Numbers 21:1 to Numbers 22:1 This chapter is full of difficulties, critical and geographical, about some of which it is impossible to reach any certain conclusions. It relates the journey to the steppes of Moab opposite Jericho, together with three victories over the Canaanites (Numbers 21:1), Siho... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Canaanite_ This is perhaps to be understood as a gentilic noun, denoting -the Canaanites" collectively, in which case -the king of Arad" is a later addition. The Canaanites are in the same territory in which they are found in Numbers 14:25 (see note there). _Arad_ The modern _Tell -Arad_. It l... [ Continue Reading ]
The attack made upon Israel by the Canaanites and Israel's victory over them at Hormah. The source of this passage is a great problem. The verses appear to imply a movement on the part of the Israelites northwards from the desert through the Negeb. They have no connexion with Numbers 21:4 ff., in w... [ Continue Reading ]
_utterly destroy_ i.e. place under a -ban," Heb. _ḥçrem_. In the next verse the writer plays upon the word, in order to explain the name Hormah, as is done also in Judges 1:17 (see note above).... [ Continue Reading ]
_the name of the place was called Hormah_ In view of the expression -destroyed them and their cities," Hormah would seem to be a district and not a town; and perhaps it is so in Numbers 14:45 (-the Hormah") and Dt. 1:441 [Note: This is the more probable if we read -from Seir" with LXX., Syr., Vulg.]... [ Continue Reading ]
_by the way to the Red Sea_ Throughout the whole of the detour no encampments are named until Israel reaches the region of Moab. _the soul of the people was_ IMPATIENT] lit. -was short." The opposite state is -long-suffering"; cf. Proverbs 14:29 (R.V. -hasty" and -slow to anger").... [ Continue Reading ]
_The bronze serpent_. God did not at once take away the plague. Each individual received healing only when he performed an act of faith, by looking at the serpent. An early Jewish writer says that it was not the serpent that brought the Israelites healing, but the fact that they -lifted up their eye... [ Continue Reading ]
_our soul_[i.e. appetite] _loatheth this_ WORTHLESS _bread_ They despised the manna, declaring that it was useless for satisfying hunger.... [ Continue Reading ]
_fiery serpents_ The Heb. words are both substantives, and both have the article: -the serpents, the fiery creatures." If -fiery" is the correct rendering, it probably refers to their venomous bite which produced a burning inflammation. The article may imply -the serpents so well known to the reader... [ Continue Reading ]
_a fiery serpent_ Here it is a single substantive, the second of the two in Numbers 21:6. _set it upon a_ POLE] The rendering of the A.V. may here be retained.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses made a serpent of_ BRONZE] The removing of a pest by means of a bronze image of it finds parallels in ancient Europe. See Gray, _Numb_. p. 276. Numbers 21:10. P _Stages in the journey to the east of Moab_ 11 _._The site of Oboth is unknown; -somewhere on the flinty plateau to the east of Ed... [ Continue Reading ]
_From thence they journeyed_ The last place mentioned in J E was -the way to the Red Sea" (Numbers 21:4); but it is probable that some stages in the journey have been lost, and that -thence" originally referred to a distinct town or locality. _the_ WADY _of Zered_ The Heb. _naḥal_denotes both a sma... [ Continue Reading ]
Numbers 21:12. J E The Israelites arrived at a spot on the S.E. border of Moab, and then, having travelled northwards along its eastern boundary, penetrated westward till they reached the cliffs which fall to the Dead Sea. Notice that the formula used in the itinerary has changed; in Numbers 21:10... [ Continue Reading ]
_on the other side of Arnon_ This probably means north of it, the direction being considered from the point of view of the march; cf. Judges 11:18. The Arnon, now known as the Wady-el-Mojib, was a large stream which flowed westward into the Dead Sea at about the middle point of its eastern side. Fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_the book of the Wars of_ JEHOVAH] It may be gathered from the title that the songs celebrated the battles which Jehovah -the God of hosts" had helped His people to win against His enemies. A similar collection of songs (which were probably handed down orally and not committed to writing till a late... [ Continue Reading ]
