Numbers 22:1

1 Then the people of Isra'el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo'av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho.

Numbers 22:1 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:1

And the children of Israel set forward
From the country of Bashan, where we read of them last, after they had conquered Og the king of it, and also Sihon king of the Amorites, and settled some of their tribes in both kingdoms; the particular place from whence they came hither, according to the account of their journeys, were the mountains of Abarim, ( Numbers 33:48 ) :

and pitched in the plains of Moab
the part of them they encamped in reached from Bethjesimoth to Abelshittim, ( Numbers 33:49 ) ,

on this side Jordan by Jericho;
or Jordan of Jericho, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; a river that flowed near to Jericho, running between the plains of Moab and the plains of Jericho; according to Josephus ^F21 it was sixty furlongs, or seven miles and a half from Jericho; but, according to Jerome ^F23, it was but five miles: or rather, as some versions render it, "over against Jericho" ^F24; for Jericho was on the other side of the river Jordan, and the plains of Moab, or that part of them where Israel now pitched, were right against that city; and so Josephus says ^F25.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4.
F23 De locis Heb. fol. 87. G.
F24 (kata iericw) Sept. "ex opposito Heiricho", Tigurine version.
F25 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 1.

Numbers 22:1 In-Context

1 Then the people of Isra'el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo'av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho.

2 Now Balak the son of Tzippor saw all that Isra'el had done to the Emori.

3 Mo'av was very afraid of the people, because there were so many of them; Mo'av was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra'el.

4 So Mo'av said to the leaders of Midyan, "This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field." Balak the son of Tzippor was king of Mo'av at that time.

5 He sent messengers to Bil'am the son of B'or, at P'tor by the [Euphrates] River in his native land, to tell him, "Listen, a people has come out of Egypt, spread over all the land and settled down next to me.