Numbers 21:4

_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 journeyed from mount Hor. On being refused the passage requested, they returned through the Arabah, "the way of the Red Sea," to Elath, at the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, and thence passed up through the mountains to the eastern desert, so as to make the circuit of the land of Edom, (Numbers 33; 41; 42 .) THE SOUL OF THE PEOPLE ... Disappointment on finding themselves so near the confines of the promised land without entering it, vexation at the refusal of a passage through Edom, and the absence of any divine interposition in their favour-above all, the necessity of a retrograde journey by a long and circuitous route through the worst parts of a sandy desert, and the dread of being, plu

4._And they journeyed from mount Hor. _This also is narrated in their praise, that they bore the weariness of a long and circuitous march, when they were already worn down by their wanderings for forty years. Moses, therefore, tells us that, since God had forbidden them to pass the borders of Edom, they went by another way; but immediately afterwards he adds, that they basely rebelled, without being provoked to do so by any new cause. They had before been rebellious under the pressure of hunger or thirst, or some other inconvenience; but now, when there were no grounds for doing so, they malignantly exasperate themselves against God. Some understand that they were afflicted in mind because of the way, (117) so that the ב, _beth, _indicates the cause of their grief and trouble. It might, indeed, be the case that their passage through the mountains was steep and difficult

4-9 The children of Israel were wearied by a long march round the land of Edom. They speak discontentedly of what God had done for them, and distrustfully of what he would do. What will they be pleased with, whom manna will not please? Let not the contempt which some cast on the word of God, make us value it less. It is the bread of life, substantial bread, and will nourish those who by faith feed upon it, to eternal life, whoever may call it light bread. We see the righteous judgment God brought upon them for murmuring. He sent fiery serpents among them, which bit or stung many to death. It is to be feared that they would not have owned the sin, if they had not felt the smart; but they relent under the rod. And God made a wonderful provision for their relief. The Jews themselves say it was not the sight of the brazen serpent that cured; but in looking up to it, they looked up to God as...

The direct route to Moab through the valleys of Edom being closed against them Numbers 20:20, they were compelled to turn southward. Their course lay down the Arabah; until, a few hours north of Akaba (Ezion-Geber) the Wady Ithm opened to them a gap in the hostile mountains, allowed them to turn to their left, and to march northward toward Moab Deuteronomy 2:3. They were thus for some days (see Numbers 22:1 note) in the Arabah, a mountain plain of loose sand, gravel, and detritus of granite, which though sprinkled with low shrubs, especially near the mouths of the wadys and the courses of the winter-torrents, furnishes extremely little food or water, and is often troubled by sand-storms from the

EXPOSITION THE FIERY SERPENTS (Numbers 21:4). NUMBERS 21:4 THEY JOURNEYED FROM MOUNT HOR. It appears from comparison of Numbers 33:38 and Numbers 20:29 that their departure was not earlier than the beginning of the sixth month of the fortieth year. This season would be one of the hottest and most trying for marching. BY THE WAY OF THE RED SEA, _i.e; _down the Arabah, towards Ezion-geber, at the head of the Elanitic Gulf. Septuagint, ὁδὸν ἐπὶ θά_. _Not far from this place they would reach the

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 go round that country: AND THE SOUL OF THE PEOPLE WAS MUCH DISCOURAGED BECAUSE OF THE WAY; because it was going back instead of going forward to Canaan's land, and because of the length of the way; it was a round about way they were going; when, could they have been admitted to have passed through the country of Edom, the way would have been short; or had they pursued their victory over the Canaanite, they would have gone directly into the land; and this perhaps was what fretted, vexed, and discouraged them, that they were obliged to go back, and take such a circuit, when they had such an op...

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

THE FIERY SERPENTS. This incident is alluded to by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:9. The serpents are described as fiery by reason of the inflammation caused by their bite. The means whereby the injury they inflicted was remedied was perhaps originally an instance of sympathetic magic inverted (like the cure of a dog's bite by a hair of the dog), though in antiquity serpents were widely credited with healing virtues in general, and were by the Greeks associated with Asclepius. The writer of Nu. naturally assigns the cure of the snake-bite not to magic but to Yahweh (_cf._ Wis_16:5; Wis_16:7). It is held by several scholars that the present story is mainly an æ tiological legend (p. 134) to explain the practice of the serpent-worship recorded in 2 Kings 18:4. By our Lord the uplifting of the brazen

SOUL. Hebrew. _nephesh_ (App-13). DISCOURAGED. grieved or impatient....