1And the Canaanite, King Arad, dwelling to the south, will hear that Israel came the way of the places, and he will fight against Israel, and he will carry off from him a captivity. 2And Israel will vow a vow to Jehovah, and will say, If giving, thou wilt give this people into my hand, and I exterminated their cities. 3And Jehovah will hear to the voice of Israel, and he will give the Canaanite, and he will exterminate them and their cities: and he will call the name of the place Hormah. 4And they will remove from mount Hor, the way of the sea of sedge, to encompass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people will be shortened in the way. 5And the people will speak against God, and against Moses, For what brought ye us up from Egypt to die in the desert? for no bread, and no water; and our soul loathed upon this light bread. 6And Jehovah will send upon the people deadly serpents, and they will bite the people; and much people will die from Israel 7And the people will come to Moses, and they will say, We sinned, for we spake against Jehovah and against thee; wilt thou pray to Jehovah and he will remove the serpent from us? And Moses will pray for the people. 8And Jehovah will say to Moses, Make to thee a burning, and put it up for a signal: and it was every one being bitten, and he saw it and lived. 9And Moses will make a brass serpent, and will set it up for a signal, and it was if the serpent bit a man and he looked upon the brass serpent, and he lived. 10And the sons of Israel will remove, and will encamp in Oboth. 11And they will remove from Oboth and will encamp in Ije-Abarim, in the desert which is upon the face of Moab, from the rising of the sun. 12From thence they removed, and they will encamp in the valley of Zared. 13From thence they removed, and they will encamp from the other side of Amon, which is in the desert coming forth from the boundary of the Amorites: for Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and between the Amorites. 14For this it will be said in the book of the wars of Jehovah, Giving in the whirlwind, and the torrents of Arnon. 15And the outpouring of the torrents which extended to the rest at Ar, and reclined to the boundary of Moab. 16And from thence the well; it is the well of which Jehovah said to Moses, Gather the people together and I will give to them water. 17The Israel will sing this song: Ascend thou well ! answer ye to it. 18The leaders dug it, the nobles of the people dug it, by cutting in by their props. And from the desert to Mattanah. 19And from Mattanah to the Valley of God; and from the Valley of God to Bamoth. 20And from Bamoth, the valley which is in the field of Moab, the head of Pisgah, and looking upon the face of Jeshimon. 21And Israel will send messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22I will pass over in thy land: we will not turn into the field and into the vineyard; we will not drink water of the well; in the way of the king we will go till we shall pass over thy boundary. 23And Sihon gave not to Israel to pass over by his boundary; and Sihon will gather all his people, and will come forth to meet Israel to the desert: and he will come to Jahaz, and he will fight against Israel. 24And Israel will smite him with the mouth of the sword, and he will possess his land from Arnon to Jabbok, even to the sons of Ammon: for the boundary of the sons of Ammon was strong. 25And Israel will take all these cities: and Israel will dwell in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her daughters. 26For Heshbon this the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites; and he fought against the king of Moab, and he will take all his land out of his hand, even to Arnon. 27For this they will say, using parables, Come ye to Heshbon; the city of Sihon shall be built and prepared. 28For a fire shall come forth from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the heights of Arnon. 29Wo to thee, Moab! thou wert destroyed, O people of Chemosh: he gave his sons escaping, and his daughters, into captivity to the king of the Amorites, Sihon. 30And we shall shoot them; Heshbon was destroyed, even to Dibon, and the women even to Nophah, which is to Medeba 31And Israel will dwell in the land of the Amorites. 32And Moses will send to search Jazer, and they will take her daughters, and will drive out the Amorite who is there. 33And they will turn and go up the way of Bashan: and Og, king of Bashan, will come forth to their meeting, he and all his people, to the war at Edrei. 34And Jehovah will say to Moses, Thou shalt not be afraid of him; for into thy hand I gave him, and all his people and his land; and do to him as thou didst to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who will dwell in Heshbon. 35And they will strike him, and his sons, and all his people, until a survivor was not left to him: and they will possess 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.