Numbers 24:22

24:22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed. ¹ 

How long will Asshur take you away captive?”

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 31:9

31:9 The Israelites took the women of Midian captives along with their little ones, and took all their herds, all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder.

[24:22]  ¹ tc Heb “Nevertheless Cain will be wasted; how long will Asshur take you captive?” Cain was believed to be the ancestor of the Kenites. The NAB has “yet destined for burning, even as I watch, are your inhabitants.” Asshur may refer to a north Arabian group of people of Abrahamic stock (Gen 25:3), and not the Assyrian empire.

[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.