Numbers 21
New English Translation
Victory at Hormah
21 [a] When the Canaanite king of Arad[b] who lived in the Negev[c] heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.
2 So Israel made a vow[d] to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver[e] this people into our[f] hand, then we will utterly destroy[g] their cities.” 3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites,[h] and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called[i] Hormah.
Fiery Serpents
4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea,[j] to go around the land of Edom, but the people[k] became impatient along the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we[l] detest this worthless[m] food.”
6 So the Lord sent venomous[n] snakes[o] among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away[p] the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks[q] at it, he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived.[r]
The Approach to Moab
10 [s] The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth. 11 Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim,[t] in the wilderness that is before Moab on the eastern side.[u] 12 From there they moved on and camped in the valley of Zered. 13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the regions[v] of the Amorites, for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah[w] and the wadis,
the Arnon 15 and the slope of the valleys[x]
that extends to the dwelling of Ar,[y]
and falls off at the border of Moab.”
16 And from there they traveled[z] to Beer;[aa] that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang[ab] this song:
“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
18 The well which the princes[ac] dug,
which the leaders of the people opened
with their scepters and their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wastelands.[ad]
The Victory over Sihon and Og
21 [ae] Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying,[af]
22 “Let us[ag] pass through your land;[ah] we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.” 23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he[ai] gathered all his forces[aj] together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When[ak] he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 24 But the Israelites[al] defeated him in battle[am] and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended. 25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.[an] 26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land from his control,[ao] as far as the Arnon. 27 That is why those who speak in proverbs[ap] say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.
Let the city of Sihon be established![aq]
28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has consumed Ar of Moab
and the lords[ar] of the high places of Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab.
You are ruined, O people of Chemosh![as]
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.
30 We have overpowered them;[at]
Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.
We have shattered them as far as Nophah,
which[au] reaches to Medeba.”
31 So the Israelites[av] lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent spies to reconnoiter[aw] Jazer, and they captured its villages[ax] and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces[ay] marched out against them to do battle at Edrei. 34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 35 So they defeated Og,[az] his sons, and all his people, until there were no survivors,[ba] and they possessed his land.
Footnotes
- Numbers 21:1 sn This chapter has several events in it: the victory over Arad (vv. 1-3), the plague of serpents (vv. 4-9), the approach to Moab (vv. 10-20), and the victory over Sihon and Og (vv. 21-35). For information, see D. M. Gunn, “The ‘Battle Report’: Oral or Scribal Convention.” JBL 93 (1974): 513-18; and of the extensive literature on the archaeological site, see EAEHL 1:74-89.
- Numbers 21:1 sn The name Arad probably refers to a place a number of miles away from Tel Arad in southern Israel. The name could also refer to the whole region (like Edom).
- Numbers 21:1 tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.
- Numbers 21:2 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: “Israel vowed a vow.” The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.
- Numbers 21:2 tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point—“if you will surely/indeed give.”
- Numbers 21:2 tn Heb “my.”
- Numbers 21:2 tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy”—חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith or to God’s program.
- Numbers 21:3 tc Smr, Greek, and Syriac add “into his hand.”
- Numbers 21:3 tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject, and so here too is made passive. The name “Hormah” is etymologically connected to the verb “utterly destroy,” forming the popular etymology (or paronomasia, a phonetic wordplay capturing the significance of the event).
- Numbers 21:4 tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.
- Numbers 21:4 tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
- Numbers 21:5 tn Heb “our souls.”
- Numbers 21:5 tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough—“worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qeloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).
- Numbers 21:6 tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).
- Numbers 21:6 tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nekhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nekhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.
- Numbers 21:7 tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.
- Numbers 21:8 tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”
- Numbers 21:9 sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people—if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.
- Numbers 21:10 sn See further D. L. Christensen, “Numbers 21:14-15 and the Book of the Wars of Yahweh,” CBQ 36 (1974): 359-60; G. W. Coats, “The Wilderness Itinerary,” CBQ 34 (1972): 135-52; G. I. Davies, “The Wilderness Itinerary,” TB 25 (1974): 46-81; idem, The Way of the Wilderness; G. E. Mendenhall, “The Hebrew Conquest of Palestine,” BA 25 (1962): 66-87.
