Numbers 21:14

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

Numbers 21:14 in Other Translations

KJV
14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
ESV
14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, "Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,
NLT
14 For this reason speaks of “the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines of the Arnon River,
MSG
14 The Book of the Wars of God refers to this place: Waheb in Suphah, the canyons of Arnon;
CSB
14 Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Lord's Wars: Waheb in Suphah and the ravines of the 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 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 in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon
15 and 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.”

Cross References 1

  • 1. 1 Samuel 17:47; 1 Samuel 18:17; 1 Samuel 25:28

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Septuagint; Hebrew "Waheb"
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