Numbers 21:29

21:29 Woe to you, Moab.

You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! ¹ 

He has made his sons fugitives,

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

Numbers 21:1

Victory at Hormah

21:1 ² When the Canaanite king of Arad ³  who lived in the Negev ⁴  heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.

Numbers 11:7

11:7 (Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.

Jeremiah 48:7

48:7 “Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches.

So you too will be conquered.

Your god Chemosh ⁵  will go into exile ⁶ 

along with his priests and his officials.

Jeremiah 48:46

48:46 Moab, you are doomed! ⁷ 

You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed.

Your sons will be taken away captive.

Your daughters will be carried away into exile. ⁸ 

[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.

[21:1]  ² sn This chapter has several events in it: the victory over Arad (vv. 1-3), the plague of serpents (vv. 4-9), the approach to Moab (vv. 10-20), and the victory over Sihon and Og (vv. 21-35). For information, see D. M. Gunn, “The ‘Battle Report’: Oral or Scribal Convention.” JBL 93 (1974): 513-18; and of the extensive literature on the archaeological site, see EAEHL 1:74-89.

[21:1]  ³ sn The name Arad probably refers to a place a number of miles away from Tel Arad in southern Israel. The name could also refer to the whole region (like Edom).

[21:1]  ⁴ tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.

[48:7]  ⁵ sn Chemosh was the national god of Moab (see also Numb 21:29). Child sacrifice appears to have been a part of his worship (2 Kgs 3:27). Solomon built a high place in Jerusalem for him (1 Kgs 11:7), and he appears to have been worshiped in Israel until Josiah tore that high place down (2 Kgs 23:13).

[48:7]  ⁶ sn The practice of carrying off the gods of captive nations has already been mentioned in the study note on 43:12. See also Isa 46:1-2 noted there.

[48:46]  ⁷ tn Heb “Woe to you, Moab.” For the usage of this expression see 4:13, 31; 13:17 and the translator’s note on 4:13 and 10:19.

[48:46]  ⁸ tn Heb “Your sons will be taken away into captivity, your daughters into exile.”