1And when King Arad, the Canaanite who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel was coming on the way to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. 2And Israel vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If You will grant to deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3And Jehovah heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah. 4And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient on the way. 5And the people spoke against God and against Moses: Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread. 6And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against Jehovah and against you; intercede before Jehovah that He take away the serpents from us. So Moses interceded for the people. 8And Jehovah said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that anyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. 9And Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. 10And the children of Israel set out and encamped in Oboth. 11And they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Ije Abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise. 12From there they set out and encamped in the valley of Zered. 13From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah: Waheb in Suphah, the brooks of the Arnon, 15and the slope of the brooks that extends down to the dwelling of Ar, and leans on the border of Moab. 16From there they went to Beer, which is the well where Jehovah said to Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. 17Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well! All of you sing to it; 18the well the rulers dug, dug by the nobles of the people, by the Lawgiver, with their staffs. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah, 19from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20and from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the land of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down and faces the wilderness. 21And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King's Highway until we have passed through your territory. 23But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. And Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 25And Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages. 26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon. 27Therefore those who speak in proverbs say: Come to Heshbon, let it be built; let the city of Sihon be repaired. 28For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the heights of the Arnon. 29Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites. 30But we have shot at them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon; and we laid waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba. 31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. 32And Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there. 33And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 34And Jehovah said to Moses, Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. 35So they struck him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 ISRAEL ATTACKED BY THE CANAANITES. (Num. 21:1-35)
King Arad the Canaanite--rather, "the Canaanite king of Arad"--an ancient town on the southernmost borders of Palestine, not far from Kadesh. A hill called Tell Arad marks the spot.
heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies--in the way or manner of spies, stealthily, or from spies sent by himself to ascertain the designs and motions of the Israelites. The Septuagint and others consider the Hebrew word "spies" a proper name, and render it: "Came by the way of Atharim towards Arad" [KENNICOTT].
he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners--This discomfiture was permitted to teach them to expect the conquest of Canaan not from their own wisdom and valor, but solely from the favor and help of God (
Deut 9:4;
Ps 44:3-
Ps 44:4).
2 Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord--Made to feel their own weakness, they implored the aid of Heaven, and, in anticipation of it, devoted the cities of this king to future destruction. The nature and consequence of such anathemas are described (Lev. 27:1-34; Deu. 13:1-18). This vow of extermination against Arad [
Num 21:2] gave name to the place Hormah (slaughter and destruction) though it was not accomplished till after the passage of the Jordan. Others think Hormah the name of a town mentioned (
Josh 12:14).
4 they journeyed from mount Hor--On being refused the passage requested, they returned through the Arabah, "the way of the Red Sea," to Elath, at the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, and thence passed up through the mountains to the eastern desert, so as to make the circuit of the land of Edom (
Num 33:41-
Num 33:42).
the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way--Disappointment on finding themselves so near the confines of the promised land without entering it; vexation at the refusal of a passage through Edom and the absence of any divine interposition in their favor; and above all, the necessity of a retrograde journey by a long and circuitous route through the worst parts of a sandy desert and the dread of being plunged into new and unknown difficulties--all this produced a deep depression of spirits. But it was followed, as usually, by a gross outburst of murmuring at the scarcity of water, and of expressions of disgust at the manna.
5 our soul loatheth this light bread--that is, bread without substance or nutritious quality. The refutation of this calumny appears in the fact, that on the strength of this food they performed for forty years so many and toilsome journeys. But they had been indulging a hope of the better and more varied fare enjoyed by a settled people; and disappointment, always the more bitter as the hope of enjoyment seems near, drove them to speak against God and against Moses (
1Cor 10:9).
6 The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people--That part of the desert where the Israelites now were--near the head of the gulf of Akaba--is greatly infested with venomous reptiles, of various kinds, particularly lizards, which raise themselves in the air and swing themselves from branches; and scorpions, which, being in the habit of lying in long grass, are particularly dangerous to the barelegged, sandaled people of the East. The only known remedy consists in sucking the wound, or, in the case of cattle, in the application of ammonia. The exact species of serpents that caused so great mortality among the Israelites cannot be ascertained. They are said to have been "fiery," an epithet applied to them either from their bright, vivid color, or the violent inflammation their bite occasioned.
7 the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned--The severity of the scourge and the appalling extent of mortality brought them to a sense of sin, and through the intercessions of Moses, which they implored, they were miraculously healed. He was directed to make the figure of a serpent in brass, to be elevated on a pole or standard, that it might be seen at the extremities of the camp and that every bitten Israelite who looked to it might be healed. This peculiar method of cure was designed, in the first instance, to show that it was the efficacy of God's power and grace, not the effect of nature or art, and also that it might be a type of the power of faith in Christ to heal all who look to Him because of their sins (
John 3:14-
John 3:15; see also on
2Kgs 18:4).
10 the children of Israel set forward--along the eastern frontier of the Edomites, encamping in various stations.
12 pitched in the valley--literally, the "woody brook-valley" of Zared (
Deut 2:13;
Isa 15:7;
Amos 6:14). This torrent rises among the mountains to the east of Moab, and flowing west, empties itself into the Dead Sea. Ije-Abarim is supposed to have been its ford [CALMET].
13 pitched on the other side of Arnon--now El-Mojib, a deep, broad, and rapid stream, dividing the dominions of the Moabites and Amorites.
14 book of the wars of the Lord--A fragment or passage is here quoted from a poem or history of the wars of the Israelites, principally with a view to decide the position of Arnon.
15 Ar--the capital of Moab.
16 from thence they went to Beer--that is, a "well." The name was probably given to it afterwards [see
Judg 9:21], as it is not mentioned (Num. 33:1-56).
17 Then Israel sang--This beautiful little song was in accordance with the wants and feelings of travelling caravans in the East, where water is an occasion both of prayer and thanksgiving. From the princes using their official rods only, and not spades, it seems probable that this well was concealed by the brushwood or the sand, as is the case with many wells in Idumea still. The discovery of it was seasonable, and owing to the special interposition of God.
21 Israel sent messengers unto Sihon--The rejection of their respectful and pacific message was resented--Sihon was discomfited in battle--and Israel obtained by right of conquest the whole of the Amorite dominions.
24 from Arnon unto Jabbok--now the Zurka. These rivers formed the southern and northern boundaries of his usurped territory.
for the border of . . . Ammon was strong--a reason stated for Sihon not being able to push his invasion further.
25 Israel dwelt in all the cities--after exterminating the inhabitants who had been previously doomed (
Deut 2:34).
26 Heshbon-- (
Song 7:4) --situated sixteen English miles north of the Arnon, and from its ruins it appears to have been a large city.
27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs--Here is given an extract from an Amorite song exultingly anticipating an extension of their conquests to Arnon. The quotation from the poem of the Amorite bard ends at
Num 21:28. The two following verses appear to be the strains in which the Israelites expose the impotence of the usurpers.
29 people of Chemosh--the name of the Moabite idol (1Ki. 11:7-33;
2Kgs 23:13;
Jer 48:46).
he--that is, their god, hath surrendered his worshippers to the victorious arms of Sihon.
33 they turned and went up by the way of Bashan--a name given to that district from the richness of the soil--now Batanea or El-Bottein--a hilly region east of the Jordan lying between the mountains of Hermon on the north and those of Gilead on the south.
Og--a giant, an Amoritish prince, who, having opposed the progress of the Israelites, was defeated.
34 The Lord said unto Moses, Fear him not--a necessary encouragement, for Og's gigantic stature (
Deut 3:11) was calculated to inspire terror. He and all his were put to the sword.