Numbers 21

The Canaanite king of Arad lived in the dry southern country. When he heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he attacked Israel and took some of them prisoner.

1And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

NoteThe Canaanites were the settled peoples of the land west of the Jordan; "Canaanite" here marks Arad as a local city-state ruler, not the head of a large kingdom. The "dry southern country" is the Negev, the arid region south of what later became Judah. The Hebrew behind "the road the spies had taken" is uncertain: it may mean a route associated with the earlier scouting expedition, or it may be a place name, Atharim.

2Then Israel made a promise to the LORD: "If you will really hand this people over to us, we will completely destroy their cities."

2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

Note"Completely destroy" translates a Hebrew term (herem) meaning to place something permanently and irrevocably outside ordinary human use by handing it over to God, in wartime, by destroying it rather than taking it as plunder. The vow is that no one will profit from the victory.

3The LORD listened to Israel and handed the Canaanites over to them. Israel completely destroyed the people and their cities. So the place was named Hormah.

3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

NoteThe name Hormah is built on the same Hebrew root as the word for the destruction vowed in verse 2; the name is roughly "Destruction" or "Devoted Place." Naming a site after what happened there is a common feature of these narratives.

4They set out from Mount Hor along the road toward the Red Sea, so they could go around the land of Edom. But the people lost heart badly because of the journey.

4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

Note"Red Sea" renders Hebrew yam suph, literally "sea of reeds"; here it refers to the eastern arm of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba. Edom was the territory of the descendants of Esau, southeast of the Dead Sea; its king had refused Israel permission to cross, so the detour is a long southward march.

5They spoke against God and against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread and no water, and we hate this thin, worthless food."

5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

NoteThe "thin, worthless food" is the manna, the flaky substance described in Exodus 16 as their daily food in the desert. The King James "light bread" does not mean easy to digest; it means insubstantial and contemptible.

6So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people. The snakes bit the people, and many Israelites died.

6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

NoteThe Hebrew calls these snakes seraphim, "burning ones", either because the bite caused a burning pain and inflammation, or from their appearance. The word is left deliberately vivid rather than being a species name.

7So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD to take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8The LORD said to Moses, "Make a figure of one of these burning snakes and set it up on a pole. Then everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it."

8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

NoteMaking an image and setting it on a pole where everyone could see it is the point: it had to be visible from a distance across a camp of thousands.

9So Moses made a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. After that, if a snake bit someone and he looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

NoteThe King James "brass" means bronze or copper; brass as we know it was not made then. In Hebrew there is a play on words the English cannot carry: the word for snake (nachash) and the word for bronze (nechoshet) sound alike.

10The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.

10And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.

NoteFrom here to verse 20 the chapter is largely a travel record, a list of camping stops. Most of these places cannot now be located with confidence.

11They traveled from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the desert that lies east of Moab, toward the sunrise.

11And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.

NoteIye-abarim means roughly "the ruins of the Abarim", the Abarim being the range of highlands east of the Dead Sea.

12From there they moved on and camped in the Valley of Zered.

12From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.

13From there they moved on and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the desert that reaches into Amorite country. The Arnon is Moab's border, running between Moab and the Amorites.

13From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

NoteThe Arnon is the deep river gorge running west into the Dead Sea; it formed a natural frontier. The Amorites were a people occupying the highlands east of the Jordan at this point in the story; the term is used broadly in these books for pre-Israelite inhabitants of the region.

14That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says: "What he did at the Red Sea, and in the streams of the Arnon,

14Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,

NoteThe Book of the Wars of the LORD is a source quoted here and now lost; nothing else of it survives. The quoted lines are among the most damaged in the Hebrew Bible: the King James reads them as "what he did in the Red Sea," while others read the same consonants as place names, "Waheb in Suphah." Both readings are guesses at an obscure text.

15and at the slope of the streams that runs down to the place where Ar stands, and lies along the border of Moab."

15And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.

NoteAr was a Moabite town or district near the Arnon, mentioned again in verse 28. The "streams" are wadis, seasonal watercourses, dry for much of the year and violent after rain.

16From there they went on to Beer. That is the well the LORD spoke about when he told Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water."

16And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

NoteBeer is simply the Hebrew word for "well." The place is named for the thing found there.

17Then Israel sang this song: "Rise up, well! Sing to it, all of you!

17Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:

NoteThis is a work song of a kind still sung by well-diggers in the region into modern times: the diggers address the water directly and call it up.

