Numbers 21:28

21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has consumed Ar of Moab

and the lords ¹  of the high places of Arnon.

Amos 2:2

2:2 So I will set Moab on fire, ² 

and it will consume Kerioth’s ³  fortresses.

Moab will perish ⁴  in the heat of battle ⁵ 

amid war cries and the blaring ⁶  of the ram’s horn. ⁷ 

[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.

[2:2]  ² sn The destruction of Moab by fire is an example of a judgment in kind – as the Moabites committed the crime of “burning,” so the Lord will punish them by setting them on fire.

[2:2]  ³ sn Kerioth was an important Moabite city. See Jer 48:24, 41.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Or “die” (KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV); NAB “shall meet death.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Or “in the tumult.” This word refers to the harsh confusion of sounds that characterized an ancient battle – a mixture of war cries, shouts, shrieks of pain, clashes of weapons, etc.

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “sound” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[2:2]  ⁷ sn The ram’s horn (used as a trumpet) was blown to signal the approaching battle.