Book of Numbers · Chapter 21 of 36
35 verses · 6 video commentaries from 6 courses · Berean Standard Bible
1When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some prisoners.
2So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”
3And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.
4Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey
5and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
6So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
7Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.
8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
9So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.
10Then the Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.
11They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness opposite Moab to the east.
12From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered.
13From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory. Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.
14Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon,
15even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”
16From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”
17Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, all of you sing to it!
18The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,
19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.
21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22“Let us pass through your land. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”
23But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.
24And Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok—but only up to the border of the Ammonites, because it was fortified.
25Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.
26Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land as far as the Arnon.
27That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored.
28For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
29Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
30But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We demolished them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”
31So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
32After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.
33Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet them in battle at Edrei.
34But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”
35So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.
Num 21:4-9
In Numbers 21, the Israelites, suffering from snakebites in the wilderness, are instructed by God to have Moses create a bronze serpent on a pole. Anyone bitten who looks at this serpent is healed, demonstrating a positive association with serpents in early Israelite tradition.
Summarized by AI · Digging Up Eden: The Immortality of Adam and Eve · Lecture 10: Below the Bedrock | The Ancient Near Eastern Context · watch the clip
Num 21:21-35
The practice of copying and pasting material from Deuteronomy into earlier Pentateuchal books is exemplified by the story of Israel's conquest of Sihon and Og. While Numbers only mentions Sihon, Deuteronomy includes Og. Later editors, seeking a continuous narrative, inserted the account of Og from Deuteronomy back into Numbers, demonstrating how Deuteronomic additions were retroactively integrated into earlier texts.
Summarized by AI · The Ten Commandments · Lecture 2: The Twenty Commandments · watch the clip
Num 21:1
The Old Testament conquest narratives demonstrate God's command for the Israelites to kill entire populations of non-Israelites in the Promised Land. This was often justified by the belief that these outsiders posed a threat to the Israelites' worship of Yahweh, as seen in the destruction of Midianites and Jericho.
Summarized by AI · The Bible and Abortion: When Does Life Begin in the Bible? · Lecture 1: The Bible and the Beginning of Life · watch the clip
Num 21:8
Justin believes that the Septuagint is replete with anticipations of Christ, which are revealed through spiritual understanding. He cites examples like the Paschal lamb's splayed form resembling a cross, the Yom Kippur goat anticipating Christ's expiatory death, the Tree of Life symbolizing the cross, Moses' cruciform posture during battle, and the serpent on a rod in the wilderness, all pointing to Christ's crucifixion and redemptive role.
Summarized by AI · Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years · Lecture 7: Jews and Heretics | Justin Martyr and Israel · watch the clip
Num 21:18-20
The Targum Onkelos creatively interprets Numbers 21:18-20, which describes the Israelites' itinerary, by reinterpreting the place name 'Matana' (meaning 'gift') as a verb, 'it was given to them.' This allows the Targum to transform the geographical journey of the people into the geographical journey of the miraculous well, suggesting a mobile water source that followed them through the desert. This exemplifies how ancient Jewish interpreters teased out new meanings from subtle linguistic connections.
Summarized by AI · Jesus and the Old Testament · Lecture 4: Angle 2 | New Testament Authors Passing on Earlier Jewish Traditions · watch the clip
Num 21:18
The Damascus Document uses the imagery of a 'scepter' from Balaam's oracle in Numbers to refer to the Teacher of Righteousness, who provided the community with their interpretation of the law. Some scholars interpreted a passage about a future 'teacher of righteousness' as implying the original Teacher would rise from the dead, but it is more likely that the text refers to a new, similar figure who would appear at the end of days.
Summarized by AI · Judaism Before Jesus · Lecture 14: Messianic Expectation · watch the clip