Numbers 20:5

20:5 Why¹ have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to² this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

Numbers 20:11

20:11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.

Numbers 20:19

20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we³ or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

Numbers 21:22

21:22 “Let us⁴ pass through your land;⁵ we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.”

Numbers 23:24

23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,

and like a lion raises himself up;

they will not lie down until they eat their⁶ prey,

and drink the blood of the slain.”⁷

¹tn Heb “and why.”

²tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.

³tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”

⁵tn The Hebrew text uses the singular in these verses to match the reference to “Israel.”

⁶tc Smr has “by the King’s way I will go. I will not turn aside to the right or the left.”

⁷tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

⁸sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.