Numbers 21:20

And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.

Bamoth, х uwmi-Baamowt (H1120) hagayª' (H1516)] - heights or high places in the gorge or narrow glen (cf. Numbers 22:41; Joshua 13:17; Isaiah 15:2).

That is in the country of Moab, х bisdeeh (H7704)] - in the field of Moab (cf. Genesis 36:35; Ruth 1:1; Ruth 1:6; Ruth 1:22; Ruth 2:6; Ruth 4:3; 1 Chronicles 1:46; 1 Chronicles 8:8); probably the pasture and grainfields in the uplands (Deuteronomy 3:9; Deuteronomy 3:16; Deuteronomy 3:21; Joshua 13:9), as distinguished from Araboth, 'the plains of Moab, or deserts, meaning the dry sunken region in the valley of the Jordan' (Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 484).

To the top of Pisgah - i:e., upon the summit of the mountain-ridge (see the note at Numbers 23:14) west of Heshbon.

Which looketh toward Jeshimon, х hayªshiymon (H3452)] - the waste or desert tract in the south of Palestine, on both sides of the Dead Sea - i:e., the Arabah. The Targum of Onkelos, Jarchi, and several Jewish commentators, followed by Waterland and many Christian writers, consider the passage extending from the latter clause of Numbers 21:14 to the end of Numbers 21:20 as entirely poetical, being one continued quotation from the "Book of the Wars of the Lord." It would stand thus:

`From Waheb in Suphah And the torrents of Arnon, Even (the place of) the outpouring of the torrents Which extends to the dwelling of Ar, And stretches as the boundary of Moab.

Even thence to the well; The well of which Yahweh spake unto Moses:

"Gather the people, and I will give them water." Then sang Israel this song -

"Spring up, O well; respond ye to it." The well, princes digged it; Even nobles of the people digged it With the ruler's staff, even their rods. And from the wilderness [Septuagint, apo freootos, from the well] to Mattanah; And from Mattanah to Nahaliel; And from Nahaliel to Bamoth; And from Bamoth in the valley, That is in the country (the field) of Moab, To the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.' The theory that the whole of this passage consists of a continued extract from the ode is confirmed by an appeal to the full itinerary given elsewhere, in which the names here mentioned do not occur; and hence, Kennicott ('Remarks on Passages of the Old Testament,' p. 60) infers that they are terms not of topographical, but of figurative and poetical import, designed to describe, in a strongly metaphorical manner, some signal blessings or remarkable incidents which the Israelites met with in those places. Thus, Mattanah might express some seasonable 'gift' from God, such as the well, etc. (see Lowth's 'Preliminary Dissertation to Isaiah,' p.

41).