Numbers 21:24-35

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 21:21-35

We have here an account of the victories obtained by Israel over Sihon and Og, which must be distinctly considered, not only because they are here distinctly related, but because long afterwards the memorial of them is distinctly celebrated, and they are severally assigned as instances of everlasting mercy. He slew Sihon king of the Amorites, for his mercy endureth for ever, and Og the king of Bashan, for his mercy endureth for ever, Ps. 136:19; 20. I. Israel sent a peaceable message to Sihon... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:24

And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword ,.... Slew him and his army, entirely routed them, and got a complete victory over them; God giving them up into their hands, who otherwise were a very strong, powerful, and warlike people; see Amos 2:9 . and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok ; two rivers, the one to the south, the other to the north of his country; the one was the boundary of his country between him and the Moabites, the other the boundary of his country between... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:25

And Israel took all these cities ,.... Which lay between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; their particular names may be seen in Numbers 32:3 , and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites ; being given to the Reubenites and Gadites, who inhabited them, as their possession and inheritance, Numbers 32:2 , in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof ; or "daughters thereof" F17 בנתיה "filiabus ejus", Montanus, Munster, Fagius, Grotius. . Heshbon was the metropolis or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:26

For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites ,.... His royal city, where he kept his palace, where he had resided for some time, and perhaps some of his predecessors; and therefore being now in his possession when taken by the Israelites, they had a good right and title to keep it, and dwell in it: and indeed this is here given as a reason of it: who had fought against the former king of Moab ; either the king that reigned before Balak, or some king of Moab, that reigned... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:27

Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say ,.... The historical writers of those times, among the Amorites, who were usually poets, and wrote the history of the wars between the Moabites and Amorites in verse; as Homer among the Greeks wrote the wars of Troy; and the compositions of those ancient bards were short and compendious, and wrapped up in proverbial sayings, and enigmatical and figurative expressions, that they might be the better retained in memory, and therefore were called... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:28

For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon ,.... Not before, but after Sihon had subdued it, as Jarchi observes; and is to be understood of his soldiers going out from thence, and making desolations in the adjacent parts, like a strong fire, and the fierce flames of it there is no resisting; and so the Jerusalem Targum,"for a people mighty, and burning like fire, are gone out of Heshbon:'see Amos 1:4 , a flame from the city of Sihon: which is the same thing in other words, the city of Sihon... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:29

Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone ,.... The whole country ruined, or likely to be so: O people of Chemosh ; which was the name of their idol, who is called the abomination of the Moabites, 1 Kings 11:7 , he hath given his sons that escaped ; that is, the idol Chemosh had given his sons, the men of the country that worshipped him, who escaped the sword of the Amorites, these: and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites ; who took captive what he slew not,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:30

We have shot at them ,.... Either the Amorites at the Moabites, or else the Israelites at the Amorites; for, according to Aben Ezra, these are the words of Moses, though they, with Numbers 21:29 , seem rather to be a continuation of the song of the old Amorite bards, describing the ruin of the country of Moab by them; and this clause may be rendered with the next, "their light, or lamp, is perished from Heshbon" F18 נירם אבד חשבון "lucerna eorum, Heshbon (seilicet) periit",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:31

Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. Not the land of the Moabites; and by those means before mentioned; by conquering Sihon their king, they came into the possession of it, and took up their dwelling in it; this was the beginning of the conquest of the Canaanites, and an earnest and pledge of inheriting their land promised unto them; the Israelites that dwelt here were the tribes of Reuben and Gad. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 21:32

And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer ,.... Or Jazer, as it is called in Isaiah 16:9 , another city that belonged to the Amorites, and which they had taken from the Moabites; and which came into the hands of the latter again, after the captivity of the ten tribes, as appears from the above places; according to Jerom F19 De locis Heb. fol. 92. G. , it was fifteen miles distant from Heshbon: and they took the villages thereof ; not the spies, as Jarchi, but the Israelites under Moses;... read more

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