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The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 21 -

1
And when king Arad the Canaanite, who was living toward the south, had heard this, namely, that Israel had arrived by the way of spies, he fought against them. And proving to be the victor, he led away prey from them.
2
But Israel, obliging himself by a vow to the Lord, said: “If you deliver this people into my hand, I will wipe away their cities.”(a)
3
And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and he delivered the Canaanite, whom they put to death, overthrowing his cities. And they called the name of that place Hormah, that is, Anathema.(b)

The Bronze Serpent

4
Then they set out from mount Hor, by the way that leads to the Red Sea, to circle around the land of Edom. And the people began to tire of their journey and hardships.
5
And speaking against God and Moses, they said: “Why did you lead us away from Egypt, so as to die in the wilderness? Bread is lacking; there are no waters. Our soul is now nauseous over this very light food.”(c)
6
For this reason, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, which wounded or killed many of them.(d)
7
And so they went to Moses, and they said: “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray, so that he may take away these serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people.
8
And the Lord said to him: “Make a bronze serpent, and place it as a sign. Whoever, having been struck, gazes upon it, shall live.”
9
Therefore, Moses made a bronze serpent, and he placed it as a sign. When those who had been struck gazed upon it, they were healed.(e)

The Journey to Moab

10
And the sons of Israel, setting out, made camp at Oboth.
11
Having departed from there, they pitched their tents at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness, which looks out toward Moab, opposite the eastern region.
12
And moving from there, they arrived at the Torrent of Zared.
13
Having left that place behind, they then made camp opposite Arnon, which is in the desert, and which juts out at the borders of the Amorite. For certainly Arnon is at the limit of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorites.
14
About this place, it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: “As he did at the Red Sea, so will he do at the Torrents of Arnon.”(f) (g)
15
The stones of the torrents were bent, so that they might rest in Ar and lie back within the borders of the Moabites.(h)
16
Beyond that place appeared a well, about which the Lord said to Moses: “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”
17
Then Israel sang this verse: “Let the well rise up.” They sang:
18
“The well, the leaders dug it, and the commanders of the multitude prepared it, at the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staffs.”
19
They went from the wilderness to Mattanah, from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20
from Bamoth, a valley in the region of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks out opposite the desert.

The Defeat of Sihon

(Deuteronomy 2:24–37)
21
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, saying:
22
“I beg you to permit me to cross through your land. We will not turn aside into the fields or the vineyards. We will not drink waters from the wells. We will travel by the royal way, until we have passed your borders.”
23
And he was not willing to allow Israel to cross through his borders. But instead, gathering an army, he went out to meet them in the desert, and he arrived at Jahaz and fought against them.
24
And he was struck down by them with the edge of the sword, and they possessed his land from Arnon, even to Jabbok and the sons of Ammon. For the borders of the Ammonites were held by a strong fortress.
25
Therefore, Israel took all his cities and lived in the cities of the Amorite, namely, in Heshbon and its villages.
26
Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who fought against the king of Moab. And he took all the land, which had been under his sovereignty, as far as Arnon.
27
About this, it is said in the proverb: “Enter into Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be established and built.
28
A fire has gone forth from Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon, and it has devoured Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the heights of Arnon.
29
Woe to you, Moab! You are perishing, O people of Chemosh. He gave flight to his sons, and he gave the daughters into captivity, to the king of the Amorites, Sihon.
30
Their yoke has been scattered from Heshbon even to Dibon. They have passed through, wearily, into Nophah, and as far as Medeba.”

The Defeat of Og

(Deuteronomy 3:1–11)
31
And so Israel lived in the land of the Amorite.
32
And Moses sent some to explore Jazer. These captured its villages and possessed its inhabitants.
33
And they turned themselves and ascended, along the way of Bashan. And Og, the king of Bashan, met them with all his people, to fight at Edrei.
34
And the Lord said to Moses: “Do not be afraid of him. For I have delivered him, and all his people, as well as his land, into your hand. And you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, the inhabitant of Heshbon.”
35
Therefore, they struck him down also, with his sons, and all his people, even to utter destruction, and they possessed his land.

Footnotes

(a)21:2 Notice that the people of Israel are spoken of under the figure of one man named Israel.(Conte)
(b)21:3 Anathema:That is, a thing devoted to utter destruction.(Challoner)
(c)21:5 Very light food:So they call the heavenly manna: thus worldlings loathe the things of heaven, for which they have no relish.(Challoner)
(d)21:6 Fiery serpents:They are so called, because they that were bitten by them were burnt with a violent heat.(Challoner)
(e)21:9 A brazen serpent:This was a figure of Christ crucified, and of the efficacy of a lively faith in him, against the bites of the hellish serpent. John. 3:14.(Challoner)
(f)21:14 Here is an example of a written source, used in composing Scripture, where the source itself, as a whole, is fallible and non-inspired, but a quote from it is part of inspired Scripture. Pre-existing written (and oral) source material was used, to some extent, when Scripture was written.(Conte)
(g)21:14 The book of the wars, etc:An ancient book, which, like several others quoted in scripture, has been lost.(Challoner)
(h)21:15 It is as if the stones themselves are rejecting the Amorites.(Conte)
1
The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.
2
Israel vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”
3
The LORD listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.(a)

The Bronze Serpent

4
They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey.
5
The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!”
6
The LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
7
The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.
8
The LORD said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
9
Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.

The Journey to Moab

10
The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth.
11
They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise.
12
From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered.
13
From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14
Therefore it is said in The Book of the Wars of the LORD , “Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon,
15
the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab.”
16
From there they traveled to Beer; that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”
17
Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, well! Sing to it,
18
the well, which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their poles.” From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;
19
and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;
20
and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert.

The Defeat of Sihon

(Deuteronomy 2:24–37)
21
Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22
“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn away into field or vineyard. We will not drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed your border.”
23
Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz. He fought against Israel.
24
Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified.
25
Israel took all these cities. Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
26
For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon.
27
Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established;
28
for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
29
Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.
30
We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”

The Defeat of Og

(Deuteronomy 3:1–11)
31
Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
32
Moses sent to spy out Jazer. They took its villages, and drove out the Amorites who were there.
33
They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
34
The LORD said to Moses, “Don’t fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people, and his land. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
35
So they struck him, with his sons and all his people, until there were no survivors; and they possessed his land.

Footnotes

(a)21:3 “Hormah” means “destruction”.
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