1 And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
21:1-41 And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
If you deliver the Canaanites into my hand, I will destroy their cities.
3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
After destroying the Canaanites, the Israelites journeyed from mount Hor around the land of Edom by way of the Red Sea.
And the Israelites were discouraged.
21:5-7
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness?There is no bread or water, and we hate this light bread. [3]
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
God sent fiery serpents to bite the people. And many died. [4]
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
We have sinned by criticizing you and God.And Moses prayed for the people.Ask God to take away the serpents.
21:8-98And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Make a fiery serpent and put it on a pole. [5]Whoever looks at it will live after being bit by a fiery serpent.
So Moses made a brass serpent and put it on a pole.
Whoever was bitten by a fiery serpent didn't die if they looked at it.
21:10-2010 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.
11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.
12 From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.
13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.
You can read about their travels in The Book of the wars of the Lord. [6]
This book will describe in detail what he [God?] did in the Red Sea, the brooks of Arnon, at the stream of brooks, and the dwelling of Ar.
16 And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:
18 The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:
Spring up, O well. Sing to it.The princes and people dug it with their staves.
19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
20 And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.
21 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22 Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders.
Let me pass through your land. We won't trespass on your fields or vineyards, or drink water from your wells. We'll stay on the king's highway until we leave your land.
23 And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
But Sihon wouldn't let them pass through his land. He gathered all his people to fight against Israel.
24And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
The Israelites smote Sihon with the edge of the sword, possessed his land, and took all of his cities. [7]
27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:
28 For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
29 Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
30 We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built.Fire came out of Heshbon and burned Ar, etc.
Woe to you, Moab! We have shot at them.
Heshbon has died. We have killed it.
31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
The Israelites lived in the land of the Amorites.
32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
Moses sent spies to Jaazer, and the Israelites drove out the Amorites who lived there.
33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.
They went by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan fought against them.
34And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
God said to Moses,
Don't be afraid of Og; I have delivered him, and all of his people, into your hand.You shall do to him as you did to Sihon.
35So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.
So the Israelites killed him, his sons, and all his people, and possessed their land. [8]
These verses demonstrate the power of prayer: If you ask God, he'll help you destroy cities.
The "light bread" that the people complain about here is the manna that God sent from heaven, described in Exodus 16, which may have been the dried excrement of Trabutina mannipara, a scale insect that feeds on tamarisk trees." Benjamin B. Normark, The Sex Lives of Scales, Natural History, Sept. 2004.
You just can't please some people!
According to Paul in the New Testament, it was Jesus that sent the serpents to bite and kill the people. 1 Corinthians 10:9
DWB: 26. God sent fiery serpents to bite the people for complaining about the lack of food and water
To save the people from his snakes, God tells Moses to make a graven image in the form of a snake (breaking the second commandment) and put it on a pole.
Those who look at Moses's magic snake will not die -- even if they were previously bit by God's snakes.
One of the lost books of the Bible
For more details on the massacre of Sihon and the Ammonite cities see Drunk With Blood: 31. God hardens king Sihon's heart so that all his people can be killed
God delivers the Amorites into Moses's hands. (You're in God hands with Moses.)
So Moses does the Christian thing, killing everyone "until there was none left alive."
DWB: 32. Og and all the men, women, and children in 60 cities
21:31-35, Cf. 