Números 20:17

17 Por favor, permítenos atravesar tu territorio. Tendremos cuidado de no pasar por tus campos y viñedos, ni siquiera beberemos el agua de tus pozos. Seguiremos derecho por el camino real, sin desviarnos hasta que hayamos atravesado tu territorio».

Números 20:17 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 20:17

Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country
That being the nearest and shortest way to the land of Canaan, from the place where they now were:

we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards;
to harm them, and injure any man in his private property, by gathering the fruit of them, if the season of the year for it, or by trampling them down:

neither will we drink of the water of the wells;
which private persons had dug, for the watering of their fields and vineyards, and for other uses, at least without paying for it; or only of the waters of the rivers, common to all passengers; from hence it appears, that the country of Edom was not then such a barren country as in later times, and as travellers ^F3 now report it is; (See Gill on Malachi 1:3)

we will go by the king's highway;
not the way in which the king used to walk, or which he should order them to walk in, as Aben Ezra; but the public roads, common to all his subjects, and travellers to walk in by his allowance; and such roads are now called by us the king's highway:

we will not turn to the right hand, or to the left;
to do any injury to any person's property, but go straight forward:

until we have passed thy borders;
from one to another, and got quite through the country.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F3 See Shaw's Travels, 4. 438. Ed. 2.

Números 20:17 In-Context

15 Nuestros antepasados bajaron a Egipto y allí vivimos un largo tiempo. Los egipcios nos maltrataron brutalmente, tanto a nosotros como a nuestros antepasados;

16 pero cuando clamamos al Señor
, él nos oyó y envió a un ángel que nos sacó de Egipto. Ahora estamos acampando en Cades, la ciudad en la frontera de tu territorio.

17 Por favor, permítenos atravesar tu territorio. Tendremos cuidado de no pasar por tus campos y viñedos, ni siquiera beberemos el agua de tus pozos. Seguiremos derecho por el camino real, sin desviarnos hasta que hayamos atravesado tu territorio».

18 Sin embargo, el rey de Edom dijo: «¡Quédense fuera de mi territorio o saldré a su encuentro con mi ejército!».

19 Entonces los israelitas le contestaron: «Nos mantendremos en el camino principal. Si nuestros animales beben de tu agua, te la pagaremos. Solo permítenos atravesar tu territorio; es todo lo que pedimos».