the LORD: Some have used mentions of books like this in the Bible as an argument that the Bible is an incomplete book, and must be supplemented - by something like the book of Mormon. But the mere mention of a book by the Bible doesn't mean that the book belongs in our Bibles. We would love to see and read such ancient literature lost to history; but anything in such books inspired and important is recorded for us in passages like Numbers 21:14-15.

i. In fact, Paul quoted from a pagan poet in Acts 17:28. It certainly doesn't mean that everything that pagan poet wrote was inspired by God, or that our Bibles are incomplete without the full text of what that pagan poet wrote.

2. (21-23) The challenge of the Amorites.

Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, "Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King's Highway until we have passed through your territory." But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

a. Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory: As was the case with the Edomites, the Amorites would not let Israel pass through their land - even though the Israelites promised it would be of no expense or trouble to the Amorites.

b. So Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel: While Edom passively refused, the Amorites actively attacked Israel and king Sihon led the battle.

i. This incident is even more interesting when we consider Deuteronomy 2:30 - But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand. God hardened the heart of Sihon, so he would provoke the battle, so he would lose, so Israel could gain his land.

ii. It was not unrighteous of God to harden the heart of Sihon because Sihon was not originally favorable towards Israel, and God did not make him be hardened when he really wanted otherwise. But that wasn't how it happened; in hardening Sihon, the LORD gave him over to the evil his heart desired.

3. (24-32) King Sihon and the Amorites defeated by Israel.

Then Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon; for the border of the people of Ammon was fortified. So Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon. Therefore those who speak in proverbs say: "Come to Heshbon, let it be built; let the city of Sihon be repaired. For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the heights of the Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites. But we have shot at them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. Then we laid waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba." Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. Then Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

a. Then Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land: We now better understand God's favor and mercy to Israel. Before they face the hardened warriors of Canaan, God gave them smaller foes and smaller battles to fight. We see how foolish the unbelief of the previous generation was.

b. Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites: The land of the Amorites later becomes the possession of Israel; the tribe of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh receive this land.

c. Fire went out from Heshbon . . . woe to you Moab: The passages of poetry are meant to show what a mighty people the Amorites were, and in contrast, how glorious Israel's victory over them was.

4. (33-35) The defeat of king Og and the land of Bashan.

And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon." So they defeated him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left him; and they took possession of his land.

a. Og king of Bashan went out against them: This was another battle that Israel did not provoke. Yet, Israel was more than up to the challenge, and sees God win a glorious victory.

b. And they took possession of his land: This land also becomes part of Israel, and a portion of the inheritance of the trans-jordan tribes.

i. The new generation of the children of Israel are making wonderful progress to the Promised Land, and experiencing victory after victory. Yet their challenges are not over, as the subsequent chapters will show.

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Numbers (Book Introduction)

NUMBERS. This book is so called because it contains an account of the enumeration and arrangement of the Israelites. The early part of it, from the first through the tenth chapters, appears to be a supplement to Leviticus, being occupied with relating the appointment of the Levites to the sacred offices. The journal of the march through the wilderness is then given as far as Num 21:20; after which the early incidents of the invasion are narrated. One direct quotation only from this book (Num 16:5) is made in the New Testament (2Ti 2:19); but indirect references to it by the later sacred writers are very numerous.

JFB: Numbers (Outline)

