Numbers 21

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The Canaanite king of Arad strikes preemptively when he hears Israel is moving via derekh ha'atarim (the route of Atharim — possibly 'the way of the scouts,' connecting to the spies sent earlier). The verb vayyishb (he captured) with shevi (captivity, prisoners) shows Israel vulnerable — a rare military setback that prompts the vow in v. 2.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The neder (vow) uses the conditional im-naton titten (if giving You give — if You truly deliver) with the infinitive absolute for emphasis. The commitment to hacharamti (devote to cherem — total destruction) of their cities is a complete dedication of the spoils to God, forfeiting any plunder. This voluntary vow transforms a defensive battle into a sacred act.

Translator Notes

1. God responds to the vow: vayyishma YHWH beqol Yisra'el (the LORD listened to Israel's voice). The place is renamed Chormah, from the same root ch-r-m as cherem (destruction/devotion). The name commemorates the fulfilled vow — the site of total consecration through destruction. This contrasts with the earlier defeat at Hormah in Numbers 14:45, where Israel attacked without divine authorization.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase vattiqtsar nefesh ha'am (the soul/life of the people grew short) conveys emotional exhaustion — their patience was literally 'cut short.' They must detour around Edom (who refused passage in 20:14-21), making an already long wilderness journey even longer. This frustration sets the stage for the complaint and serpent episode.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The complaint escalates to include God directly — bElohim uveMosheh (against God and against Moses). Their accusation is contradictory: ein lechem (there is no food) yet they despise the lechem haqqeloqel (the worthless/miserable bread) — meaning the manna. The word qeloqel (contemptible, light, worthless) from the root q-l-l shows profound ingratitude. Their nefesh qatsah (their soul loathed/was disgusted) uses visceral rejection language.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The hannechashim hasseraphim (the burning serpents) — seraph means 'burning,' referring either to the burning sensation of their venom or to their fiery appearance. The same root s-r-ph gives us the seraphim of Isaiah 6. The serpents are sent by God (vayshalach YHWH) as a direct consequence of the people's complaint — divine judgment matching the offense.

Translator Notes

1. Confession (chatanu — we have sinned) and intercession (hitpallel — pray) are the two responses to judgment. The people acknowledge the sin precisely: dibbarnuv baYHWH vavakh (we spoke against the LORD and against you). Moses' intercession (vayyitpallel Mosheh be'ad ha'am — Moses prayed on behalf of the people) follows the same pattern as his intercessions in Exodus 32 and Numbers 14.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. God does not remove the serpents but provides a remedy within the crisis. The saraph (burning/venomous figure) on a nes (pole, standard, banner) becomes a means of healing through the act of looking (ra'ah). The cure requires intentional gaze — an act of faith in the divine instruction. Jesus references this passage in John 3:14-15, drawing a parallel to his own being 'lifted up.'

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Moses fashions a nechash nechoshet (serpent of bronze/copper) — note the wordplay between nachash (serpent) and nechoshet (bronze/copper), both from related roots. The bronze serpent becomes an ongoing remedy: im nashakh hannachash et-ish (if the serpent bit a man) vehibbit (and he looked) — healing required active participation, not passive proximity. This object later became an idol and was destroyed by King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4), who called it Nehushtan.

Translator Notes

1. The itinerary resumes after the serpent episode. Ovot (Oboth) is an encampment site in the Transjordan region, marking Israel's southward detour around Edom before turning north toward Moab. The name may relate to ov ('spirit medium' or 'waterskin'), though its etymology is uncertain.

Translator Notes

1. Iyyei ha'Avarim ('ruins of the crossings' or 'heaps of Abarim') is in the wilderness facing Moab from the east (mimmizrach hashemesh — from the rising of the sun). The Abarim range, whose name means 'crossings' or 'regions beyond,' is the mountain chain from which Moses will later view the Promised Land (Num 27:12).

Translator Notes

1. The Nachal Zered (Wadi Zered, or 'valley of Zered') marks a significant geographic boundary. Deuteronomy 2:13-14 identifies the crossing of Zered as the point when the old wilderness generation had fully died out — 38 years after Kadesh-Barnea. The name may derive from a root meaning 'luxuriant growth.'

