INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 21 This chapter gives an account of the defeat of King Arad, the Canaanite, Numbers 21:1 of the murmurings of the children of Israel, because of difficulties in travelling round, the land of Edom, for which they were punished with fiery serpents, Numbers 21:4 and how that u... [ Continue Reading ]
AND [WHEN] KING ARAD THE CANAANITE, WHICH DWELT IN THE SOUTH,.... Arad seems rather to be the name of a place, city, or country, of which the Canaanite was king, than the name of a man, since we read of the king of Arad, Joshua 12:14 see also Judges 1:16 and so the Targums of Onkelos and Jerusalem h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ISRAEL VOWED A VOW UNTO THE LORD,.... The Israelites made supplication to the Lord for help against their enemies, and that he would give them victory over them, and made promises to him: AND SAID, IF THOU WILT INDEED DELIVER THIS PEOPLE INTO MY HAND; certainly and entirely deliver them, so as... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD HEARKENED TO THE VOICE OF ISRAEL,.... In their prayers and vows; with acceptance heard, and answered them according to their wish: AND DELIVERED UP THE CANAANITES: into their hands, gave them victory over them: AND THEY UTTERLY DESTROYED THEM AND THEIR CITIES; that is, "anathematized... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY JOURNEYED FROM MOUNT HOR,.... After the battle with the king of Arad, and the defeat of him: BY THE WAY OF THE RED SEA, TO COMPASS THE LAND OF EDOM; which lay by it, and from whence it had the name of the Red sea, Edom signifying red; and by the way of that the Israelites must needs go, to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PEOPLE SPAKE AGAINST GOD,.... Who went before them in the pillar of cloud and fire, for leading them in such a way; that is, against Christ, as the apostle has taught us to interpret it, 1 Corinthians 10:9, and is no inconsiderable proof of the deity of Christ; and so the Targum of Jonathan... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SENT FIERY SERPENTS AMONG THE PEOPLE,.... Of which there were great numbers in the deserts of Arabia, and about the Red sea; but hitherto the Israelites were protected from them by the cloud about them, but sinning, the Lord suffered them to come among them, to punish them; these are ca... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THE PEOPLE CAME TO MOSES, AND SAID, WE HAVE SINNED,.... Being bitten with serpents, and some having died, the rest were frightened, and came and made an humble acknowledgment of their sins to Moses: FOR WE HAVE SPOKEN AGAINST THE LORD, AND AGAINST THEE; murmuring at their being brought ou... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... Out of the cloud; or, it may be, Moses went into the sanctuary, and there prayed, and the Lord answered him from between the cherubim: MAKE THEM A FIERY SERPENT; not a real one, but the likeness of one, one that should very much resemble the fiery serpents Israel h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES MADE A SERPENT OF BRASS,.... Which was the most proper metal to make it of, that it might resemble the fiery serpents, whether of a golden or scarlet colour: and Diodorus Siculus d speaks of some of the colour of brass, whose bite was immediately followed with death, and by which, if anyon... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SET FORWARD,.... From Zalmonah, and came to Punon, which, according to the above writer, was twenty miles from it; though here indeed, some think, the brazen serpent was set up, here being, as before observed, brass mines to furnish with that metal: AND PITCHED IN OBOTH;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY JOURNEYED FROM OBOTH,.... How long they stayed there is not certain: AND PITCHED AT IJEABARIM; which, according to Bunting k, was sixteen miles from Oboth; Jarchi says it was the way that passengers pass by Mount Nebo to the land of Canaan, and which divides between the land of Moab and th... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THENCE THEY REMOVED, AND PITCHED IN THE VALLEY OF ZERED. Or the brook Zered, as in Deuteronomy 13:14 that is near it: this seems to be the same station with Dibongad, Numbers 33:45, and which, according to the above writer, was sixteen miles from Ijeabarim.... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THENCE THEY REMOVED, AND PITCHED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ARNON,.... A river on the borders of Moab: WHICH IS IN THE WILDERNESS THAT COMETH OUT OF THE COASTS OF THE AMORITES; according to Jarchi, they went round the land of Moab, all to the south and east, and came not into the border of Moab, as... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE IT IS SAID IN THE BOOK OF THE WARS OF THE LORD,.... A history of wars in former times, which the Lord had suffered to be in the world; and which, as Aben Ezra thinks, reached from the times of Abraham and so might begin with the battle of the kings in his time, and take in others in later... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AT THE STREAM OF THE BROOKS THAT GOETH DOWN TO THE DWELLING OF AR,.... All that part of the country which lay upon the stream, as far as the city of Ar, the metropolis of Moab, called Ar of Moab, Isaiah 15:1, AND LIETH UPON THE BORDER OF MOAB; as that city did; so far goes the quotation out of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM THENCE THEY WENT TO BEER,.... A place so called from a well which sprung up here, of which the following account is given: THAT IS, THE WELL WHEREOF THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES; promising him to give it to the children of Israel, without asking for it; which was a very singular favour, and f... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ISRAEL SANG THIS SONG,.... Being affected with the free favour and good will of God towards them: SPRING UP, O WELL; for the springing up of which they prayed in faith, believing in the promise of God, that it would spring up; and so encouraged one another not only to believe it, but even to s... