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21 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 21:3 “Hormah” means “destruction”.

The Destruction of Hormah

21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev,[a] heard that Israel was coming along the Atharim caravan route, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. Then Israel[b] made this vow in the Lord’s presence: “If you give these people into our control,[c] we intend to devote their cities to total destruction.” When the Lord heard what Israel had decided to do,[d] he delivered the Canaanites to them, and Israel[e] exterminated them and their cities. They named the place Hormah.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 21:1 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
  2. Numbers 21:2 I.e. the Israelis personified as a nation
  3. Numbers 21:2 Lit. hand
  4. Numbers 21:3 Lit. heard the voice of Israel
  5. Numbers 21:3 Lit. he
  6. Numbers 21:3 The Heb. name Hormah sounds like the Heb. verb devoted