Numbers 20:21

21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Therefore Israel turned away from him.

Numbers 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.

Numbers 20:21 In-Context

19 And the children of Israel said unto him, "We will go by the highway; and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet."

20 And he said, "Thou shalt not go through." And Edom came out against him with many people and with a strong hand.

21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Therefore Israel turned away from him.

22 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came unto Mount Hor.

23 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,