Translator Notes

1. The Arnon River (Wadi Mujib in modern Jordan) is a deep gorge that served as the border between Moab to the south and Amorite territory to the north. Israel positions itself me'ever Arnon (on the far side of the Arnon) — in the wilderness strip emerging from Amorite territory. This geographic precision matters because Israel was forbidden to attack Moab (Deut 2:9).

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The Sepher Milchamot YHWH (Book of the Wars of the LORD) is a now-lost ancient Israelite text cited here as a geographic/military source. The fragment begins with et-Vahev besuphah — extremely obscure words, possibly a place name 'Waheb in Suphah.' This is one of several lost books referenced in the Hebrew Bible (cf. Book of Jashar, Josh 10:13), demonstrating that biblical authors drew on earlier written sources.

Translator Notes

1. The quotation from the lost book continues: eshed hannechalim (the slopes/watershed of the ravines) extends toward shevet Ar (the settlement of Ar — a Moabite city). The fragment describes the Arnon's ravine system near the Moabite border, establishing the geographic context of Israel's approach. The word eshed (slope, outpouring, watershed) occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.

Translator Notes

1. Be'erah means 'to the well' — the place name Be'er (Beer) simply means 'well.' Unlike the earlier water crises at Massah/Meribah (Ex 17, Num 20), this provision comes without complaint or striking a rock. God simply promises: ettenah lahem mayim (I will give them water). The simplicity of the gift contrasts with the previous episodes' conflict.

Translator Notes

1. The shirah (song) uses the jussive ali (rise up! spring up!) — a command addressed to the well itself. Enu-lah (sing/respond to it) invites the people into antiphonal celebration. This is one of the few wilderness songs of joy rather than complaint, and one of the oldest poetic fragments in the Torah — a workers' well-digging song transformed into worship.

Translator Notes

1. The song celebrates leaders doing manual labor: sarim (princes/leaders) and nedivei ha'am (nobles of the people) dig with a mechoqeq (scepter/ruler's staff) and mish'anotam (their walking staffs). The image of rulers digging with royal implements inverts social expectations. The itinerary resumes: umimmidbar Mattanah (from the wilderness to Mattanah) — the name Mattanah means 'gift,' possibly alluding to the gift of water.

Translator Notes

1. The place names form a theologically suggestive sequence: Mattanah ('gift'), Nachali'el ('valley/torrent of God'), Bamot ('high places'). Some rabbinic interpreters read this as an allegory: God's gift (Torah) becomes a torrent of divine wisdom, which then elevates its recipients to the heights. Whether or not the allegory is intended, the etymological progression is striking.

Translator Notes

1. The itinerary reaches rosh haPisgah (the peak/head of Pisgah) — the same mountain from which Moses will later view the Promised Land (Deut 3:27, 34:1). It overlooks the Yeshimon (wasteland, desolation) — the barren landscape east of the Dead Sea. The destination foreshadows the narrative's climax: Israel is approaching the land of promise.

Translator Notes

1. Israel initiates diplomacy: malakhim (messengers, envoys) are sent to Sichon melekh ha'Emori (Sihon king of the Amorites). This parallels the earlier embassy to Edom (20:14), but unlike Edom — whom Israel was forbidden to attack — the Amorites will face military consequences for their refusal. Sihon's kingdom controlled the territory between the Arnon and the Jabbok rivers.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The request mirrors the embassy to Edom (20:17) almost verbatim: no trespass into fields or vineyards (sadeh, kerem), no use of local wells (mei ve'er), travel restricted to derekh hammelekh (the King's Highway) — a major international trade route running north-south through Transjordan. The appeal promises minimal disruption and complete respect for sovereignty.

Translator Notes

1. Sihon's refusal (lo natan — he did not allow/give) escalates to military aggression: vayyeesof (he gathered) his entire army and vayyetse (went out) into the midbar (wilderness) to attack. He comes to Yahtsa (Jahaz), a site later mentioned in the Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone). Sihon initiates the conflict — Israel's subsequent conquest is presented as a defensive response to Amorite aggression.

Translator Notes

1. Israel defeats Sihon lefi charev (by the mouth/edge of the sword) and takes possession (vayyirash — dispossessed, inherited) of his territory. The boundaries are precise: from Arnon (southern border, modern Wadi Mujib) to Yabboq (Jabbok, northern border, modern Zarqa River), stopping at the Ammonite frontier. The note ki az gevul benei Ammon (because the Ammonite border was strong/fortified) explains why Israel didn't continue east — Ammon's defenses held, and God had forbidden attacking Ammon (Deut 2:19).

