Numbers 21:1

Victory at Hormah

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

Numbers 21:22

21:22 “Let us ⁴  pass through your land; ⁵  we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.”

Numbers 21:33

21:33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces ⁶  marched out against them to do battle at Edrei.

Numbers 22:26

22:26 Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

Numbers 22:31

22:31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; so he bowed his head and threw himself down with his face to the ground. ⁷ 

Numbers 33:8

33:8 They traveled from Pi-hahiroth, ⁸  and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and camped in Marah.

[21:1]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.

[21:22]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular in these verses to match the reference to “Israel.”

[21:22]  ⁵ tc Smr has “by the King’s way I will go. I will not turn aside to the right or the left.”

[21:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “people.”

[22:31]  ¹⁰ tn The Hishtaphel verb חָוָה (khavah) – שָׁחָה (shakhah) with metathesis – has a basic idea of “bow oneself low to the ground,” and perhaps in some cases the idea of “coil up.” This is the normal posture of prayer and of deep humility in the ancient religious world.

[33:8]  ¹³ tc So many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate. Other witnesses have “from before Hahiroth.”