Bamidbar 20:21

21 Thus Edom refused to give Yisroel passage through his border; wherefore Yisroel turned away from him.

Bamidbar 20:21 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his country,
&c.] Notwithstanding their near relation to each other, and the fair promises Israel made:

wherefore Israel turned away from him:
patiently bearing the refusal, and not resenting it; being ordered, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, by the Word of heaven, not to make war with them, because the time was not yet come to take vengeance on Edom by their hands; and to the same purpose the Targum of Jerusalem.

Bamidbar 20:21 In-Context

19 And the Bnei Yisroel said unto him, We will go by the main road; and if I and my livestock drink of thy mayim, then I will pay for it; I will only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.

20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with a large army, and with a yad chazakah.

21 Thus Edom refused to give Yisroel passage through his border; wherefore Yisroel turned away from him.

22 And the Bnei Yisroel, even Kol HaEdah, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto Mt Hor.

23 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe and Aharon in Mt Hor, by the border of Eretz Edom, saying,