• MOSES NUMBERING THE MEN OF WAR. (Num. 1:1-54)
• THE ORDER OF THE TRIBES IN THEIR TENTS. (Num. 2:1-34)
• THE LEVITES' SERVICE. (Num. 3:1-51)
• OF THE LEVITES' SERVICE. (Num. 4:1-49)
• THE UNCLEAN TO BE REMOVED OUT OF THE CAMP. (Num 5:1-4)
• RESTITUTION ENJOINED. (Num 5:5-10)
• THE TRIAL OF JEALOUSY. (Num. 5:11-31)
• THE LAW OF THE NAZARITE IN HIS SEPARATION. (Num. 6:1-22)
• THE FORM OF BLESSING THE PEOPLE. (Num 6:23-27)
• THE PRINCES' OFFERINGS. (Num. 7:1-89)
• HOW THE LAMPS ARE TO BE LIGHTED. (Num 8:1-4)
• THE CONSECRATION OF THE LEVITES. (Num. 8:5-22)
• THE PASSOVER ENJOINED. (Num 9:1-5)
• A SECOND PASSOVER ALLOWED. (Num 9:6-14)
• A CLOUD GUIDES THE ISRAELITES. (Num 9:15-23)
• THE USE OF THE SILVER TRUMPETS. (Num. 10:1-36)
• MANNA LOATHED. (Num. 11:1-35)
• MIRIAM'S AND AARON'S SEDITION. (Num 12:1-9)
• MIRIAM'S LEPROSY. (Num 12:10-16)
• THE NAMES OF THE MEN WHO WERE SENT TO SEARCH THE LAND. (Num. 13:1-33)
• THE PEOPLE MURMUR AT THE SPIES' REPORT. (Num. 14:1-45)
• THE LAW OF SUNDRY OFFERINGS. (Num. 15:1-41)
• THE REBELLION OF KORAH. (Num. 16:1-30)
• AARON'S ROD FLOURISHES. (Num 17:1-13)
• THE CHARGE OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES. (Num 18:1-7)
• THE PRIESTS' PORTION. (Num 18:8-20)
• THE LEVITES' PORTION. (Num 18:21-32)
• THE WATER OF SEPARATION. (Num. 19:1-22)
• THE DEATH OF MIRIAM. (Num. 20:1-29)
• ISRAEL ATTACKED BY THE CANAANITES. (Num. 21:1-35)
• BALAK'S FIRST MESSAGE FOR BALAAM REFUSED. (Num. 22:1-20)
• THE JOURNEY. (Num. 22:21-41)
• BALAK'S SACRIFICES. (Num. 23:1-30)
• BALAAM FORETELLS ISRAEL'S HAPPINESS. (Num. 24:1-25)
• THE ISRAELITES' WHOREDOM AND IDOLATRY WITH MOAB. (Num. 25:1-18)
• ISRAEL NUMBERED. (Num. 26:1-51)
• THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num 27:1-11)
• MOSES BEING TOLD OF HIS APPROACHING DEATH, ASKS FOR A SUCCESSOR. (Num 27:12-17)
• JOSHUA APPOINTED TO SUCCEED HIM. (Num 27:18-23)
• OFFERINGS TO BE OBSERVED. (Num. 28:1-31)
• THE OFFERING AT THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS. (Num. 29:1-40)
• VOWS ARE NOT TO BE BROKEN. (Num. 30:1-16)
• THE MIDIANITES SPOILED AND BALAAM SLAIN. (Num. 31:1-54)
• THE REUBENITES AND GADITES ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num. 32:1-42)
• TWO AND FORTY JOURNEYS OF THE ISRAELITES--FROM EGYPT TO SINAI. (Num 33:1-15)
• THE BORDERS OF THE LAND OF CANAAN. (Num. 34:1-29)
• EIGHT AND FORTY CITIES GIVEN TO THE LEVITES. (Num 35:1-5)
• CITIES OF REFUGE. (Num 35:6-8)
• THE BLOOD AVENGER. (Num. 35:9-34)
• THE INCONVENIENCE OF THE INHERITANCE. (Num 36:1-13)

TSK: Numbers (Book Introduction)

The book of Numbers is a book containing a series of the most astonishing providences and events. Every where and in every circumstance God appears; and yet there is no circumstance or occasion which does not justify those signal displays of his grace and mercy; and in every relation we perceive the consistency of the divine intentions, and the propriety of those laws which he established.

TSK: Numbers 21 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Num 21:1, Israel destroys the Canaanites at Hormah; Num 21:4, The people murmuring are plagued with fiery serpents; Num 21:7, They repenting are healed by a brazen serpent; Num 21:10, Sundry journeys of the Israelites; Num 21:21, Sihon is overcome, Num 21:33, and Og.

Poole: Numbers (Book Introduction)

FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED NUMBERS

THE ARGUMENT

This Book giveth us a history of almost forty years travel of the children of Israel through the wilderness, where we have an account of their journeys, and what happened to them therein, with their government, and how they were managed thereby; called Numbers by reason of the several numberings of the people, as at the offerings of the princes, and at their several journeys, &c. But especially two: one, Chapter 1, out of which the priests and Levites were excepted, but numbered by themselves, viz. in the second year after they were come out of Egypt, in the first month whereof the passover was instituted; with the order about the tabernacle, both of the Levites and people, and their several marches, encampings, and manner of pitching their tents, the priests’ maintenance and establishment, by the miraculous budding of Aaron’ s rod, with the several impediments in their marches, both among themselves by several murmurings, seditions, and conspiracies; and from their enemies, viz. the Edomites, Canaanites, over whom having obtained a victory, and afterwards murmuring, they were stung with fiery serpents, and cured by the brazen one; Amorites, whose kings, Sihon and Og, they overcame and slew; and Moabites, where by the allurements of Balaam, who was hired by Balak to curse Israel, they joined themselves to Baal-peor , and are plagued for it; that openly opposed them. The other chief numbering is in Chapter 26, where they are found almost as many as at the first, though among them were none of the first numbering, (according to what God had threatened, Chapter 14,) save Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, by reason of their desire to return back into Egypt upon the discouraging report often of those twelve that Moses sent to spy out the land; whereupon they were forced to wander above thirty-eight years in the wilderness; where he gave them several laws, civil, ecclesiastical, and military; as also particular directions about women’ s inheriting, occasioned by the case of Zelophehad’ s daughters, and concerning vows; and then brings them back to the borders of Canaan, where, after divers victories obtained against their enemies, they were directed how the land of Canaan was to be divided among the tribes, and what portion the Levites were to have among them, together with six cities of refuge set apart for the manslayer. At length Aaron being dead, and Eleazar placed in his stead, and Moses also having received the sentence of death, doth, by God’ s appointment, deliver up the people unto the charge and conduct of Joshua.

