Numbers 21

Nu 21:1-35.

ISRAEL

ATTACKED BY THE

CANAANITES.

1. King Arad the Canaanite--rather, "the Canaanite king of Arad"--an

ancient town on the southernmost borders of Palestine, not far from

Kadesh. A hill called Tell Arad marks the spot.

heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies--in the way or

manner of spies, stealthily, or from spies sent by himself to ascertain

the designs and motions of the Israelites. The Septuagint and others

consider the Hebrew word "spies" a proper name, and render it: "Came

he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners--This

discomfiture was permitted to teach them to expect the conquest of

Canaan not from their own wisdom and valor, but solely from the favor

and help of God

(De 9:4;

Ps 44:3, 4).

2, 3. Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord--Made to feel their own

weakness, they implored the aid of Heaven, and, in anticipation of it,

devoted the cities of this king to future destruction. The nature and

consequence of such anathemas are described

(Le 27:1-34;

De 13:1-18).

This vow of extermination against Arad

[Nu 21:2]

gave name to the place Hormah (slaughter and destruction) though it was

not accomplished till after the passage of the Jordan. Others think

Hormah the name of a town mentioned

(Jos 12:14).

4. they journeyed from mount Hor--On being refused the passage

requested, they returned through the Arabah, "the way of the Red Sea,"

to Elath, at the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, and thence

passed up through the mountains to the eastern desert, so as to make

the circuit of the land of Edom

(Nu 33:41, 42).

the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the

way--Disappointment on finding themselves so near the confines of

the promised land without entering it; vexation at the refusal of a

passage through Edom and the absence of any divine interposition in

their favor; and above all, the necessity of a retrograde journey by a

long and circuitous route through the worst parts of a sandy desert and

the dread of being plunged into new and unknown difficulties--all this

produced a deep depression of spirits. But it was followed, as usually,

expressions of disgust at the manna.

5. our soul loatheth this light bread--that is, bread without substance

or nutritious quality. The refutation of this calumny appears in the

fact, that on the strength of this food they performed for forty years

so many and toilsome journeys. But they had been indulging a hope of the

better and more varied fare enjoyed by a settled people; and

disappointment, always the more bitter as the hope of enjoyment seems

near, drove them to speak against God and against Moses

(1Co 10:9).

6. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people--That part of the

desert where the Israelites now were--near the head of the gulf of

Akaba--is greatly infested with venomous reptiles, of various kinds,

particularly lizards, which raise themselves in the air and swing

themselves from branches; and scorpions, which, being in the habit of

lying in long grass, are particularly dangerous to the barelegged,

sandaled people of the East. The only known remedy consists in sucking

the wound, or, in the case of cattle, in the application of ammonia.

The exact species of serpents that caused so great mortality among the

Israelites cannot be ascertained. They are said to have been "fiery,"

an epithet applied to them either from their bright, vivid color, or

the violent inflammation their bite occasioned.

7-9. the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned--The severity

of the scourge and the appalling extent of mortality brought them to a

sense of sin, and through the intercessions of Moses, which they

implored, they were miraculously healed. He was directed to make the

figure of a serpent in brass, to be elevated on a pole or standard,

that it might be seen at the extremities of the camp and that every

bitten Israelite who looked to it might be healed. This peculiar method

of cure was designed, in the first instance, to show that it was the

efficacy of God's power and grace, not the effect of nature or art, and

also that it might be a type of the power of faith in Christ to heal

all who look to Him because of their sins

(Joh 3:14, 15;

see also on

2Ki 18:4).

10. the children of Israel set forward--along the eastern frontier

of the Edomites, encamping in various stations.

12. pitched in the valley--literally, the "woody brook-valley" of

Zared

(De 2:13;

Isa 15:7;

Am 6:14).

This torrent rises among the mountains to the east of Moab, and flowing

west, empties itself into the Dead Sea. Ije-Abarim is supposed to have

been its ford [CALMET].

13. pitched on the other side of Arnon--now El-Mojib, a deep, broad,

and rapid stream, dividing the dominions of the Moabites and Amorites.

14. book of the wars of the Lord--A fragment or passage is here

quoted from a poem or history of the wars of the Israelites,

principally with a view to decide the position of Arnon.

15. Ar--the capital of Moab.

16. from thence they went to Beer--that is, a "well." The name was

probably given to it afterwards [see

Jud 9:21],

as it is not mentioned

(Nu 33:1-56).

17, 18. Then Israel sang--This beautiful little song was in accordance

with the wants and feelings of travelling caravans in the East, where

water is an occasion both of prayer and thanksgiving. From the princes

using their official rods only, and not spades, it seems probable that

this well was concealed by the brushwood or the sand, as is the case

with many wells in Idumea still. The discovery of it was seasonable,

and owing to the special interposition of God.

21-23. Israel sent messengers unto Sihon--The rejection of their

respectful and pacific message was resented--Sihon was discomfited in

battle--and Israel obtained by right of conquest the whole of the

Amorite dominions.

24. from Arnon unto Jabbok--now the Zurka. These rivers formed the

southern and northern boundaries of his usurped territory.

for the border of . . . Ammon was strong--a reason stated for Sihon

not being able to push his invasion further.

25. Israel dwelt in all the cities--after exterminating the

inhabitants who had been previously doomed

(De 2:34).

26. Heshbon--

(So 7:4)

--situated sixteen English miles north of the Arnon, and from its ruins

it appears to have been a large city.

27-30. Wherefore they that speak in proverbs--Here is given an extract

from an Amorite song exultingly anticipating an extension of their

conquests to Arnon. The quotation from the poem of the Amorite bard

ends at

Nu 21:28.

The

two following verses

appear to be the strains in which the Israelites expose the impotence

of the usurpers.

29. people of Chemosh--the name of the Moabite idol

(1Ki 11:7-33;

2Ki 23:13;

Jer 48:46).

he--that is, their god, hath surrendered his worshippers to the

victorious arms of Sihon.

33. they turned and went up by the way of Bashan--a name given to

that district from the richness of the soil--now Batanea or

El-Bottein--a hilly region east of the Jordan lying between the

mountains of Hermon on the north and those of Gilead on the south.

Og--a giant, an Amoritish prince, who, having opposed the progress

of the Israelites, was defeated.

34, 35. The Lord said unto Moses, Fear him not--a necessary

encouragement, for Og's gigantic stature

(De 3:11)

was calculated to inspire terror. He and all his were put to the

sword.