21 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”1 3 And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.2
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And 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 food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze3 serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
10 And the people of Israel set out and camped in Oboth. 11 And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise. 12 From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered. 13 From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from 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,
“ Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,
15 and the slope of the valleys
that extends to the seat of Ar,
and leans to the border of Moab.”
16 And from there they continued to Beer;4 that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song:
“ Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!—
18 the well that the princes made,
that the nobles of the people dug,
with the scepter and with their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that looks down on the desert.5
21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled 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, as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore the ballad singers say,
“ Come to Heshbon, let it be built;
let the city of Sihon be established.
28 For fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the city of Sihon.
It devoured Ar of Moab,
and swallowed6 the heights of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, O Moab!
You are undone, O people of Chemosh!
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters captives,
to an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 So we overthrew them;
Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished;
and we laid waste as far as Nophah;
fire spread as far as Medeba.”7
31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.
Section Overview
Chapter 21 narrates the Israelites’ journey from the northern Negeb to Transjordan’s highlands. They leave Mount Hor in the direction of Arad, which draws Canaanite resistance. The victory over the Canaanites (vv. 1–3) is a sign of God’s presence with the new generation. Thirty-eight years earlier the old generation had been defeated by the Canaanites and Amalekites (14:39–45). Notwithstanding their deliverance, the people speak against God and Moses, drawing a scourge of deadly venomous serpents. By the obedience of faith in the Lord’s promise, any snakebitten person who looks at the bronze serpent is delivered (21:4–9). Ascending the great Zered Gorge, the Israelites penetrate Transjordan to the east of Moab (Judg. 11:18). Beyond the Arnon on Moab’s northern border are the Amorites (Num. 21:10–20). The Lord gives the generation that will enter Canaan another great victory, this time over the Amorite kingdoms of Sihon and Og (vv. 21–35).
Numbers 20–21 presents the new generation against the backdrop of the exodus generation (cf. table 4.5). These parallels support an underlying theme of the old generation as an example for the new. God’s dealings with both generations serve as examples for his people of all ages (cf. Introduction: Theology of Numbers).
Section Outline
Excursus: Geographical Overview of Transjordan
The Transjordan is divided by four major wadi canyons. Two drain into the Jordan River: the Yarmouk, south of the Sea of Galilee, and the Jabbok, between the Yarmouk and the Dead Sea. Two more empty into the Dead Sea: the Arnon in the middle of the sea and the Zered at the southern end. Ammon lies between the Jabbok and the Arnon, Moab between the Arnon and the Zered, and Edom to the south of the Zered.
The Transjordan also has four distinct regions: Bashan, Gilead, tableland (mishor), and wilderness (midbar).166 The Bashan stretches from Mount Hermon to just south of the Yarmouk. Gilead begins there and straddles the Jabbok, divided into northern and southern halves by that wadi. Bashan and Gilead are geologically distinct, the former being basaltic with rich volcanic soils and the latter being limestone with chalky soil.167 The plateau highlands (mishor) extend eastward from the mountain watershed between the Arnon and Jabbok. The wilderness lies to the east of Bashan, Gilead, and the tableland. The Amorite kingdoms of Sihon and Og stretch from the Arnon to Mount Hermon (Deut. 3:8).
The division of Transjordan between the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh is described in Numbers 32. Their inheritances are delimited by the topography. Manasseh inherits Bashan and the northern half of Gilead (Josh. 13:31). Gad inherits the southern half of Gilead (Deut. 3:12). Between the Jabbok and the Arnon, Gad’s and Reuben’s inheritances include the tableland. Gilead sometimes refers to the territory of these tribes, even to Transjordan in general (Josh. 22:9, 13, 15, 32). It is also a name of a descendant of Manasseh (Num. 27:1).
21:12–20 The “Valley [nahal, “wadi”] of Zered” (v. 12) is a massive gorge forming a natural boundary between Edom to the south and Moab to the north. Unlike most wadis, the Zered is perennial and has an oasis, perhaps providing a reason for the Israelites’ taking this route from the Arabah.168 From its head, waters descend almost 4,000 feet (1,200 m) into the southern end of the Dead Sea. Deep (1,700 feet [520 m]) and gaping at the top (2 miles [3.2 km]), the Arnon Gorge is the northern limit of Moab.169 Its waters also enter the Dead Sea opposite Engedi. The Amorites, from Canaan across the Jordan, have pushed the Moabites south of the Arnon (v. 26) and the Ammonites to the east of Jabbok’s sources. Sihon’s territory is between these two wadi canyons (v. 24–25).
The “Book of the Wars of the Lord” (v. 14) is presumably an early source recording those events (cf. the writing of a “memorial in a book” of the war with Amalek; Ex. 17:14). The meaning of the transliterated “Waheb in Suphah” is unknown.170 The expression may be explained epexegetically—“and [vav, “that is”], the valleys of the Arnon”—since about 15 miles (24 km) up the gorge from where its flow enters the Dead Sea the Arnon divides into northern and southern valleys, each splitting into two. The name “Suphah” may be preserved in the principal southern branch, called Saphiah.171 “Ar” (ʿar; Num. 21:15, 28; SP ʿr) has not been identified. It appears in parallelism with Kir, Moab’s capital (Isa. 15:1). If not a city, it may be synonymous with Moab (Deut. 2:9).
