Numbers 21:8-18

8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”

9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

The Journey to Moab

10 The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.

11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the sunrise.

12 From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.

13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says: “. . . Zahab^[a] in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon

15 and^[b] the slopes of the ravines that lead to the settlement of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”

16 From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing about it,

18 about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank— the nobles with scepters and staffs.” Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah,

Numbers 21:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 21

This chapter gives an account of the defeat of King Arad, the Canaanite, Nu 21:1-3 of the murmurings of the children of Israel, because of difficulties in travelling round, the land of Edom, for which they were punished with fiery serpents, Nu 21:4-6 and how that upon their repentance a brazen serpent was ordered to be made, and to be erected on a pole, that whoever looked to it might live, Nu 21:7-9 and of the several journeys and stations of the children of Israel, until they came to the land of the Amorites, Nu 21:10-20, when they sent a message to Sihon their king, to desire him to grant them a passage through his country; but he refusing, they fought with him, smote him, and possessed his land, concerning which many proverbial sayings were used, Nu 21:21-32 and the chapter is concluded with the defeat of Og, king of Bashan, Nu 21:33-35.

Cross References

• 1. John 3:14
• 2. 2 Kings 18:4
• 3. John 3:14-15
• 4. Numbers 33:43
• 5. S Genesis 36:35; Numbers 33:44; Deuteronomy 34:8; Jeremiah 40:11
• 6. Deuteronomy 2:13,14
• 7. Numbers 22:36; Deuteronomy 2:24; Joshua 12:1; Judges 11:13,18; 2 Kings 10:33; Isaiah 16:2; Jeremiah 48:20
• 8. S Genesis 10:16
• 9. 1 Samuel 17:47; 1 Samuel 18:17; 1 Samuel 25:28
• 10. ver 28; Deuteronomy 2:9,18; Isaiah 15:1
• 11. Numbers 25:1; Numbers 33:49; Judges 9:21; Isaiah 15:8
• 12. S Exodus 15:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Septuagint; Hebrew "Waheb"
• [b]. Or "“I have been given from Suphah and the ravines" / "of the Arnon " 15"to"