Poole: Numbers 21 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 21

The Canaanites fight against Israel, and take some of them prisoners, Num 21:1 . Through God’ s assistance they overcome them, and destroy their cities, Num 21:2,3 . The people murmur, Num 21:4,5 ; are plagued with fiery serpents, Num 21:6 . They repent, Num 21:7 . A brazen serpent erected, to which they look, and are saved, Num 21:8,9 . They journey, Num 21:10-16 . Their hymn for water given at Beer, Num 21:17 . They sue for passage to the Amorites; are denied; fight them; overcome, and dwell in their cities, Num 21:18-26 . Proverbial sayings concerning it, Num 21:27-30 . Og king of Bashan, his sons, and all his people, are killed by the Israelites, and their land possessed by them, Num 21:33-35 .

MHCC: Numbers (Book Introduction)

This book is called NUMBERS from the several numberings of the people contained in it. It extends from the giving of the law at Sinai, till their arrival in the plains of Jordan. An account is given of their murmuring and unbelief, for which they were sentenced to wander in the wilderness nearly forty years; also some laws, both, moral and ceremonial. Their trials greatly tended to distinguish the wicked and hypocrites from the faithful and true servants of God, who served him with a pure heart.

MHCC: Numbers 21 (Chapter Introduction)

(Num 21:1-3) The Canaanites of Arad destroyed.

(Num 21:4-9) The people murmuring, are plagued with fiery serpents, They repenting, are healed through the brazen serpent.

(Num 21:10-20) Further journeys of the Israelites.

(Num 21:21-35) Sihon and Og overcome, Their land possessed.

Matthew Henry: Numbers (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Fourth Book of Moses, Called Numbers

The titles of the five books of Moses, which we use in our Bibles, are all borrowed from the Greek translation of the Seventy, the most ancient version of the Old Testament that we know of. But the title of this book only we turn into English; in all the rest we retain the Greek word itself, for which difference I know no reason but that the Latin translators have generally done the same. Otherwise this book might as well have been called Arithmoi , the Greek title, as the first Genesis, and the second Exodus; or these might as well have been translated, and called, the first the Generation, or Original, the second the Out-let, or Escape, as this Numbers. - This book was thus entitled because of the numbers of the children of Israel, so often mentioned in this book, and so well worthy to give a title to it, because it was the remarkable accomplishment of God's promise to Abraham that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude. It also relates to two numberings of them, one at mount Sinai (ch. 1), the other in the plains of Moab, thirty-nine years after (ch. 26). And not three men the same in the last account that were in the first. The book is almost equally divided between histories and laws, intermixed.

We have here, I. The histories of the numbering and marshalling of the tribes (ch. 1-4), the dedication of the altar and Levites (ch. 7, 8), their march (ch. 9, 10), their murmuring and unbelief, for which they were sentenced to wander forty years in the wilderness (ch. 11-14), the rebellion of Korah (ch. 16, Num 17:1-13), the history of the last year of the forty (ch. 20-26), the conquest of Midian, and the settlement of the two tribes (ch. 31, 32), with an account of their journeys (ch. 33), II. Divers laws about the Nazarites, etc. (ch. 5, 6); and again about the priests' charge, etc. (ch. 18, 19), feasts (ch. 28, 29), and vows (ch. 30), and relating to their settlement in Canaan (ch. 27, 34, 35, Num 36:1-13). An abstract of much of this book we have in a few words in Psa 95:10, Forty years long was I grieved with this generation; and an application of it to ourselves in Heb 4:1, Let us fear lest we seem to come short. Many considerable nations there were now in being, that dwelt in cities and fortified towns, of which no notice is taken, no account kept, by the sacred history: but very exact records are kept of the affairs of a handful of people, that dwelt in tents, and wandered strangely in a wilderness, because they were the children of the covenant. For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Matthew Henry: Numbers 21 (Chapter Introduction)

The armies of Israel now begin to emerge out of the wilderness, and to come into a land inhabited, to enter upon action, and take possession of the frontiers of the land of promise. A glorious campaign this chapter gives us the history of, especially in the latter part of it. Here is, I. The defeat of Arad the Canaanite (Num 21:1-3). II. The chastisement of the people with fiery serpents for their murmurings, and the relief granted them upon their submission by a brazen serpent (Num 21:4-9). III. Several marches forward, and some occurrences by the way (Num 21:10-20). IV. The celebrated conquest of Sihon king of the Amorites (Num 21:21-32), and of Og king of Bashan (Num 21:33-35), and possession taken of their land.

Constable: Numbers (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title the Jews used in their Hebrew Old Testament for this book comes from the fifth word in the book in the Hebrew text, bemidbar: "in the wilderness." This is, of course, appropriate since the Israelites spent most of the time covered in the narrative of Numbers wandering in the wilderness.

The English title "Numbers" is a translation of the Greek title Arithmoi. The Septuagint translators chose this title because of the two censuses of the Israelites that Moses recorded at the beginning (chs. 1-4) and toward the end (ch. 26) of the book. These numberings of the people took place at the beginning and end of the wilderness wanderings and frame the contents of Numbers.

Date and Writer

Moses wrote Numbers (cf. Num. 1:1; 33:2; Matt. 8:4; 19:7; Luke 24:44; John 1:45; et al.). He evidently did so late in his life on the plains of Moab.¹ Moses evidently died close to 1406 B.C. since the Exodus happened about 1446 B.C., and the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years.

