Numbers 21

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

We find a difficulty here in assuming that we have the chronological order of events. For reasons stated in comment on Numbers 21:1, we believe that there is a transposition of the natural order. The king of Arad, being notified by his spies of a muster of all Israel at Kadesh, and surmising that this was preliminary to an attack upon himself and other Canaanites in southern Canaan, by an easy route from Kadesh, (Ain Gadis,) skirting the western slope of Mount Azazimeh, decided not to stand on the defensive, but to attack the invaders. After the battle, in which some Israelites were taken prisoners, the Israelites, vowing vengeance, continued their march southward along the parched Arabah, murmuring at the hardships of the journey. As a punishment, Jehovah sent fiery serpents. When the people repented, Moses was instructed to lift up on a standard the brazen image of a serpent. They then continued their journey, going around the southern end of Mount Seir, passed the stations of Oboth and Ije-abarim, the valley of Zared, and reached the banks of the Arnon. Here the historian inserts a poetical quotation from the Book of the Wars of Jehovah. Numbers 21:14-20. Sihon, king of the Amorites, refused the request of a passage through his dominions, and made unsuccessful war upon Israel. Thus the way was cleared from the Arnon to the Jabbok. Then follows a little Amorite ballad containing a scrap of history. Numbers 21:27-30. The campaign against Og and the conquest of Bashan conclude the chapter.