Numbers 21:2

_AND 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._ Israel vowed a vow. 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, Leviticus 27:1; Deuteronomy 13:1. This vow of extermination against Arad gave name to the place Hormah (slaughter and destruction), though it was not accomplished until after the passage of the Jordan (Joshua 12:14.) I WILL UTTERLY DESTROY - х_ WªHACHARAMTIY_ (H2763),

2._And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord. _This was a manifestation of piety, when they had sustained a loss, not to cast away hope, nor to murmur against God; but to encourage themselves by entreating His aid. To this slate of submissiveness they had been subdued by the chastisements of God, although the continuance of their obedience, as we shall presently see, was not of long duration. Any one at first sight would say that there was something absurd in this vow; but we gather from the result, that it was lawful and approved by God; for the sign of His approbation was that tie hearkened to the vows and cry of the people. I admit, indeed, that God sometimes answers defective prayers, but there is no doubt whatever but that Moses here commends their piety in the vow. We must consider, then, how it was lawful for them to offer the destruction of cities and the wasting of lands to God as a...

1-3 Before the people began their march round the country of Edom, the king of Arad, a Canaanite, who inhabited the southern part of the country, attacked them in the wilderness, and took some prisoners. This was to lead the Israelites to look more thoroughly to the Lord....

EXPOSITION THE LAST MARCH: FROM MOUNT HOR TO JORDAN (CHAPTER 21-22:1). EPISODE OF THE KING OF ARAD (Numbers 21:1). NUMBERS 21:1 AND WHEN KING ARAD THE CANAANITE, WHICH DWELT IN THE SOUTH, HEARD TELL. Rather, "And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, which dwelt in the Negeb, heard tell." It is possible that Arad was the name of the king (it occurs as the name of a man, 1 Chronicles 8:15), but it was alm

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 that a complete victory shall be obtained over them: THEN WILL I UTTERLY DESTROY THEIR CITIES; or "anathematize", or devote them to utter destruction o; slay man and beast, burn their houses and take their goods, not for a spoil, for their own private use, but reserve them for the service of God; all which is implied in the vow made, as was done to Jericho, Joshua 6:21 and so it is a vow, as Abendana observes, of what they would do when they came to the land of Canaan. o והחרמתי "et anathematisabo", Montanus; "devovebo", Tigurine version....

Numbers 21:1. _And 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. And 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. And 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. And 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._ They were not allowed to go through the land of Edom, they had therefore to turn round, and go right away from the land where they one day hoped to dwell, and the road was a particularly trying one, over hot and burning sand

CHAPTER 21 Murmuring and Conquest _ 1. Opposition of King Arad (Numbers 21:1)_ 2. Murmuring and the fiery serpents (Numbers 21:4) 3. The serpent of brass (Numbers 21:8) 4. Journeying and singing again (Numbers 21:10) 5. Sihon and Og (Numbers 21:21) The first victory is here recorded. The Lord delivered Canaanites into the hands of Israel, and according to their vow they utterly destroyed them and their cities. But in spite of this victory the people became again discouraged because of the w

SUCCESS OVER THE KING OF ARAD. Since Arad, the modern Tell Arad, 17 miles from Hebron, was in the south of Canaan, and a successful advance of the whole people in that direction would hardly have been followed by a circuit round Edom (Numbers 21:4 f_.)_ with a view to the invasion of Canaan from the E., it is likely that this section relates to an independent movement on the part of the tribes of Judah and Simeon (_cf._ Judges 1:16 f., where, however, the advance is represented as made from Jericho). NUMBERS 21:1. ATHARIM: the place and the meaning of the name are unknown. Numbers 21:2. utterly destroy: persons

VOWED. VOW. Figure of speech _Polyptoton_ (App-6), for emphasis. made. solemn vow. THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. WILT INDEED DELIVER. same Figure of speech _Polyptoton_ (App-6), only here it is translated and emphatically expressed by the word "indeed". Hebrew. "a delivering Thou wilt deliver"....

The attack made upon Israel by the Canaanites and Israel's victory over them at Hormah. The source of this passage is a great problem. The verses appear to imply a movement on the part of the Israelites northwards from the desert through the Negeb. They have no connexion with Numbers 21:4 ff., in which the people moved S.E. towards the Red Sea. And it is difficult to find any point in the narratives of the wanderings to which a northward movement with a successful battle can belong, on the supposition that the passage has been misplaced, and that it belongs to J E. Possibly, however, it is to be ascribed to E. It is contradictory to the account in Numbers 14:40-45 (J), where it is stated that the Israelites were defeated by the Canaanites at Hormah. It is noteworthy that...