Scope and purpose

When the book opens the Israelites were in the second month of the second year after they departed from Egypt (1:1). In chapters 7-10 we read things that happened in the nation before that. These things happened when Moses finishing setting up the tabernacle, which occurred on the first day of the first month of the second year (7:1; cf. Exod. 40:17). When Numbers closes the Israelites were in the tenth month of the fortieth year (cf. Deut. 1:3). Thus the time Numbers covers is about 39 years.

Geographically the Israelites travelled from Mt. Sinai to the plains of Moab, which lay to the east of Jericho and the Jordan River. However their journey was not at all direct. They proceeded from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on Canaan's southern border but failed to go into the Promised Land from there because of unbelief. Their failure to trust God and obey Him resulted in a period of 38 years of wandering in the wilderness. God finally brought them back to Kadesh and led them from there to the plains of Moab that lay on Canaan's eastern border.

Even though the wilderness wanderings consumed the majority of the years Numbers records, Moses passed over the events of this period of Israel's history fairly quickly. God's emphasis in this book is on His preparation of the Israelites to enter the land from Kadesh (chs. 1-14), and their preparation to enter from the plains of Moab (chs. 20-36). This indicates that the purpose of the book was primarily to show how God dealt with the Israelites as they anticipated entrance into the Promised Land. It was not to record all the events, or even most events, that took place in Israel's history. This selection of content to teach spiritual lessons is in harmony with the other books of the Pentateuch. Their concern too was more theological than historical.

"The material in Numbers cannot be understood apart from what precedes it in Exodus and Leviticus. The middle books of the Pentateuch hang closely together, with Genesis forming a prologue, and Deuteronomy the epilogue to the collection."²

The content stresses events leading to the destruction of the older generation of Israelites in the wilderness and the preparation of the new generation for entrance into the land. The census at the beginning of the book (chs. 1-4) and the one at the end (ch. 26) provide, ". . . the overarching literary and theological structure of the book of Numbers."³

"We may also venture the purpose of the book in this manner: To compel obedience to Yahweh by members of the new community by reminding them of the wrath of God on their parents because of their breach of covenant; to encourage them to trust in the ongoing promises of their Lord as they follow him into their heritage in Canaan; and to provoke them to worship of God and to the enjoyment of their salvation."⁴

"The Book of Numbers seems to be an instruction manual to post-Sinai Israel. The manual' deals with three areas: (a) how the nation was to order itself in its journeyings, (b) how the priests and Levites were to function in the condition of mobility which lay ahead, and (c) how they were to prepare themselves for the conquest of Canaan and their settled lives there. The narrative sections, of which there are many, demonstrate the successes and failures of the Lord's people as they conformed and did not conform to the requirements in the legislative, cultic, and prescriptive parts of the book."⁵

Theme

I believe the theme of the book is obedience. However others have suggested different though related themes.

"The theme of the Book of Numbers is worship."⁶

"The major theological theme of Numbers is reciprocal in nature: God has brought a people to Himself by covenant grace, but He expects of them a wholehearted devotion. Having accepted the terms of the Sinai Covenant, Israel had placed herself under obligation to obey them, a process that was to begin at once and not in some distant place and time (Exod. 19:8; 24:3)."⁷

Message⁸

To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.

The first major value of Numbers is that it reveals the graciousness of God to an extent not previously revealed. We see God's graciousness in His dealings with Israel throughout this book.

In the first section of Numbers (chs. 1-10) God's provision for His people stands out. We see this in the order and purity God specified for the maintenance of the Israelite camp. We see it in the worship God provided for in the camp. We also see it in the movement God prescribed for the camp. God faithfully provided for the needs of His people in these many ways as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.

In the second section of the book (chs. 11-21) God's patience with His people stands out. When the Israelites failed to obey God He did not desert them, but He disciplined them in love. God's patience in dealing with the Israelites did not result from God's weakness, but it was an evidence of His strength. God did not manifest carelessness toward the Israelites by making them wander in the wilderness for 38 years. He manifested carefulness as He used those 38 years to prepare the next generation to obey Him. God disciplined the people for their disobedience, but He always directed them toward the realization of His purpose for them as He disciplined them. The years of wilderness wandering were years of education rather than abandonment. He had similarly prepared Moses for 40 years in the wilderness before the Exodus.

In the third section (chs. 22-36) God's persistence in bringing Israel to the threshold of the land is prominent. God protected Israel from her enemies and provided for her needs. Even though Israel had been unfaithful God persisted in demonstrating faithfulness to the nation He had chosen to bless.

A second major value of this book is the revelation it contains of the gravity of unbelief. This is a revelation of man whereas the first was a revelation of God. Numbers reveals the seriousness of the sin of unbelief that manifests itself in disobedience. The Israelites struggled with unbelief throughout the book, but the most serious instance of it took place at Kadesh Barnea (chs. 13-14).

Numbers reveals the roots of unbelief. These were two causes: a mixed multitude and mixed motives.

The congregation consisted of a combination of believing Israelites and others who had for various reasons joined themselves to the people of God, a mixed multitude. These foreigners joined Israel first at the Exodus (Exod. 12:38), but we find them mixed in with the Israelites throughout Israel's subsequent history (cf. Lev. 24:10-23). This "rabble" was first to complain against God, and their murmuring spread through the camp like a plague periodically (cf. 11:4).

