Numbers 21:21-30
New English Translation
The Victory over Sihon and Og
21 [a] Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying,[b]
22 “Let us[c] pass through your land;[d] 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[e] gathered all his forces[f] together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When[g] he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 24 But the Israelites[h] defeated him in battle[i] 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.[j] 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,[k] as far as the Arnon. 27 That is why those who speak in proverbs[l] say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.
Let the city of Sihon be established![m]
28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has consumed Ar of Moab
and the lords[n] of the high places of Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab.
You are ruined, O people of Chemosh![o]
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.
30 We have overpowered them;[p]
Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.
We have shattered them as far as Nophah,
which[q] reaches to Medeba.”
Footnotes
- 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 21:21-30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
King Sihon Defeated
21 Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying,(A) 22 “Let me pass through your land; we will not turn aside into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of any well; we will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”(B) 23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness; he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.(C) 24 Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.(D) 25 Israel took all these towns, and Israel settled in all the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and captured all his land as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore the singers say,
“Come to Heshbon; let it be built;
let the city of Sihon be established.
28 For fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the city of Sihon.
It devoured Ar of Moab
and swallowed up[a] the heights of the Arnon.(E)
29 Woe to you, O Moab!
You are undone, O people of Chemosh!
He has made his sons fugitives
and his daughters captives
to an Amorite king, Sihon.(F)
30 So their posterity perished
from Heshbon[b] to Dibon,
and we laid waste until fire spread to Medeba.”[c](G)
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