Translator Notes

1. Cheshbon (Heshbon, modern Hesban in Jordan) was Sihon's capital city. The phrase bekhol benoteyha (in all its daughters — meaning its satellite towns or dependent villages) uses the common Hebrew metaphor of a capital 'mother city' with smaller 'daughter' settlements. Israel's settlement is immediate — they inhabit the conquered cities rather than destroying them.

Translator Notes

1. This historical note explains why the territory between Arnon and Jabbok was Amorite rather than Moabite. Sihon had previously conquered it from melekh Mo'av harishon (the former/previous king of Moab). This detail is legally significant: Israel did not take Moabite land (forbidden by God) but Amorite land that Sihon had previously taken from Moab — a chain of conquest that removes any Moabite territorial claim.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The moshelim (proverb-speakers, ballad-singers, those who compose mashal — a poetic genre) are cited for an ancient war song. The song appears to have originally celebrated Sihon's conquest of Moab, but is now cited with dramatic irony — Sihon's own victory song becomes the backdrop for his defeat. Bo'u Cheshbon (Come to Heshbon!) was once a triumphant Amorite rallying cry.

Translator Notes

1. The ballad describes Sihon's earlier conquest of Moab in military metaphor: esh (fire) and lehavah (flame/blaze) represent his destructive campaign sweeping from Heshbon southward. It consumed Ar Mo'av (Ar of Moab, a major Moabite city) and the ba'alei bamot Arnon (lords/masters of the Arnon heights) — Moabite rulers controlling the high ground along the Arnon ravine.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The taunt song mocks Moab's god: am-Kemosh (people of Chemosh — Moab's national deity, known from the Mesha Stele). Chemosh natan (he gave over) his own worshipers — sons as peleitim (refugees, fugitives) and daughters to shevit (captivity). The implication: Chemosh was powerless to protect his people. The song's original purpose was Amorite propaganda; its citation here adds another layer of irony.

Translator Notes

1. The song's conclusion is textually difficult: vanniram (we shot/hurled at them) may also be parsed as 'their dominion' (niram — their lamp/dominion has perished). The geographic sweep of destruction runs from Heshbon to Divon (Dibon, the Moabite capital known from the Mesha Stele), to Nophach (Nophah, location uncertain), to Medeva (Medeba, modern Madaba). The song maps Sihon's complete conquest of Moabite territory.

Translator Notes

1. A concise summary: vayyeshev Yisra'el be'erets ha'Emori (Israel settled in the land of the Amorites). This land — previously Moabite, then Amorite, now Israelite — will become the inheritance of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh (Num 32). The chain of possession matters legally and theologically.

Translator Notes

1. Moses sends scouts leraggel (to spy out, reconnoiter) Ya'zer (Jazer) — a strategic town. They capture its benoteyha (daughter-towns, satellite settlements) and vayyoresh (dispossessed) the resident Amorites. The ketiv/qere note in the Hebrew — vayyirash/vayyoresh — reflects a textual variant between 'he inherited' and 'he dispossessed,' both from the root y-r-sh which carries both meanings simultaneously.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The campaign moves north: derekh haBashan (the road to Bashan — the fertile plateau region of northern Transjordan, modern Golan Heights area). Og melekh haBashan — a legendary figure later described as the last of the Rephaim giants (Deut 3:11) — meets them at Edre'i (Edrei, modern Der'a in Syria). Like Sihon, Og initiates the conflict by marching out (vayyetse) to battle.

Translator Notes

1. God's command al-tira oto (do not fear him) suggests Og's reputation was genuinely intimidating — a giant king with a powerful army. The perfect tense natatti (I have given — already given) treats the victory as accomplished fact before the battle occurs. The parallel to Sihon (ka'asher asita leSichon — as you did to Sihon) frames the two Transjordan conquests as a matched pair of divine victories.

Translator Notes

1. The chapter ends with total victory: vayyakku oto (they struck him down) — Og, his sons (banav), and all his people, ad-bilti hish'ir-lo sarid (until not a survivor remained to him). The verb vayyireshu (they took possession of, they dispossessed) closes the double conquest of Transjordan — Sihon's territory from Arnon to Jabbok, and now Og's Bashan extending further north. Israel enters the Balaam narrative (ch 22) as a military power that has defeated two kings.