The second cause of unbelief was the mixed motives of the Israelites. They wanted to enjoy God's blessings and obeyed Him to a degree to obtain these. However, they also wanted things that God in His love for them did not want them to have (cf. Gen. 3). The Israelites did not fully commit themselves to God (cf. Rom. 12:1-2). They did not fully allow God to shape them into a nation to fulfill His purpose for them in the world. This too resulted in murmuring. They longed for what they had experienced in Egypt and preferred a comfortable life to the adventurous life to which God had called them. Murmuring is the telltale evidence of selfishness. It arises from a lack of singleminded dedication to God.

The message of Numbers is that everything depends on our attitude toward God. Our attitude toward our opportunities and our circumstances reveals our attitude toward God. If we are not content with what God has brought into our lives, it indicates we may want something different for ourselves than what God wants for us.

When we face a challenge to our faith we must see the difficulty overshadowed by God's presence, power, and promises.

The alternative is to allow the difficulty to block our view of God. The influences of unbelievers and our own doublemindedness will seek to make us behave as the Israelites did. At these times of testing Israel's experiences in Numbers should help us understand what is going on and trust God and obey Him more consistently.

The message of Numbers is a message of comfort on the one hand.

Numbers teaches that the failures of God's people cannot frustrate His plans. In Exodus we saw that the opposition of God's enemies cannot defeat Him. In Numbers we see that the failure of His instruments cannot defeat Him either. God's chosen instruments can postpone God's purposes, but they cannot preclude them.

In Numbers we also see that God always deals with His chosen instruments righteously. He will bless the minority who are faithful to Him even though they live among a majority who are under His discipline for being unfaithful. We see this in God's dealings with Caleb and Joshua. God honors the faithful. He will also faithfully work with those He is disciplining because of unfaithfulness. He will encourage them to experience the greatest blessing they can within the sphere of their discipline. We see this in His dealings with the rebellious generation. Furthermore God will not overlook those who have disobeyed Him because they have established a record of past obedience. He will discipline them too. We see this in God's dealings with Moses. Whereas God honors the faithful He also disciplines the unfaithful.

Numbers further teaches us that God's provisions are always adequate for His people's needs (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9). He sustained the Israelites in the wilderness. Their failures were not a result of God's inadequate provision but their own dissatisfaction with His provision. God Himself is an adequate resource for His people as we go through life (cf. Exod. 14-17).

On the other hand Numbers is also a message of warning. Every believer and every group of believers (e.g., a local church) from time to time face the same challenge to faith that the Israelites faced in the wilderness and at Kadesh. The crisis comes when faith encounters obstacles that only God's supernatural power can overcome. The believer should then proceed against these obstacles in simple confidence in God. Our response will depend on whether we are willing to act on our belief that God's presence, power, and promises can overcome them.

We can fail to realize all that God wants for us if we fail to trust Him.

By way of review Genesis expounds faith. Exodus reveals that faith manifests itself in worship and obedience. Leviticus explains worship more fully. Numbers stresses the importance of obedience.

Numbers shows the importance of obedience by revealing the roots, process, and fruits of disobedience.

Constable: Numbers (Outline)

Outline

I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25

A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-10

1. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-4

2. Commands and rituals to observe in preparation for entering the land chs. 5-9

3. The departure from Sinai ch. 10

B. The rebellion and judgment of the unbelieving generation chs. 11-25

1. The cycle of rebellion, atonement, and death chs. 11-20

2. The climax of rebellion, hope, and the end of dying chs. 21-25

II. Prospects of the younger generation in the land chs. 26-36

A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the east chs. 26-32

1. The second census ch. 26

2. Provisions and commands to observe in preparation for entering the land chs. 27-30

3. Reprisal against Midian and the settlement of the Transjordanian tribes chs. 31-32

B. Warning and encouragement of the younger generation chs. 33-36

1. Review of the journey from Egypt 33:1-49

2. Anticipation of the Promised Land 33:50-36:13

Constable: Numbers

Numbers

Bibliography

Aharoni, Yohanan. The Land of the Bible. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1979.

Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.

Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology series. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin books, 1956.

Allegro, J. M. "The Meaning of nophel in Numbers xxiv. 4, 16." Expository Times 65 (July 1954):316-17.

Allen, Ronald B. "Numbers." In Genesis--Numbers. Vol. 2 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary. 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and Richard P. Polcyn. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990.

_____. "The Theology of the Balaam Oracles." In Tradition and Testament: Essays in Honor of Charles Lee Feinberg. Edited by John S. and Paul D. Feinberg. Chicago: Moody Press, 1981.

Amiran, Ruth. Goethert, Rolf; and Ilan, Ornit. "The Well at Arad." Biblical Archaeology Review 13:2 (March-April 1987):40-44.

Arnold, Neil W. "The High Priestly Blessing." Exegesis and Exposition 2:1 (Summer 1987):45-50.

Ashley, Timothy R. The Book of Numbers. New International Commentary on the Old Testament series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993.

Baly, Denis. "Elath, Ezion-geber, and the Red Sea." Biblical Illustrator 9:3 (Spring 1983):66-69.

Bartlett, John R. "The Conquest of Sihon's Kingdom: A Literary Re-examination." Journal of Biblical Literature 97:3 (September 1978):347-51.

