Num 21:1 | Clarke | STEP | Arad, a king of the Canaanites, attacks Israel, and makes same prisoners, . They devote him and his people to destruction, ; which they afterwards accomplished, . They journey from Hor, and are greatly discouraged, . They murmur against God and Moses, and loathe the manna, . The Lord sends fiery serpents among them, . They repent, and beg Moses to intercede for them, . The Lord directs him to make a brazen serpent, and set it on a pole, that the people might look on it and be healed, . Moses does so, and the people who beheld the brazen serpent lived, . They journey to Oboth, Ije-abarim, Zared, and Arnon, . A quotation from the book of the wars of the Lord, , . From Arnon they came to Beer, . Their song of triumph, . Moses sends messengers to the Amorites for permission to pass through their land, , . Sihon their king refuses, attacks Israel, is defeated, and all his cities destroyed, . The poetic proverbs made on the occasion, . Israel possesses the land of the Amorites, , . They are attacked by Og king of Bashan, . They defeat him, destroy his troops and family, and possess his land, , . Verse 1 The way of the spies - אתרים atharim. Some think that this signifies the way that the spies took when they went to search the land. But this is impossible, as Dr. Kennicott justly remarks, because Israel had now marched from Meribah-Kadesh to Mount Hor, beyond Ezion-Gaber, and were turning round Edom to the south-east; and therefore the word is to be understood here as the name of a place.

Numbers 21:1

Introduction

Arad, a king of the Canaanites, attacks Israel, and makes same prisoners, Num 21:1. They devote him and his people to destruction, Num 21:2; which they afterwards accomplished, Num 21:3. They journey from Hor, and are greatly discouraged, Num 21:4. They murmur against God and Moses, and loathe the manna, Num 21:5. The Lord sends fiery serpents among them, Num 21:6. They repent, and beg Moses to intercede for them, Num 21:7. The Lord directs him to make a brazen serpent, and set it on a pole, that the people might look on it and be healed, Num 21:8. Moses does so, and the people who beheld the brazen serpent lived, Num 21:9. They journey to Oboth, Ije-abarim, Zared, and Arnon, Num 21:10-13. A quotation from the book of the wars of the Lord, Num 21:14, Num 21:15. From Arnon they came to Beer, Num 21:16. Their song of triumph, Num 21:17-20. Moses sends messengers to the Amorites for permission to pass through their land, Num 21:21, Num 21:22. Sihon their king refuses, attacks Israel, is defeated, and all his cities destroyed, Num 21:23-26. The poetic proverbs made on the occasion, Num 21:27-30. Israel possesses the land of the Amorites, Num 21:31, Num 21:32. They are attacked by Og king of Bashan, Num 21:33. They defeat him, destroy his troops and family, and possess his land, Num 21:34, Num 21:35.

Verse 1

The way of the spies - אתרים atharim. Some think that this signifies the way that the spies took when they went to search the land. But this is impossible, as Dr. Kennicott justly remarks, because Israel had now marched from Meribah-Kadesh to Mount Hor, beyond Ezion-Gaber, and were turning round Edom to the south-east; and therefore the word is to be understood here as the name of a place.