The people are led to “Beer” (Num. 21:16), meaning “well.” As the people have been denied access to water first by Edom and then by Moab, the well is providential; when water is struck, “then Israel sang this song” (vv. 16–18). Digging for water in wadi beds is possible with “staffs” (v. 18), since the water table is close to the surface (Gen. 26:19). The synonymic parallel word “scepter” (mekhoqeq) has led to a range of old midrashic interpretations.172 The places named in Numbers 21:19 have not been identified. “Bamoth” (“heights”) reappears in compound names, “Bamoth-arnon” (v. 28; “heights of the Arnon”), “Bamoth-baal” (22:41), and “Beth-bamoth” (Moabite Stone, line 27; cf. comment on 32:33–42).
The “top of Pisgah” (Num. 21:20; 23:14) may define the highest point of Mount Nebo in the Abarim mountain chain (Deut. 3:27; 32:49; 34:1),173 whereas the slopes of Pisgah (Deut. 3:17; 4:49) may describe the Moabite mountain range east of the Dead Sea.174 “The desert” (Num. 21:20; 23:28) renders a determined noun (hayeshimon; anarthrous in Deut. 32:10; Ps. 107:4) that perhaps refers to the Jeshimon, overlooking the southern Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea from both the eastern (Num. 33:49; Beth-jeshimoth) and the western sides (1 Sam. 26:1, 3) of the Arabah. The “Jeshimon” would then be either the Judean wilderness or the wilderness east of the Jordan.175
21:21–35 “Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites” (v. 21); the LXX and SP add “with words of peace” (cf. Deut. 2:26), meaning terms of surrender (cf. 1 Chron. 19:19), a stipulated military procedure against enemies outside the border of Canaan (Deut. 20:10). Both “Sihon” and “Og” are Amorites (Deut. 4:47). Cisjordan “Amorites” have expanded their territory to Transjordan (cf. Num. 13:29). Sihon refuses passage and makes war (21:23).
As with the Edomites, Israel is not permitted to disinherit its Moabite and Ammonite kinsmen (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19, 37). Moabite territory lies between the Zered and the Arnon (Num. 21:12–13, 24). The Ammonites hold the land between the Arnon and the Jabbok (Josh. 12:2; Judg. 11:13). The territories from the Arnon northward are now occupied, respectively, by Sihon and Og (Num. 21:24; Deut. 2:36; 3:8; Josh. 12:2–3; Judg. 11:22).
Sihon’s “people” (ʿam; Num. 21:23) is his army (e.g., Ex. 14:6; in Judg. 8:5–6 “people” and “army” [tsabaʾ] are parallel; in Judges 9:43 “people” are divided into three companies; in 2 Sam. 24:2, 9 David’s numbering the “people” involves those who draw the sword). The battle site, “Jahaz” (Num. 21:23), is not identified but according to ancient sources lies between Medeba and Dibon (cf. discussion on 21:30 below).176 These latter two locations are on the mountain watershed branch of the King’s Highway (21:22; cf. comment on 20:14–19 [at vv. 17, 19]). This road starts in the north at Rabbah (today Amman) and has a more easterly branch skirting the eastern “wilderness” (21:23). Jahaz apparently lies on that route. Sihon seeks to block Israel from passing through his territory via this road.
The Arnon and Jabbok gorges (v. 24) form the natural borders of Sihon’s territory. The Jabbok flows into the Jordan 15 miles (24 km) north of the Dead Sea. The Jabbok Gorge is the northern border of Ammonite territory (v. 24). The Amorites have pushed them east of the Jabbok’s sources. Some suggest “strong” (ʿaz) should read “Az” (NJPS), an unidentified toponym, or “Jazer” (LXX; cf. RSV, NASB), a city on the Ammonite border (v. 32). However, when a toponym is “on the border of” somewhere, it is signaled with the preposition b- (bigebul; e.g., 33:44; 1 Sam. 10:2), which is not the case here. This favors reading ʿaz as an adjective.
Pride of mention among Sihon’s cities is his capital, “Heshbon” (Num. 21:25, 26, 27, 28, 30). If it is modern Hesban, it is located 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Amman (OT Rabbah).177 Ashtaroth is Og’s capital (Josh. 9:10). Numbers 21:26 is a flashback: before Israel’s arrival in Transjordan, Moab had lost possession of its territory north of the Arnon to the Amorites. Mention of the historical antecedent is necessary because Israel is forbidden to take Moab’s land (cf. discussion on v. 21 above). The “ballad singers” (v. 27; cf. Judg. 5:11) may have first vaunted the Amorites’ victory over the Moabites (Num. 21:26; cf. Jer. 48:45–46), a ditty later adapted by the Israelites (“we”; Num. 21:30) to boast their triumph over the Amorites. This would also serve to challenge any possible later claim by Moab that Israel has taken its land, as the Ammonites claim during the period of the judges. Jephthah counters this claim by noting that Israel took the land from the Amorites, who had defeated the Ammonites and the Moabites (Judg. 11:12–13, 21–28).
