NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:1 Marching from Kadesh to the Plains of Moab. After nearly 40 years of aimless wandering in the wilderness, Israel is ready to enter the Land of Promise. Most of the older generation have died out, and the younger ones are now taking over. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getE... [ Continue Reading ]
NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:2__ Even though Moses’ error seems minor, v. Numbers 20:12 indicates that carelessness in responding to God’s command was the real issue: BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE IN ME, TO UPHOLD ME AS HOLY IN THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE. As the mediators of God’s laws to Israel, Moses and... [ Continue Reading ]
NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:14__ YOUR BROTHER ISRAEL. Esau (Edom) was the twin brother of Jacob (Israel); see Genesis 25:24. The Edomites were therefore the people with whom Israel had the closest connection. Yet there was always tension and hostility between these two nations. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = do... [ Continue Reading ]
NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:16 KADESH, A CITY ON THE EDGE OF YOUR TERRITORY. In the second millennium B.C., Edom’s main settlements were southeast of the Dead Sea. Kadesh-barnea (see note on 10:11–12:16) is a long way west of there, in northern Sinai. This suggests that either the Edomites were livin... [ Continue Reading ]
NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:17 THE KING’S HIGHWAY is the main trade route from Damascus to Arabia, passing through Edom in the high hills southeast of the Dead Sea. Israel wanted to travel north along this road. But the Edomites refused to let them pass through their territory, so ISRAEL TURNED AWAY.... [ Continue Reading ]
NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:22__ Aaron’s death fulfills the judgment pronounced on him in v. Numbers 20:12. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:26 GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE. After death, one is reunited with one’s deceased relatives, according to OT belief (see note on 2 Sam. 12:23; see also Genesis 25:8; Numbers 20:24; Deuteronomy 32:50). ⇐ ⇔... [ Continue Reading ]
NUMBERS—NOTE ON NUMBERS 20:28 STRIPPED AARON... AND PUT THEM ON ELEAZAR HIS SON. Aaron’s death meant his son must follow him as high priest, the supreme mediator between God and Israel. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]