Baskin, J. R. "Origen on Balaam: The Dilemma of the Unworthy Prophet." Vigiliae Christianae 37 (1983):22-35.

Beck, J. A. "Geography and the Narrative Shape of Numbers 13." Bibliotheca Sacra 157:627 (July-September 2000):271-80.

Brichto, Herbert Chanan. "The Case of the Sota and a Reconsideration of Biblical Law.'" Hebrew Union College Annual 46 (1975):55-70.

Brin, Gershon. "The Formulae From . . . and Onward/Upward' (m . . . whl'h/wmslh)." Journal of Biblical Literature 99:2 (1980):161-71.

Budd, Philip J. Numbers. Word Biblical Commentary series. Waco: Word Books, Publisher, 1984.

Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. "Does God Change His Mind'?" Bibliotheca Sacra 152:608 (October-December 1995):387-99.

_____. "Does God Deceive?" Bibliotheca Sacra 155:617 (January-March 1998):11-28.

Coats, George W. "Conquest Traditions in the Wilderness Theme." Journal of Biblical Literature 95:2 (1976):177-90.

Constable, Thomas L. Talking to God: What the Bible Teaches about Prayer. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1995.

_____. "What Prayer Will and Will Not Change." In Essays in Honor of J. Dwight Pentecost, pp. 99-113. Edited by Stanley D. Toussaint and Charles H. Dyer. Chicago: Moody Press, 1986.

Cross, Frank Moore. Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973.

Darby, John Nelson. Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. Revised ed. 5 vols. New York: Loizeaux Brothers Publishers, 1942.

de Boer, Pieter A. H. "Numbers vi 27." Vetus Testamentum 32:1 (January 1982):3-13.

De Haan, Martin Ralph. The Chemistry of the Blood and Other Stirring Messages. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1943.

Dyer, Charles H., and Eugene H. Merrill. The Old Testament Explorer. Nashville: Word Publishing, 2001.

Fawver, Jay D., and R. Larry Overstreet. "Moses and Preventive Medicine." Bibliotheca Sacra 147:587 (July-September):270-85.

Felder, Cain Hope. Troubling Biblical Waters: Race, Class, and Family. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1989.

Fishbane, Michael. "Accusations of Adultery: A Study of Law and Scribal Practice in Numbers 5:11-31." Hebrew Union College Annual 45 (1974):25-45.

_____. "Form and Reformulation of the Biblical Priestly Blessing." Journal of the American Oriental Society 103:1 (January-March 1983):115-21.

_____. "Through the Looking Glass: Reflections on Ezek 43:3, Num. 12:8 and 1 Cor. 13:8." Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986):63-74.

Fouts, David M. "A Defense of the Hyperbolic Interpretation of Large Numbers in the Old Testament." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40:3 (September 1997):377-87.

Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "The Strange Case of the Suspected Sotah (Numbers V:11-31)." Vetus Testamentum 34:1 (1984):11-26.

_____. "The Trial Before God of an Accused Adulteress." Bible Review 2:3 (Fall 1986):46-49.

Gardner, Joseph L., ed. Reader's Digest Atlas of the Bible. Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Association, 1985.

Haran, Menahem. "Studies in the Account of the Levitical Cities." Journal of Biblical Literature 80:1 (March 1961):45-54, and 80:2 (June 1961):156-65.

Harrison, R. K. Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969.

Hays, J. Daniel. "The Cushites: A Black Nation in the Bible." Bibliotheca Sacra 153:612 (October-December 1996):396-409.

Herzog, Ze'ev; Miriam Aharoni; and Anson F. Rainey. "Arad." Biblical Archaeology Review 13:2 (March-April 1987):16-35.

Hess, Richard S. Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. Leicester, England, and Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1996.

Hoffner, Harry A., Jr. "Ancient Views of Prophecy and Fulfillment: Mesopotamia and Asia Minor." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30:3 (September 1987):257-65.

Hoftijzer, Jacob. "The Prophet Balaam in a 6th-Century Aramaic Inscription." Biblical Archaeologist 39:1 (March 1976):11-17.

Hoogsteen, T. "The Bronze Serpent History." Kerux 2:3 (December 1987):10-15.

Horn, Siegfried H. Biblical Archaeology: A Generation of Discovery. Washington: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1985.

Jagersma, H. "Some Remarks on the Jussive in Numbers 6:24-26." In Von Kanaan bis Kerala, pp. 131-36. Edited by W. C. Delsman, et al. Kevelaer, Germany: Verlag Butzer and Bercker, 1982.

Jastrow, Morris, Jr. Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria. 1911. Reprint ed. New York: Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1971.

Jensen, Irving L. Numbers. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1964.

Josephus, Flavius. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. Antiquities of the Jews. London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1866.

Kallai, Zecharia. "The Southern Border of the Land of Israel--Pattern and Application." Vetus Testamentum 37:4 (October 1987):438-45.

_____. "The Wandering-Traditions from Kadesh-Barnea to Canaan: A Study in Biblical Historiography." Journal of Jewish Studies 33:1-2 (Spring-Autumn 1982):175-84.

Keil, C. F., and Franz Delitzsch. The Pentateuch. 3 vols. Translated by James Martin. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. N.p.; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.

Kitchen, Kenneth A. Ancient Orient and Old Testament. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1966.