The writer here inserts a fragment of poetry from an ancient collection of songs, the last clause of which supports the above statement that Arnon was the border of Moab.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the slope_ Probably something steeper, such as a cliff, is intended. The sing. is not found elsewhere; the plural always in the expression -the slopes of the Pisgah" (Deuteronomy 3:17; Deuteronomy 4:49; Joshua 12:3; Joshua 13:20) except in Joshua 10:40. _the dwelling of Ar_ A poetical expression fo... [ Continue Reading ]
The journey in a westerly, or north-westerly, direction is here begun. _Beer_ The name means a -well" (R.V. marg.). It is probably an abbreviation of a compound name; cf. Beer-sheba. A place called Beer-elim in Moab is mentioned in Isaiah 15:8, but whether Beer is to be identified with that is not... [ Continue Reading ]
_with the_ RULER'S WAND, _with their staves_ These do not seem to be implements suitable for digging a well. But it is suggested by Budde that there is -an allusion to a custom by which when a well had been discovered it was lightly covered over, and then, on a subsequent occasion, solemnly opened w... [ Continue Reading ]
_and from Mattanah to Nahaliel_ If Budde's suggestion in the preceding note is correct, the original reading here was perhaps -and from _thence_to N.", as in Numbers 21:16 after the insertion of the foregoing song, or, following the hint in the LXX., -and from Beer to N." _Nahaliel_is unknown. It m... [ Continue Reading ]
_the valley that is in the_ REGION _of Moab_, [om. _to the top of_ THE _Pisgah_ The two expressions are placed somewhat awkwardly in apposition; but they appear to mean: the valley which is in that part of the region of Moab known as the top of the Pisgah. _the valley_ was a glen (_gay"_, distinct... [ Continue Reading ]
Sihon, refusing passage through his territory, was conquered, and his towns were occupied.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The victories over Sihon and Og_. See the parallel account in Deuteronomy 2:24 to Deuteronomy 3:13. The previous verses have described the Israelites" march through the territory occupied by the Amorites on the north of the Arnon, and their arrival at one of the glens which cleave the western edge... [ Continue Reading ]
_the_ KING'S WAY] See on Numbers 20:17. _until we have passed_ THROUGH _thy_ TERRITORY] And similarly in the next verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the wilderness_ See on Numbers 21:13. _Jahaz_ Deuteronomy 2:32; Isaiah 15:4; Jeremiah 48:34. The form Jahzah is used in Joshua 13:18; Joshua 21:36; Judges 11:20 (Heb.), Jer 48:21, 1 Chronicles 6:78. The site is unknown, but it evidently lay on the eastern boundary of Sihon's te [ Continue Reading ]
_from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon_ This gives three boundaries of Sihon's kingdom, the Jordan being the western boundary. Arnon was on the south (Numbers 21:13), Jabbok on the north, and the Ammonites on the east, whither the Amorites had driven them. The Jabbok flows into the... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the cities_ No Amorite cities have as yet been mentioned. It is probable that a portion of the narrative, which must have contained a list of captured cities, has been lost. _the Amorites_ The name _Amurrâ_occurs in Babylonian and Assyrian texts and in the Tell-el-Amarna tablets for the inhabit... [ Continue Reading ]
_Edrei_ the modern _Edre-ât_or _Der-ât_, appears to have been the second royal city of Bashan; cf. Deuteronomy 1:4; Joshua 12:4; Joshua 13:12. It lay on the southern border of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:1; Deuteronomy 3:10), about 30 miles east of the Sea of Tiberias, and 30 miles west of the Ḥaurân rang... [ Continue Reading ]
_and his sons_ These words are absent from Deuteronomy 3:3; but cf. Numbers 2:33.... [ Continue Reading ]