18The princes dug the well; the leading men of the people dug it out, at the word of the lawgiver, using their staffs." Then from the desert they went on to Mattanah,

18The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:

Note"Lawgiver" translates a Hebrew word that can mean either a ruler or commander, or the staff of office that such a person carries; the line may mean the well was dug at a leader's direction, or dug with scepters and staffs. Digging with a staff rather than a tool suggests a formal, ceremonial act by the chiefs rather than ordinary labor.

19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

19And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:

NoteThe names carry meanings the narrative may be playing on: Nahaliel is roughly "torrents of God," Bamoth is "high places", the hilltop shrine sites mentioned again in verse 28.

20and from Bamoth to the valley in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks out over the empty wasteland.

20And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.

NotePisgah is a ridge in the highlands overlooking the Dead Sea from the east; it is where Moses later views the land before his death. "The empty wasteland" translates Jeshimon, which may be a general word for desert or the proper name of a specific barren tract near the Dead Sea.

21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites with this message:

21And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

22"Let us pass through your land. We will not turn off into the fields or the vineyards, and we will not drink water from any well. We will stay on the King's Highway until we are past your border."

22Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders.

NoteThe King's Highway was a real and well-known trade route running north–south through the highlands east of the Jordan. The request is for safe passage along the main road, with a promise to take nothing from the fields and wells on either side, an ordinary diplomatic arrangement between a traveling group and a local ruler.

23But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. Instead he gathered all his people together and marched out against Israel into the desert. He came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

23And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

24Israel struck him down with the sword and took over his land, from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, up to the land of the Ammonites. They stopped there, because the Ammonite border was strongly defended.

24And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

NoteThe Jabbok is a river flowing west into the Jordan, well north of the Arnon; the two rivers mark the southern and northern limits of the captured territory. The Ammonites were a people east of that land. The last clause is difficult in Hebrew: it may mean the Ammonite border was fortified, or, following an ancient Greek reading: that Jazer marked the Ammonite border.

25Israel captured all these cities and settled in all the Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all the villages around it.

25And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

26Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites. He had fought against the earlier king of Moab and taken all his land away from him, as far as the Arnon.

26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.

NoteThis explains why the land was taken from Amorites rather than Moabites: Sihon had already conquered it from Moab, so Moab's claim to it had lapsed before Israel arrived. The point matters because Israel had been forbidden to attack Moab itself.

27That is why those who speak in poems say: "Come to Heshbon; let the city of Sihon be rebuilt and made ready.

27Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

Note"Those who speak in poems" translates a word for ballad-makers or reciters of set pieces, professional singers who preserved victory songs. What follows is such a song, quoted from outside the narrative; it originally celebrated Sihon's defeat of Moab.

28For a fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It burned up Ar of Moab and the rulers of the high places along the Arnon.

28For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

Note"High places" were open-air shrines, usually on hilltops or raised platforms, where sacrifice and worship were carried out. The "rulers" or "lords" of them were the local chiefs associated with those sanctuaries. Fire going out from a city is a standard image in such songs for an army on campaign.

29Trouble has come to you, Moab! You are ruined, people of the god Chemosh! He handed over his sons who escaped, and his daughters too, as prisoners of Sihon king of the Amorites.

29Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

NoteChemosh was the chief god of Moab, and Moabites could be called "the people of Chemosh" much as Israel could be called the people of the LORD. In the song it is Chemosh himself who is said to have abandoned his own worshipers to the enemy, the defeated nation's god blamed for its defeat.

30We have shot them down. Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have laid them waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba."

30We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is badly damaged and every translation of it is partly conjecture. Dibon, Nophah and Medeba are Moabite towns on the plateau north of the Arnon.

31So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

32Moses sent men to spy out Jaazer. Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who lived there.

32And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

NoteJaazer (also spelled Jazer) lay north of Heshbon, toward the Ammonite frontier.

33Then they turned and went up the road toward Bashan. Og king of Bashan marched out against them with all his people to fight at Edrei.

33And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.

NoteBashan is the fertile upland region east of the Sea of Galilee, north of the territory just taken; Edrei was one of its chief cities. Going "up by the way of Bashan" means turning north from the newly captured land.

34The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him. I have handed him over to you, along with all his people and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled at Heshbon."

34And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

Note"Do not be afraid of him" answers a fear the narrative does not spell out here; elsewhere Og is remembered as a giant of unusual size, the last of an older race of people.

35So they struck him down, along with his sons and all his people, until no one was left alive. And they took over his land.

35So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.