Numbers 20:14

"And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt with us, and our fathers: and when we cried unto Jehovah, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border. Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king's highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against thee. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet. And he said, Thou shalt not pass through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him."

Forty years prior to the date in these passages, the government of Edom was still in the hand of various "dukes" (Exodus 15), and the mention of the King of Edom here shows that there had been some changes during the previous generation. The same thing had already occurred also in Moab (Judges 11:17). Edom's negative answer here made the response of Moab (to whom Moses also sent messengers) immaterial.

The fact of Moses' first promising not to drink of their wells (Numbers 20:17), and later promising to "pay the price" for any water that they drink is in no sense a contradiction. The wells were privately-owned, but waters from streams, which would normally be used by the cattle, were not mentioned in that verse. Numbers 20:19 has the promise that any water used by Israel from whatever source would be properly paid for.

The rather haphazard use of pronouns, switching persons and numbers here and there, is merely a characteristic of ancient writings. People will never understand Moses without taking this into account.

"The king's highway ..." (Numbers 20:17). "This road was in use during the 23and 22centuries B.C.; and it was marked along its length with early Bronze Age settlements."[10] "It led from the gulf of Aqaba in the south up through Edom to Damascus; the fortifications along it were destroyed; and the road was rebuilt by the Romans in 108 A.D. by the Emperor Trajan."[11] "This is the first reference to this road by this name in the Bible."[12]

"Thou shalt not pass ..." (Numbers 20:18). Moses indeed appears to have hoped that Edom (descended from Israel's brother) might respect the historic connection between the two peoples sufficiently to allow a friendly passage; but this was frustrated. This was but one of many hostile acts of the Edomites toward Israel, resulting in their final destruction through the wrath of God. The entire prophecy of Obadiah deals with this long and bitter hatred between the descendants of Jacob and Esau.

It certainly is true that any king has the right to deny passage of any alien group through his territory. The circumstances here were different. Even ignoring the family connection of the Jews and the Edomites, the king's highway had been used for ages by the people of all nations, and Israel made earnest and specific promises with regard to the territory and the possessions of the Edomites - all of these things made the act of Edom in this instance, "A severe act of cruelty and oppression."[13]

"We know today that both Edom and Moab were ringed with fortresses, the remains of which have been identified by archeologists."[14] It was therefore very impractical for Israel at this time to attempt any forced passage of Edom's border. Consequently, they detoured to the southward and skirted the southeast border of that nation, along by the Red Sea (Numbers 21:4). It should be remembered that there were two arms of the Red Sea lying, one west, the other east of the Sinaitic peninsula. The western arm was the Gulf of Suez, via which the children of Israel crossed miraculously into the Sinaitic area, and the eastern arm was the gulf of Aqaba. Most significantly, both these bodies of water in the sacred text are called the [~Yam] [~Cuwph],[15] which has the meaning of the End Sea, and which in the 15th century B.C. was the accepted name of the entire Indian Ocean and all of its principal bays, gulfs, and adjacent waters. (See the discussion of the "Red Sea or Reed Sea" at the end of Exodus 13.)