On “Ar” (Num. 21:28) cf. comment on 21:12–20 (at v. 15). The “heights” (bamoth; v. 28) may refer to cultic “high places” (33:52), since defeating a people involves destroying their gods and places of worship. The “people of Chemosh” (21:29; Jer. 48:46) are Moabite worshipers of their national deity (Judg. 11:24; 1 Kings 11:33). For Heshbon cf. discussion on Numbers 21:25 above. “Dibon,” modern Dhiban, is 3.5 miles (5.5 km) north of the Arnon and 13 miles (21 km) east of the Dead Sea. “Fire” (v. 30) follows the SP and LXX, both reading ʾesh (cf. v. 28) rather than the MT’s ʾasher, with the -r marked by scribes with special punctuation to indicate it is suspicious. “Medeba,” modern Madaba, is 12.5 miles (20 km) east of the northern end of the Dead Sea and 20 miles (32 km) south of Ammonite Rabbah (modern Amman).178 The King’s Highway and the “tableland” (mishor; Deut. 3:10; Josh. 13:9), lying between the Arnon and the wadi Hesban—named after Heshbon—25 miles (40 km) south of the Jabbok, are controlled by these cities.
Although unidentified, “Jazer” (Num. 21:32) is located between wadi Hesban and the Jabbok.179 Jazer is also the name of a rich pasture region (32:1; Josh. 13:25). It is apparently the northernmost city held by Sihon. To be “dispossessed” (yarash) involves losing lands and everything in them (Deut. 2:21). Another form of the verb means “to possess” (Num. 21:35). The Israelites head for Og’s kingdom in Bashan (v. 33), which stretches from Gilead about 6 miles (10 km) south of the Yarmouk in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, including the Golan east of the Sea of Galilee.180 “Edrei” (v. 33) is identified as modern Dera,181 near the Yarmouk on the southeast border of Og’s territory. Nothing is said of the Israelite forces’ advances from the Jabbok through Gilead to Edrei.
“Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand. . . . And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon” (v. 34). The Lord’s command, linked to a promise and a reminder of their victory over Sihon, spurs the Israelites to victory over Og and possession of his territory (v. 35). After defeating the two Amorite kings, Israel claims their lands as its own since it has not taken them from the Moabites or the Ammonites (Judg. 11:19–27). Israel now controls the Transjordan. It also controls the entire Jordan Valley, since Sihon’s territory there had extended from the Dead Sea to the Sea of Galilee (Josh. 12:2–3). Israel is therefore able to encamp securely “in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho” (Num. 22:1; 36:13) where it would remain until crossing the Jordan to enter the Promised Land.
The victory over the Arad Canaanites (21:1–3), followed by victory over Amorite kings and the possessing of their lands (vv. 24–25, 34–35), is proof of God’s presence to fulfill his promise.
Response
Regarding the bronze serpent Charles Spurgeon remarks,
This is a glorious gospel type. Jesus, numbered with the transgressors, hangs before us on the cross. A look at him will heal us of the serpent bite of sin. . . . The bronze serpent . . . specifically aimed at those who were ‘bitten.’ Jesus died as a real Savior for real sinners. Whether the bite has made you a drunkard or a thief or an unfaithful or a profane person, a look at the great Savior will heal you of these diseases and make you live in holiness and communion with God. Look and live.182
Jesus applies the bronze serpent to his own mission: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). This is followed by the most well-known verse in the NT (John 3:16). The correlation of the serpent and the Son of Man is striking. The deadly serpent bite is a consequence of sin and God’s judgment upon it, and the bronze serpent represents that curse. “In the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3) Christ is lifted up because he is made “to be sin who knew no sin, so that . . . we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). In so doing he becomes a curse for us (Gal. 3:13) so that we might receive the life-giving Spirit through faith (Gal. 3:14).
Sin is a sting resulting in death, like a venomous snake bite (1 Cor. 15:55–56). Sin is the irruption of evil in a world created good and blessed. The curse, death from sin, is its consequence. Death is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26) especially because it is the ultimate expression of God’s anger at sin (Ps. 30:5). No one is immune; nobody escapes the sentence. The only antidote to the venom is Christ’s death on the cross, which through faith delivers from sin and divine judgment. By Christ’s life and resurrection the blessing of eternal life is restored. “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).
Represented as a serpent from Genesis (3:1) to Revelation (20:2), Satan epitomizes sin, malediction, and death. However, the woman’s descendant crushes the head of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15; Ps. 91:13), the “ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The Christian is assured, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20).Numbers 21