Numbers 21:13-15

21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the regions ¹  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 ²  and the wadis,

the Arnon 21:15 and the slope of the valleys ³ 

that extends to the dwelling of Ar, ⁴ 

and falls off at the border of Moab.”

Numbers 21:27-30

21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs ⁵  say,

“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.

Let the city of Sihon be established! ⁶ 

21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has consumed Ar of Moab

and the lords ⁷  of the high places of Arnon.

21:29 Woe to you, Moab.

You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! ⁸ 

He has made his sons fugitives,

and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.

21:30 We have overpowered them; ⁹ 

Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.

We have shattered them as far as Nophah,

which ¹⁰  reaches to Medeba.”

Deuteronomy 2:9

2:9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar ¹¹  to the descendants of Lot ¹²  as their possession.

Deuteronomy 2:19

2:19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants ¹³  as their possession.

Deuteronomy 2:2

2:2 At this point the Lord said to me,

Deuteronomy 20:10

20:10 When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace.

Acts 24:12-13

24:12 They did not find me arguing ¹⁴  with anyone or stirring up a crowd ¹⁵  in the temple courts ¹⁶  or in the synagogues ¹⁷  or throughout the city, ¹⁸  24:13 nor can they prove ¹⁹  to you the things ²⁰  they are accusing me of doing. ²¹ 

[21:13]  ¹ tn Or “border.”

[21:14]  ² 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.

[21:15]  ³ 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.

[21:15]  ⁴ sn The place is unknown; it is apparently an important city in the region.

[21:27]  ⁵ 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.

[21:27]  ⁶ tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”

[21:28]  ⁷ 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.

[21:29]  ⁸ sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.

[21:30]  ⁹ tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).

[21:30]  ¹⁰ 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”).

[2:9]  ¹¹ sn Ar was a Moabite city on the Arnon River east of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned elsewhere in the “Book of the Wars of Yahweh” (Num 21:15; cf. 21:28; Isa 15:1). Here it is synonymous with the whole land of Moab.

[2:9]  ¹² sn The descendants of Lot. Following the destruction of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, as God’s judgment, Lot fathered two sons by his two daughters, namely, Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:30-38). Thus, these descendants of Lot in and around Ar were the Moabites.

[2:19]  ¹³ sn Lot’s descendants. See note on this phrase in Deut 2:9.

[24:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “disputing,” “conducting a heated discussion.”

[24:12]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 381 s.v. ἐπίστασις 2 has “ἐ. ποιεῖν ὄχλου to cause a crowd to gather Ac 24:12.” Roman authorities would not allow a mob to gather and threaten the peace, and anyone suspected of instigating a mob would certainly be arrested.

[24:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[24:12]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[24:12]  ¹⁸ sn A second part of Paul’s defense is that he did nothing while he was in Jerusalem to cause unrest, neither arguing nor stirring up a crowd in the temple courts or in the synagogues or throughout the city.

[24:13]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 1.f has “οὐδὲ παραστῆσαι δύνανταί σοι περὶ ὧν νυνὶ κατηγοροῦσίν μου nor can they prove to you the accusations they are now making against me Ac 24:13.”

[24:13]  ²⁰ tn The words “the things” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[24:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “nor can they prove to you [the things] about which they are now accusing me.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“which”) in the translation.