Numbers 21:14

12 ^aFrom there they moved and camped in the Valley of Zered.

13 From there they moved and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for ^athe 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,
The brooks of the Arnon,

15 And the slope of the brooks
That reaches to the dwelling of ^aAr,
And lies on the border of Moab.”

16 From there they went ^ato Beer, which is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”

17 Then Israel sang this song:
^a“Spring up, O well!
All of you sing to it—

18 The well the leaders sank,
Dug by the nation’s nobles,
By the ^alawgiver, with their staves.” And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah,

19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

20 and from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the¹ country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks ^adown on the wasteland.

King Sihon Defeated

21 Then ^aIsrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

22 ^a“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”

23 ^aBut Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together and¹ went out against Israel in the wilderness, ^band he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

24 Then ^aIsrael defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon; for the border of the people of Ammon was fortified.

25 So Israel took all these cities, and Israel ^adwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages.

26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon.

27 Therefore those who speak in¹ proverbs say:
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built;
Let the city of Sihon be repaired.

28 “For ^afire went out from Heshbon,
A flame from the city of Sihon;
It consumed ^bAr of Moab,
The lords of the ^cheights of the Arnon.

29 Woe to you, ^aMoab!
You have perished, O people of ^bChemosh!
He has given his ^csons as fugitives,
And his ^ddaughters into captivity,
To Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 “But we have shot at them;
Heshbon has perished ^aas far as Dibon.
Then we laid waste as far as Nophah,
Which reaches to ^bMedeba.”

31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

32 Then Moses sent to¹ spy out ^aJazer; and they took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Numbers 21:14

The book of the wars of the Lord - There are endless conjectures about this book, both among ancients and moderns. Dr. Lightfoot' s opinion is the most simple, and to me bears the greatest appearance of being the true one. "This book seems to have been some book of remembrances and directions, written by Moses for Joshua' s private instruction for the management of the wars after him. See Exodus 17:14-16. It may be that this was the same book which is called the book of Jasher, i. e., the book of the upright, or a directory for Joshua, from Moses, what to do and what to expect in his wars; and in this book it seems as if Moses directed the setting up of archery, see II Samuel 1:18, and warrants Joshua to command the sun, and expect its obedience, Joshua 10:13."

What he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon - This clause is impenetrably obscure. All the versions, all the translators, and all the commentators, have been puzzled with it. Scarcely any two agree. The original is eth vaheb besuphah , which our translators render, what he did in the Red Sea, following here the Chaldee Targum; but not satisfied with this version, they have put the most difficult words in English letters in the margin, Vaheb in Suphah. Calmet' s conjecture here is ingenious, and is adopted by Houbigant; instead of vaheb , he reads zared . Now a zain may be easily mistaken for a vau , and vice versa; and a he for a , resh , if the left limb happened to be a little obliterated, which frequently occurs, not only in MSS., but in printed books; the beth also might be mistaken for a daleth , if the ruled line on which it stood happened in that place to be a little thicker or blacker than usual. Thus then vaheb might be easily formed out of zared , mentioned Numbers 21:12; the whole might then be read, They encamped at the brook Zared, and they came to Suphah, and thence to the brook Arnon. Take the passage as we may, it is evidently defective. As I judge the whole clause to have been a common proverb in those days, and Vaheb to be a proper name, I therefore propose the following translation, which I believe to be the best: From Vaheb unto Suph, and unto the streams of Arnon. If we allow it to have been a proverbial expression, used to point out extensive distance, then it was similar to that well known phrase, From Dan even unto Beersheba.

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing Numbers 21:14:**

Numbers 21:35
Joshua 10:12
Habakkuk 3:9

<< Numbers 21:13

Numbers 21:15 >>

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