- Numbers 21:11 sn These places are uncertain. Oboth may be some 15 miles (25 km) from the south end of the Dead Sea at a place called ‘Ain el-Weiba. Iye Abarim may be the modern Mahay at the southeastern corner of Moab. See J. Simons, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament.
- Numbers 21:11 tn Heb “the rising of the sun.”
- Numbers 21:13 tn Or “border.”
- Numbers 21:14 tc The ancient versions show a wide variation here: Smr has “Waheb on the Sea of Reeds,” the Greek version has “he has set Zoob on fire and the torrents of Arnon.” Several modern versions treat the first line literally, taking the two main words as place names: Waheb and Suphah. This seems most likely, but then there would be no subject or verb. One would need something like “the Israelites marched through.” The KJV, following the Vulgate, made the first word a verb and read the second as “Red Sea”—“what he did in the Red Sea.” But the subject of the passage is the terrain. D. L. Christensen proposed emending the first part from אֶת וָהֵב (ʾet vahev) to אַתָּה יְהוָה (ʾattah yehvah, “the Lord came”). But this is subjective. See his article “Num 21:14-15 and the Book of the Wars of Yahweh,” CBQ 36 (1974): 359-60.
- Numbers 21:15 tc There are many variations in this text, but the MT reading of something like “the descent of the torrents/valleys” is preferable, since it is describing the topography.
- Numbers 21:15 sn The place is unknown; it is apparently an important city in the region.
- Numbers 21:16 tn The words “they traveled” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied here because of English style. The same phrase is supplied at the end of v. 18.
- Numbers 21:16 sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.
- Numbers 21:17 tn After the adverb “then” the prefixed conjugation has the preterite force. For the archaic constructions, see D. N. Freedman, “Archaic Forms in Early Hebrew Poetry,” ZAW 72 (1960): 101-7. The poem shows all the marks of being ancient.
- Numbers 21:18 sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.
- Numbers 21:20 tn Or perhaps as a place name, “Jeshimon.”
- Numbers 21:21 sn For this section, see further J. R. Bartlett, “Sihon and Og of the Amorites,” VT 20 (1970): 257-77, and “The Moabites and the Edomites,” Peoples of Old Testament Times, 229-58; S. H. Horn, “The Excavations at Tell Hesban, 1973,” ADAJ 18 (1973): 87-88.
- Numbers 21:21 tc Smr and the LXX have “words of peace.”
- Numbers 21:22 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular in these verses to match the reference to “Israel.”
- Numbers 21:22 tc Smr has “by the King’s way I will go. I will not turn aside to the right or the left.”
- Numbers 21:23 tn Heb “Sihon.”
- Numbers 21:23 tn Heb “people.”
- Numbers 21:23 tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.
- Numbers 21:24 tn The Hebrew text has “Israel,” but the verb is plural.
- Numbers 21:24 tn Heb “with the edge of the sword.”
- Numbers 21:25 tn Heb “its daughters.”
- Numbers 21:26 sn There is a justice, always, in the divine plan for the conquest of the land. Modern students of the Bible often think that the conquest passages are crude and unjust. But an understanding of the ancient Near East is critical here. This Sihon was not a part of the original population of the land. He himself invaded the territory and destroyed the population of Moab that was indigenous there and established his own kingdom. The ancient history is filled with such events; it is the way of life they chose—conquer or be conquered. For Israel to defeat them was in part a turning of their own devices back on their heads—“those that live by the sword will die by the sword.” Sihon knew this, and he did not wait, but took the war to Israel. Israel wanted to pass through, not fight. But now they would either fight or be pushed into the gorge. So God used Israel to defeat Sihon, who had no claim to the land, as part of divine judgment.
- Numbers 21:27 sn Proverbs of antiquity could include pithy sayings or longer songs, riddles, or poems composed to catch the significance or the irony of an event. This is a brief poem to remember the event, like an Egyptian victory song. It may have originated as an Amorite war taunt song; it was sung to commemorate this victory. It was cited later by Jeremiah (48:45-46). The composer invites his victorious people to rebuild the conquered city as a new capital for Sihon. He then turns to address the other cities which his God(s) has/have given to him. See P. D. Hanson, “The Song of Heshbon and David’s Nir,” HTR 61 (1968): 301.
