Numbers 21:35

35._And the Lord said, unto Moses. _God first of all exhorts His people to confidence. He then commands that the men as well as the cities and villages should be destroyed, so that nothing should be preserved except the booty. he indeed addresses Moses only, but his injunctions are directed to all, because Moses, who was already sufficiently energetic, had not so much need of being spurred on as the others. God, however, had regard to the future also, lest the recollection of the blessing should be lost through the ingratitude of the people. In promising them victory, therefore, he desired to have the praise of it bestowed upon Himself. I have already shewn why He commanded the cities to be overthrown, and all the houses utterly destroyed, namely, lest convenient habitations should tempt the people to torpor, when they were required to hasten onwards to the promised rest; for those who h...

21-35 Sihon went with his forces against Israel, out of his own borders, without provocation, and so ran upon his own ruin. The enemies of God's church often perish by the counsels they think most wisely taken. Og, king of Bashan, instead of being warned by the fate of his neighbours, to make peace with Israel, makes war with them, which proves in like manner his destruction. Wicked men do their utmost to secure themselves and their possessions against the judgments of God; but all in vain, when the day comes on which they must fall. God gave Israel success, while Moses was with them, that he might see the beginning of the glorious work, though he must not live to see it finished. This was, in comparison, but as the day of small things, yet it was an earnest of great things. We must prepare for fresh conflicts and enemies. We must make no peace or truce with the powers of darkness, nor...

Verse Numbers 21:35. _SO THEY SMOTE HIM, AND HIS SONS_] There is a curious note of Dr. Lightfoot here, of which I should think it wrong to deprive the reader. "Sihon and Og conquered, A. M. 2553. Of the life of Moses, 120. From the Exodus, 40. It is now _six_ and _twenty_ generations from the creation, or from Adam to Moses; and accordingly doth Psalms 136, rehearse the durableness of God's mercy _six_ and _twenty_ times over, beginning the story with the creation, and ending it in the conquest of Sihon and Og. The numerals of the name יהוה Jehovah amount to the sum of _six_ and _twenty_." ON some difficulties in this chapter Dr. Kennicott makes the following observations: - "This one chapter has several very considerab

EXPOSITION THE END OF JOURNEYS, THE BEGINNING OF VICTORIES (Numbers 21:10 Numbers 22:1). NUMBERS 21:10 THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SET FORWARD, and pitched in Oboth. In the list of Numbers 33:1, there occur two other stations, Zahnonah and Phunon, between Mount Hor and Oboth. Phunon may be the Pinou of Genesis 36:41, but it is a mere conjecture. All we

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 this battle, in which such a carnage was made: UNTIL THERE WAS NONE LEFT HIM ALIVE; so universal was the slaughter at the battle, and in the cities that fell into their hands; they utterly destroyed men, women, and children, Deuteronomy 3:3: AND THEY POSSESSED HIS LAND; in which were sixty cities fenced with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns; these were possessed by the half tribe of Manasseh, Deuteronomy 3:4....

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

THE CONQUEST OF BASHAN. This passage is substantially identical with Deuteronomy 3:1, and is generally regarded as transferred hither from thence. It is ignored in Numbers 22:2. Bashan (the country N. of the Yarmuk), the modern Haurâ n, was probably occupied by Israelite settlers who migrated thither from the W. of Jordan in post-Mosaic times. It was famous for its oaks, sheep, and cattle (Isaiah 2:13; Deuteronomy 32:14; Psalms 22:12). 33. EDREI: the modern Edreat, 30 miles E. of the Lake of Gennesaret....

_The victories over Sihon and Og_. See the parallel account in Deuteronomy 2:24 to Deuteronomy 3:13. The previous verses have described the Israelites" march through the territory occupied by the Amorites on the north of the Arnon, and their arrival at one of the glens which cleave the western edge of the plateau, close to the spot where it ran into the Jordan valley. The narrative now returns to the earlier point, described in Numbers 21:13, when they were still on the eastern border of the Amorites. Since the town of Heshbon commanded the glens, it would have been impossible to penetrate into them unless the town had first been captured; but the writer has arranged his material in the present order for

H. VICTORY OVER SIHON AND OG vv. 21-35 TEXT Numbers 21:21. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22. Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders. 23. And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 24. And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon to Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 25. And Israel took all these cities; and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out

THE BRAZEN SERPENT. CONQUEST OF BASHAN 1-3. The southern Canaanites repulse the Israelites, but are eventually destroyed....