Numbers 21:2

2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, "If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."

Numbers 21:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:2

And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord
The Israelites made supplication to the Lord for help against their enemies, and that he would give them victory over them, and made promises to him:

and said, if thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand;
certainly and entirely deliver them, so as that a complete victory shall be obtained over them:

then will I utterly destroy their cities;
or "anathematize", or devote them to utter destruction ^F15; slay man and beast, burn their houses and take their goods, not for a spoil, for their own private use, but reserve them for the service of God; all which is implied in the vow made, as was done to Jericho, ( Joshua 6:21 Joshua 6:24 ) and so it is a vow, as Abendana observes, of what they would do when they came to the land of Canaan.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (ytmrxhw) "et anathematisabo", Montanus; "devovebo", Tigurine version.

Numbers 21:2 In-Context

1 And when King Arad the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies, then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners.

2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, "If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."

3 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. And he called the name of the place Hormah [that is, Utter Destruction].

4 And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread."