Numbers 21:4

Fiery Serpents

21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, ¹  to go around the land of Edom, but the people ²  became impatient along the way.

Malachi 1:2-3

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob 1:3 and rejected Esau. ³  I turned Esau’s ⁴  mountains into a deserted wasteland ⁵  and gave his territory ⁶  to the wild jackals.”

[21:4]  ¹ tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.

[21:4]  ² tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.

[1:3]  ³ tn Heb “and I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.” The context indicates this is technical covenant vocabulary in which “love” and “hate” are synonymous with “choose” and “reject” respectively (see Deut 7:8; Jer 31:3; Hos 3:1; 9:15; 11:1).

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “I set his mountains as a desolation.”

[1:3]  ⁶ tn Or “inheritance” (so NIV, NLT).