CHAPTER XXI _Arad, a king of the Canaanites, attacks Israel, and makes same_ _prisoners_, 1. _They devote him and his people to destruction_, 2; _which they afterwards accomplished_, 3. _They journey from_ Hor, _and are greatly discouraged_, 4. _They murmur against God and Moses, and loathe th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:3. _THE LORD HEARKENED TO THE VOICE OF ISRAEL_] The whole of this verse appears to me to have been added after the days of Joshua. It is certain the Canaanites were not utterly destroyed at the time here spoken of, for this did not take place till after the death of Moses. If, inst... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:5. _THIS LIGHT BREAD._] הקלקל _hakkelokel_, a word of excessive scorn; as if they had said, This innutritive, unsubstantial, cheat - stomach stuff.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:6. _FIERY SERPENTS_] הנחשים השרפים _hannechashim_ _hasseraphim_. I have observed before, on Genesis 3:1, that it is difficult to assign a name to the creature termed in Hebrew _nachash_; it has different significations, but its meaning here and in Genesis 3:1 is most difficult to b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:8. _MAKE THEE A FIERY SERPENT_] Literally, make thee a seraph. _AND PUT IT UPON A POLE_] על נס _al nes_, upon a _standard_ or _ensign_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:9. _AND MOSES MADE A SERPENT OF BRASS_] נחש נחשת _nechash_ _nechosheth_. Hence we find that the word for _brass_ or _copper_ comes from the same root with _nachash_, which here signifies a serpent, probably on account of the _colour_; as most serpents, especially those of the bright... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:12. _THEY - PITCHED IN THE VALLEY OF ZARED._] נחל זרד _nachal_ _zared_. This should be translated _the brook Zared_, as it is in Deuteronomy 2:13-5. This _stream_ has its origin in the mountains eastward of Moab, and runs from east to west, and discharges itself into the Dead Sea.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:13. _ARNON_] Another river which takes its rise in the mountains of Moab, and, after having separated the ancient territories of the Moabites and Ammonites, falls into the Dead Sea, near the mouth of Jordan.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:14. _THE BOOK OF THE WARS OF THE LORD_] There are endless conjectures about this book, both among ancients and moderns. Dr. Lightfoot's opinion is the most simple, and to me bears the greatest appearance of being the true one. "This book seems to have been some book of _remembrance... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:17. _SPRING UP, O WELL, C._] This is one of the most ancient war songs in the world, but is not easily understood, which is commonly the case with all very ancient compositions, especially the _poetic_. Exodus 15:1, Exodus 15:1, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:18. _THE PRINCES DIGGED THE WELL - WITH THEIR STAVES._] This is not easily understood. Who can suppose that the princes dug this well with their _staves_? And is there any other idea conveyed by our translation? The word חפרו _chapharu_, which is translated _they digged_, should be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:26. _FOR HESHBON WAS THE CITY OF SIHON, C._] It appears therefore that the territory now taken from Sihon by the Israelites was taken from a former king of Moab, in commemoration of which an epikedion or war song was made, several verses of which, in their ancient poetic form, are h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:27. _THEY THAT SPEAK IN PROVERBS_] המשלים _hammoshelim_, from משל _mashal_, to _rule_, to _exercise authority_; hence a _weighty proverbial saying_, because admitted as an _axiom_ for the _government of life_. The _moshelim_ of the ancient Asiatics were the same, in all probability... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 21:35. _SO THEY SMOTE HIM, AND HIS SONS_] There is a curious note of Dr. Lightfoot here, of which I should think it wrong to deprive the reader. "Sihon and Og conquered, A. M. 2553. Of the life of Moses, 120. From the Exodus, 40. It is now _six_ and _twenty_ generations from the creat... [ Continue Reading ]