_____. The Bible In Its World. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1977.

_____. "The Old Testament in its Context: 2 From Egypt to the Jordan." Theological Students' Fellowship Bulletin 60 (1971):3-11.

Kselman, J. S. "A Note on Numbers xii 6-8." Vetus Testamentum 26:4 (October 1976):500-504.

Lange, John Peter, ed. Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. 12 vols. Reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960. Vol. 2: Numbers-Ruth, by John Peter Lange, William J. Schroeder, F. R. Fay, and Paulus Cassel. Translated by Samuel T. Lowrie, A. Gosman, George R. Bliss, and P. H. Streenstra.

Lemaire, Andre. "Fragments from the Book of Balaam Found at Deir Alla." Biblical Archaeology Review 11:5 (September-October 1985):27-39.

Liebreich, Leon J. "The Songs of Ascents and the Priestly Blessings." Journal of Biblical Literature 74 (1955):33-36.

Livingston, G. Herbert. The Pentateuch in Its Cultural Environment. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974.

Maarsingh, B. Numbers: a practical commentary. Translated by John Vriend. Text and Interpretation series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987.

Magonet, Jonathan. "The Korah Rebellion." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 24 (1982):3-25.

Margalith (Windreich), M. "The Transgression of Moses and Aaron--Num. 20:1-13." Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress of Jewish Studies. Vol. I. Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies, 1968.

Marshall, John. "The Prophet Balaam." The Banner of Truth 275-76 (August-September 1986):41-54.

Mattingly, Gerald L. "The Exodus-Conquest and the Archaeology of Transjordan: New Light on an Old Problem." Grace Theological Journal 4:2 (1983):245-62.

McKane, W. "Poison, Trial by Ordeal and the Cup of Wrath." Vetus Testamentum 30:4 (October 1980):474-92.

Merrill, Eugene H. Kingdom of Priests. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987.

_____. "Numbers." In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 215-58. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1985.

_____. "A Theology of the Pentateuch." In A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, pp. 7-87. Edited by Roy B. Zuck. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991.

Milgrom, Jacob. "The Cultic Use of grb/ngs." Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress of Jewish Studies. Vol. I. Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies, 1969.

_____. "The Levitical Town: An Exercise in Realistic Planning." Journal of Jewish Studies 33:1-2 (Spring-Autumn 1982):185-88.

_____. "Of Hems and Tassels." Biblical Archaeology Review 9:3 (May-June 1983):61-65.

_____. "The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num. xix)." Vetus Testamentum 31:1 (1981):62-72.

Miller, J. Maxwell. "The Israelite Journey through (around) Moab and Moabite Toponymy." Journal of Biblical Literature 108:4 (1989):577-95.

Monson, James M. The Land Between. Jerusalem: By the Author, P.O. Box 1276, 1983.

Morgan, G. Campbell. Living Messages of the Books of the Bible. 2 vols. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1912.

Na'aman, N. "Hebron Was Built Seven Years before Zoan in Egypt' (Numbers xiii 22)." Vetus Testamentum 31:4 (1981):488-92.

Noordtzij, A. Numbers. Translated by Ed van der Maas. Bible Student's Commentary series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1983.

Olson, Dennis T. The Death of the Old and the Birth of the New: The Framework of the Book of Numbers and the Pentateugh. Brown Judaic Studies series. Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1985.

Ouzounellis, Theodore. "Prophecy of Balaam Found in Jordan." Bible and Spade 6:4 (Autumn 1977):121-24.

Philip, James. Numbers. The Communicator's Commentary series. Waco: Word Books, 1987.

"The Priestly Blessing." Buried History 18:2 (June 1982):27-30.

Riggans, Walter. Numbers. Daily Study Bible series. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983.

Rogers, Cleon. "Moses: Meek or Miserable?" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29:3 (September 1986):257-63.

Rooker, Mark F. Leviticus. The New American Commentary series. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.

Ruble, Richard L. "The Doctrine of Dreams." Bibliotheca Sacra 125:500 (October-December 1968):360-64.

Rushing, Ronald Lee. "Phinehas' Covenant of Peace." Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1988.

Safren, Jonathan D. "Balaam and Abraham." Vetus Testamentum 38:1 (January 1988):105-13.

Sailhamer, John H. "The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch." Westminster Theological Journal 53 (Fall 1991):241-61.

_____. The Pentateuch as Narrative. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

Schulte, John Andres. "Vows." Exegesis and Exposition 3:1 (Fall 1988):48-51.

Schwantes, Seigfried J. A Short History of the Ancient Near East. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1965.

"Some Notes on Quail Poisoning." Journal of the American Medical Association 211:7 (February 16, 1970):1186-87.

Smith, Ralph L. "Baal." Biblical Illustrator 10:2 (Winter 1984):12-16.

Spencer, John R. "The Tasks of the Levites: smr and sb'." Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 96:2 (1984):267-71.

Student Map Manual. Jerusalem: Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est., 1979.

Tosato, Angelo. "The Literary Structure of the First Two Poems of Balaam (Num. xxiii 7-10, 18-24)." Vetus Testamentum 29:1 (January 1979):98-106.

Ulrich, Dean R. "The Framing Function of the Narratives about Zelophehad's Daughters." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41:4 (December 1998):529-38.

