Numbers 21:14

14 The Book of the Wars of God refers to this place: Waheb in Suphah, the canyons of Arnon;

Numbers 21:14 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:14

Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord
A history of wars in former times, which the Lord had suffered to be in the world; and which, as Aben Ezra thinks, reached from the times of Abraham and so might begin with the battle of the kings in his time, and take in others in later times, and particularly those of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and his conquests of some parts of Moab; and to this book, which might be written by some one of those nations, Moses refers in proof of what he here says:

what he did in the Red sea;
that is, what Sihon king of the Amorites did, or the Lord by him, "at Vaheb in Suphah", as the words may be rendered; either against a king, or rather city, of Moab, whose name was Vaheb, in the borders of the land of Moab, or how he destroyed that city Vaheb with a storm or terrible assault F12:

and in the brooks of Arnon:
some places situated on the streams of that river, which were taken by the Amorites from the Moabites, as the book quoted plainly testified.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Vid. L'Empereur. Not. in Mosis Kimchi (odoiporia) p. 195.

Numbers 21:14 In-Context

12 They went from there and pitched camp in the Zered Valley.
13 Their next camp was alongside the Arnon River, which marks the border between Amorite country and Moab.
14 The Book of the Wars of God refers to this place: Waheb in Suphah, the canyons of Arnon;
15 Along the canyon ravines that lead to the village Ar And lean hard against the border of Moab.
16 They went on to Beer (The Well), where God said to Moses, "Gather the people; I'll give them water."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.