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PRINCES DIGGED THE WELL,.... The princes and heads of the several tribes: THE NOBLES OF THE PEOPLE DIGGED IT; the seventy elders, according to the Targum of Jonathan: BY THE DIRECTION OF THE LAWGIVER; either the Lord himself, the lawgiver of his people, who pointed out the spot, and directed t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM MATTANAH TO NAHALIEL, AND FROM NAHALIEL TO BAMOTH. All the Targums interpret this, and the following verse, not of the journeying of the children of Israel, but of the motion of the well, that that, from the place from whence it was given them, descended with them into the valleys, and from... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM BAMOTH, [IN] THE VALLEY,.... Or rather "to the valley", as the Targum of Onkelos, since Bamoth signifies high places; though, according to the Jerusalem Talmud o, Bamoth, Baal, which seems to be the same place, was in a plain: THAT IS IN THE COUNTRY OF MOAB; the valley belonged to Moab, in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ISRAEL SENT MESSENGERS UNTO SIHON KING OF THE AMORITES,.... Who were one of the nations of the Canaanites, and a principal and powerful one, and who were devoted to destruction, and their land designed for the people of Israel; see Genesis 15:16, at this time Sihon was their king, to whom Moses,... [ Continue Reading ]
LET ME PASS THROUGH THY LAND,.... Through some part of it, which would have been a shorter way to the river Jordan, over which Israel was to pass into the land of Canaan; the terms proposed, or things to be observed in their passage, which they would bind themselves strictly to, are the same that we... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SIHON WOULD NOT SUFFER ISRAEL TO PASS THROUGH HIS BORDER,.... Because he could not trust them, and confide in the promises they made, and thought it not safe to let such a body of people into any part of his dominions, Judges 11:20 and chiefly because his heart was hardened by the Lord, that he... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ISRAEL SMOTE HIM WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD,.... Slew him and his army, entirely routed them, and got a complete victory over them; God giving them up into their hands, who otherwise were a very strong, powerful, and warlike people; see Amos 2:9 AND POSSESSED HIS LAND FROM ARNON UNTO JABBOK; tw... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ISRAEL TOOK ALL THESE CITIES,.... Which lay between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; their particular names may be seen in Numbers 32:3, AND ISRAEL DWELT IN ALL THE CITIES OF THE AMORITES; being given to the Reubenites and Gadites, who inhabited them, as their possession and inheritance, Numbers 3... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HESHBON WAS THE CITY OF SIHON THE KING OF THE AMORITES,.... His royal city, where he kept his palace, where he had resided for some time, and perhaps some of his predecessors; and therefore being now in his possession when taken by the Israelites, they had a good right and title to keep it, and... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE THEY THAT SPEAK IN PROVERBS SAY,.... The historical writers of those times, among the Amorites, who were usually poets, and wrote the history of the wars between the Moabites and Amorites in verse; as Homer among the Greeks wrote the wars of Troy; and the compositions of those ancient bard... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THERE IS A FIRE GONE OUT OF HESHBON,.... Not before, but after Sihon had subdued it, as Jarchi observes; and is to be understood of his soldiers going out from thence, and making desolations in the adjacent parts, like a strong fire, and the fierce flames of it there is no resisting; and so the... [ Continue Reading ]
WOE TO THEE, MOAB! THOU ART UNDONE,.... The whole country ruined, or likely to be so: O PEOPLE OF CHEMOSH; which was the name of their idol, who is called the abomination of the Moabites, 1 Kings 11:7: HE HATH GIVEN HIS SONS THAT ESCAPED; that is, the idol Chemosh had given his sons, the men of th... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE SHOT AT THEM,.... Either the Amorites at the Moabites, or else the Israelites at the Amorites; for, according to Aben Ezra, these are the words of Moses, though they, with Numbers 21:29, seem rather to be a continuation of the song of the old Amorite bards, describing the ruin of the country... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS ISRAEL DWELT IN THE LAND OF THE AMORITES. Not the land of the Moabites; and by those means before mentioned; by conquering Sihon their king, they came into the possession of it, and took up their dwelling in it; this was the beginning of the conquest of the Canaanites, and an earnest and pledge... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES SENT TO SPY OUT JAAZER,.... Or Jazer, as it is called in Isaiah 16:9, another city that belonged to the Amorites, and which they had taken from the Moabites; and which came into the hands of the latter again, after the captivity of the ten tribes, as appears from the above places; accordin... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TURNED,.... From Jaazer, after they had taken it, and came back a little way: AND WENT UP BY THE WAY OF BASHAN; which was a nearer way to Canaan, a fine country abounding with oxen and sheep, having rich pastures, and very famous for its oaks; it had its name from the mountain of Bashan in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, FEAR HIM NOT,.... Og being of a gigantic stature, and his forces numerous, might cause some fear in Moses, and in the people, and therefore the Lord encouraged them not to be afraid of him and his army: FOR I HAVE DELIVERED HIM INTO THY HAND, AND ALL HIS PEOPLE, AND HI... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEY SMOTE HIM AND HIS SONS, AND ALL HIS PEOPLE,.... They engaged in battle with him, slew him and his sons that came with him, and all his armies; and which consisted, as is probable, of all able to bear arms in all his cities; which the more easily came into the hands of the Israelites after th... [ Continue Reading ]