Numbers 21:2

2 Israel made a vow to Yahweh, and they said, "If you will surely give this people into our hand, then we {will destroy} their cities."

Numbers 21:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:2

And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord
The Israelites made supplication to the Lord for help against their enemies, and that he would give them victory over them, and made promises to him:

and said, if thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand;
certainly and entirely deliver them, so as that a complete victory shall be obtained over them:

then will I utterly destroy their cities;
or "anathematize", or devote them to utter destruction ^F15; slay man and beast, burn their houses and take their goods, not for a spoil, for their own private use, but reserve them for the service of God; all which is implied in the vow made, as was done to Jericho, ( Joshua 6:21 Joshua 6:24 ) and so it is a vow, as Abendana observes, of what they would do when they came to the land of Canaan.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (ytmrxhw) "et anathematisabo", Montanus; "devovebo", Tigurine version.

Numbers 21:2 In-Context

1 The Canaanite king of Arad, who was dwelling [in] the Negev, heard that Israel came [along] the way of Atharim; he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

2 Israel made a vow to Yahweh, and they said, "If you will surely give this people into our hand, then we {will destroy} their cities."

3 Yahweh heard the voice of Israel; he gave [to them] the Canaanites, and {they destroyed them} and their cities. They called the name of the place Hormah.

4 They set out from Mount Hor [by] the way of the {Red Sea} to go around the land of Edom; but {the people became impatient} along the way.

5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest [this] miserable food."

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "my"
• [b]. Hebrew "I"
• [c]. Literally "devote to God"