- Numbers 21:27 tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”
- Numbers 21:28 tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (balʿah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (baʿale, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.
- Numbers 21:29 sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.
- Numbers 21:30 tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).
- Numbers 21:30 tc The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ʾasher) posed a problem for the ancient scribes here, as indicated by the so-called extraordinary point (punta extraordinaria) over the letter ר (resh) of אֲשֶׁר. Smr and the LXX have “fire” (אֵשׁ, ʾesh) here (cf. NAB, NJB, RSV, NRSV). Some modern scholars emend the word to שֹׁאָה (shoʾah, “devastation”).
- Numbers 21:31 tn Heb “Israel.”
- Numbers 21:32 tn Heb “Moses sent to spy out.”
- Numbers 21:32 tn Heb “daughters.”
- Numbers 21:33 tn Heb “people.”
- Numbers 21:35 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Og) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 21:35 tn Heb “no remnant.”
Numbers 21
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
21 And when king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south, had heard this, to wit, that Israel was come by the way of the spies, he fought against them, and overcoming them carried off their spoils.
2 But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said: It thou wilt deliver this people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.
3 And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities: and they called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.
4 And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the people began to be weary of their journey and labour:
5 And speaking against God and Moses, they said: Why didst thou bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, nor have we any waters: our soul now loatheth this very light food.
6 Wherefore the Lord sent among the people fiery serpents, which bit them and killed many of them.
7 Upon which they came to Moses, and said: We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that he may take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said to him: Make brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live.
9 Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.
10 And the children of Israel setting forwards camped in Oboth.
11 And departing thence they pitched their tents in Jeabarim, in the wilderness, that faceth Moab toward the east.
12 And removing from thence, they came to the torrent Zared:
13 Which they left and encamped over against Arnon, which is in the desert and standeth out on the borders of the Amorrhite. For Arnon is the border of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorrhites.
14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: As he did in the Red Sea, so will he do in the streams of Amen.
15 The rocks of the torrents were bowed down that they might rest in Ar, and lie down in the borders of the Moabites.
16 When they went from that place, the well appeared whereof the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
17 Then Israel sung this song: Let the well spring up. They sung thereto:
18 The well, which the princes dug, and the chiefs of the people prepared by the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staves. And they marched from the wilderness to Mathana.
19 From Mathana unto Nahaliel: from Nahaliel unto Bamoth.
20 From Bamoth, is a valley in the country of Moab, to the top of Phasga, which looked towards the desert.
21 And Israel sent messengers to Sehon king of the Amorrhites, saying:
22 I beseech thee that I may have leave to pass through thy land: we will not go aside into the fields or the vineyards, we will not drink waters of the wells, we will go the king's highway, till we be past thy borders.
23 And he would not grant that Israel should pass by his borders: but rather gathering an army, went forth to meet them in the desert, and came to Jasa, and fought against them.
24 And he was slain by them with the edge of the sword, and they possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jeboc, and to the confines of the children of Ammon: for the borders of the Ammonites, were kept with a strong garrison.
25 So Israel took all his cities, and dwelt in the cities of the Amorrhite, to wit, in Hesebon, and in the villages thereof.
26 Hesebon was the city of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, who fought against the king of Moab: and took all the land, that had been of his dominions, as far as the Arnon.
27 Therefore it is said in the proverb: Come into Hesebon, let the city of Sehon be built and set up:
28 A fire is gone out of Hesebon, a flame from the city of Sehon, and hath consumed Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the high places of the Arnon.
29 Woe to thee Moab: thou art undone, O people of Chamos. He hath given his sons to flight, and his daughters into captivity to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites.
30 Their yoke is perished from Hesebon unto Dibon, they came weary to Nophe, and unto Medaba.
31 So Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorrhite.
32 And Moses sent some to take a view of Jazer: and they took the villages of it, and conquered the inhabitants.
33 And they turned themselves, and went up by the way of Basan, and Og the king of Basan came against them with all his people, to fight in Edrai.
34 And the Lord said to Moses: Fear him not, for I have delivered him and all his people, and his country into thy hand: and thou shalt do to him as thou didst to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, the inhabitant of Hesebon.
35 So they slew him also with his sons, and all his people, not letting any one escape, and they possessed his land.
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