Unger's Bible Dictionary. 1957 ed. S.v. "Covenant of Salt."

Van Oosting, James. "Moses, Hezekiah, and Yale's gang of four." Reformed Journal 33:11 (November 1983):7-8.

Van Seters, John. "The Conquest of Sihon's Kingdom: A Literary Examination." Journal of Biblical Literature 91:2 (June 1972):182-97.

Weisman, Ze'ev. "The Personal Spirit as Inspiring Authority." Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 93:2 (1981):225-34.

Wenham, Gordon J. "Aaron's Rod (Numbers 17:16-28)." Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 93:2 (1981):280-81.

_____. Numbers. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1981.

Wenham, John W. The Goodness of God. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1974.

_____. "The Large Numbers in the Old Testament." Tyndale Bulletin 18 (1967):19-53.

Whybray, R. Norman. Introduction to the Pentateuch. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995.

Wiersbe, Warren W. On Being a Servant of God. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1993; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1999.

Wood, Leon. Distressing Days of the Judges. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975.

_____. Israel's United Monarchy. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979.

_____. A Survey of Israel's History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970.

Wright, David P. "Purification from Corpse Contamination in Numbers XXI 19-24." Vetus Testamentum 35:2 (1985):213-23.

Young, Robert. Analytical Concordance to the Bible, 22nd American ed. S.v. "Arabia."

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. S.v. "Eschol, by R. C. Ridall."

Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Numbers (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION.

This fourth Book of Moses is called Numbers , because it begins with the numbering of the people. The Hebrews, from its first words, call it Vaydedabber . It contains the transactions of the Israelites, from the second month of the second year after their going out of Egypt, until the beginning of the eleventh month of the 40th year; that is, a history almost of thirty-nine years. (Challoner) --- In the nine first chapters various orders of people are described, and several laws are given or repeated. From the 10th to the 33d, the marches and history of God's people are related; (Haydock) from the 20th of the second month, in the second year after their departure out of Egypt, till the eleventh month of the 40th year, and the last of Moses: so that this Book contains the transactions of almost thirty-nine years; (Tirinus) whereas, the Book of Leviticus specified only some of the laws and occurrences of one month. Here we behold what opposition Moses experienced from Aaron and his sister, from Core, and from all the people; and yet God protected him, in the midst of all dangers, and confounded, not only their attempts, but those also of Balaam, and of all his external foes. (Haydock) --- Moses conquers the Madianites, and divides the conquered country between the tribes of Ruben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasses. In the three last chapters, he describes the land of Chanaan, orders all the inhabitants to be exterminated, assigns cities for the Levites, and for refuge; and forbids such marriages, as might cause any confusion in the distribution of the lands belonging to each tribe. Moses composed this part of the Pentateuch, as well as that of Deuteronomy, a little while before his death, out of the memoirs which he had carefully preserved. (Calmet) --- According to Usher, the people were numbered this second time, in the year of the world 2514, chap. i.; after which they leave the desert of Sinai, (chap. x. 11.) go to Cades-barne, and return thither again 2552. Soon after this, Mary and Aaron die; Moses lifts up the brazen serpent; and the Hebrews take possession of part of the promised land (2553) on the eastern banks of the Jordan. That on the western side, flowing with milk and honey, was conquered by Josue in the following years. (Haydock)

Gill: Numbers (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS

This book has its name from the account it gives of the "numbers" of the children of Israel, twice taken particularly; which name it has with this Greeks and Latins, and so with the Syriac and Arabic versions; but with the Jews it is called sometimes "Vajedabber", from the first word of it, "and the Lord spake"; and sometimes "Bemidbar", from the fifth word of the first verse, "in the wilderness", and sometimes "Sepher Pikkudim"; or, as with Origen ^a, "Ammesph‚kodim", the book of musters or surveys. That it was written by Moses is not to be doubted; and is indeed suggested by our Lord himself, Joh 5:46 compared with Num 3:14, and the references to it, in the New Testament, fully ascertain to us Christians the authenticity of it, as that of our Lord hinted at, and those of the apostle in 1Co 10:4. It contains an history of the affairs of the Israelites, and of their travel in the wilderness for the space of thirty eight years; though the principal facts it relates were done in the second year of their coming out of Egypt, and in the last of their being in the wilderness; and it is not merely historical, but gives a particular account of several laws, ceremonial and judicial, to be observed by the people of Israel, as well as has many things in it very instructive, both of a moral and evangelical nature.

Gill: Numbers 21 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 21

This chapter gives an account of the defeat of King Arad, the Canaanite, Num 21:1 of the murmurings of the children of Israel, because of difficulties in travelling round, the land of Edom, for which they were punished with fiery serpents, Num 21:4 and how that upon their repentance a brazen serpent was ordered to be made, and to be erected on a pole, that whoever looked to it might live, Num 21:7 and of the several journeys and stations of the children of Israel, until they came to the land of the Amorites, Num 21:10, when they sent a message to Sihon their king, to desire him to grant them a passage through his country; but he refusing, they fought with him, smote him, and possessed his land, concerning which many proverbial sayings were used, Num 21:21 and the chapter is concluded with the defeat of Og, king of Bashan, Num 21:33.