Text -- Numbers 21:27-35 (NET)

21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon, let it be built. Let the city of Sihon be established! 21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places of Arnon. 21:29 Woe to you, Moab. You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites. 21:30 We have overpowered them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. We have shattered them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.” 21:31 So the Israelites lived in the land of the Amorites. 21:32 Moses sent spies to reconnoiter Jaazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 21:33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces marched out against them to do battle at Edrei. 21:34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. 21:35 So they defeated Og, his sons, and all his people, until there were no survivors, and they possessed his land.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 21:27

¹ sn Proverbs of antiquity could include pithy sayings or longer songs, riddles, or poems composed to catch the significance or the irony of an event. This is a brief poem to remember the event, like an Egyptian victory song. It may have originated as an Amorite war taunt song; it was sung to commemorate this victory. It was cited later by Jeremiah (48:45-46). The composer invites his victorious people to rebuild the conquered city as a new capital for Sihon. He then turns to address the other cities which his God(s) has/have given to him. See P. D. Hanson, “The Song of Heshbon and David’s Nir,” HTR 61 (1968): 301.

² tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”

NET Notes: Num 21:28

¹ tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (ba’aley, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.

NET Notes: Num 21:29

¹ sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.

NET Notes: Num 21:30

¹ tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).

² tc The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ’asher) posed a problem for the ancient scribes here, as indicated by the so-called extraordinary point (punta extraordinaria) over the letter ר (resh) of אֲשֶׁר. Smr and the LXX have “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) here (cf. NAB, NJB, RSV, NRSV). Some modern scholars emend the word to שֹׁאָה (sho’ah, “devastation”).

NET Notes: Num 21:31

¹ tn Heb “Israel.”

NET Notes: Num 21:32

¹ tn Heb “Moses sent to spy out.”

² tn Heb “daughters.”

NET Notes: Num 21:33

¹ tn Heb “people.”

NET Notes: Num 21:35

¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Og) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “no remnant.”