Numbers 21:3

_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 utterly destroyed them and their cities - х_ WAYACHAREEM_ (H2763), devoted to destruction; Septuagint, anathematisen.] It is clear that this is the import of the statement, because the overthrow of these doomed cities did not take place until a period considerably later (Joshua 12:14). HORMAH - х_ CHAARªMAAH_ (H2767), a devoting of a place to utter extinction; Septuagint, _ ANATHEMA_ (G331).]...

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....

Verse Numbers 21:3. _THE LORD HEARKENED TO THE VOICE OF ISRAEL_] The whole of this verse appears to me to have been added after the days of Joshua. It is certain the Canaanites were not utterly destroyed at the time here spoken of, for this did not take place till after the death of Moses. If, instead of _utterly destroyed them_, ויחרם vaiyacharem, we translate _they devoted them to utter destruction_, it will make a good sense, and not repugnant to the Hebrew; though some think it more probable that the verse was added afterwards by Joshua or Ezra, in testimony of the fulfilment of God's promise; for _Arad_, who is mentioned as being destroyed here, is mentioned among those destroyed by Joshua long after, (see Joshua 12:14): but this is quite consistent with their being devoted to d...

HE CALLED THE NAME OF THE PLACE - Render it as: “the name of the place was called.” The transitive verb here is, by a common Hebrew idiom, equivalent to an impersonal one. HORMAH - i. e. “Ban.” See Numbers 14:45 and note. In Judges 1:17, we read that the men of Judah and Simeon “slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it;” and further, that “the name of the city was called Hormah.” But it does not follow that the name “Hormah” was first bestowed in consequence of the destruction of the place in the time of the Judges, and that in Numbers its occurrence is a sign of a post-Mosaic date of composition. The text here informs us that this aggression of the king of Arad was repelled, and avenged by the capture and sac

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 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" them, and devoted them to destruction; for as yet they did not actually destroy them, since we read of Arad afterwards, Joshua 12:14, but this they did in Joshua's time, when the whole land of Canaan came into their hands; for had they entered the land now, and took and destroyed the cities belonging to Arad, they would doubtless have proceeded, and pursued their conquests, and not have returned into the wilderness again to go round about Edom, in order to enter another way; many think, as Aben Ezra observes on...

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

HORMAH That is, utter destruction....

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