Numbers 21:14-16

21:14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

“Waheb in Suphah ¹  and the wadis,

the Arnon 21:15 and the slope of the valleys ² 

that extends to the dwelling of Ar, ³ 

and falls off at the border of Moab.”

21:16 And from there they traveled ⁴  to Beer; ⁵  that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”

Numbers 21:27-30

21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs ⁶  say,

“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.

Let the city of Sihon be established! ⁷ 

21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has consumed Ar of Moab

and the lords ⁸  of the high places of Arnon.

21:29 Woe to you, Moab.

You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! ⁹ 

He has made his sons fugitives,

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

21:30 We have overpowered them; ¹⁰ 

Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.

We have shattered them as far as Nophah,

which ¹¹  reaches to Medeba.”

Job 8:8-9

8:8 “For inquire now of the former ¹²  generation,

and pay attention ¹³  to the findings ¹⁴ 

of their ancestors; ¹⁵ 

8:9 For we were born yesterday ¹⁶  and do not have knowledge,

since our days on earth are but a shadow. ¹⁷ 

Job 15:17-19

15:17 “I will explain to you;

listen to me,

and what ¹⁸  I have seen, I will declare, ¹⁹ 

15:18 what wise men declare,

hiding nothing,

from the tradition of ²⁰  their ancestors, ²¹ 

15:19 to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigner passed among them. ²² 

[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.

[21:15]  ² 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]  ³ sn The place is unknown; it is apparently an important city in the region.

[21:16]  ⁴ 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.

[21:16]  ⁵ sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.

[21:27]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”

[21:28]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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”).

[8:8]  ¹² sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.

[8:8]  ¹³ tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).

[8:8]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “fathers.”

[8:9]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew has “we are of yesterday,” the adverb functioning as a predicate. Bildad’s point is that they have not had time to acquire great knowledge because they are recent.

[8:9]  ¹⁷ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 116) observes that the shadow is the symbol of ephemeral things (14:2; 17:7; Ps 144:4). The shadow passes away quickly (116).

[15:17]  ¹⁸ tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here as a nominative, to introduce an independent relative clause (see GKC 447 §138.h).

[15:17]  ¹⁹ tn Here the vav (ו) apodosis follows with the cohortative (see GKC 458 §143.d).

[15:18]  ²⁰ tn The word “tradition” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[15:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “their fathers.” Some commentators change one letter and follow the reading of the LXX: “and their fathers have not hidden.” Pope tries to get the same reading by classifying the מ (mem) as an enclitic mem. The MT on first glance would read “and did not hide from their fathers.” Some take the clause “and they did not hide” as adverbial and belonging to the first part of the verse: “what wise men declare, hiding nothing, according to the tradition of their fathers.”

[15:19]  ²² sn Eliphaz probably thinks that Edom was the proverbial home of wisdom, and so the reference here would be to his own people. If, as many interpret, the biblical writer is using these accounts to put Yahwistic ideas into the discussion, then the reference would be to Canaan at the time of the fathers. At any rate, the tradition of wisdom to Eliphaz has not been polluted by foreigners, but has retained its pure and moral nature from antiquity.