Numbers 21:27

27 Therefore it is said in proverb, Come ye into Heshbon, be it builded (again), and (re)made, the city of Sihon; (And so it is said in a proverb, Come ye into Heshbon, let Sihon's city be rebuilt, and be remade;)

Numbers 21:27 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:27

Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say
The historical writers of those times, among the Amorites, who were usually poets, and wrote the history of the wars between the Moabites and Amorites in verse; as Homer among the Greeks wrote the wars of Troy; and the compositions of those ancient bards were short and compendious, and wrapped up in proverbial sayings, and enigmatical and figurative expressions, that they might be the better retained in memory, and therefore were called proverbialists. Jarchi says, they were Balaam and Beor that took up their parables, and said,

come into Heshbon;
which words are the beginning of the song, and in which the Amorites are represented as inviting Sihon, and his nobles, to enter Heshbon, which he had taken, and make it his royal seat; or as encouraging one another to go into it and repair it, having suffered much at the taking of it, which seems to be confirmed by what follows:

let the city of Sihon be built and prepared;
that is, let us set about rebuilding of the city, and let us fit it up for Sihon our king, and let it be called his city, and made the place of his residence, his palace, and where his court may be kept.

Numbers 21:27 In-Context

25 Therefore Israel took all his cities, and dwelled in the cities of Amorites, that is, in Heshbon, and in his towns. (And so the Israelites took all the cities of the Amorites, and lived in them, that is, in Heshbon, and its towns.)

26 The city of Heshbon was Sihon's, king of Amorites, which Sihon fought against the king of Moab, and took all the land that was of his lordship, till to (the) Arnon. (The city of Heshbon was Sihon's, the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the king of Moab, and had taken all the land that was under his rule, unto the Arnon River.)

27 Therefore it is said in proverb, Come ye into Heshbon, be it builded (again), and (re)made, the city of Sihon; (And so it is said in a proverb, Come ye into Heshbon, let Sihon's city be rebuilt, and be remade;)

28 fire went out of Heshbon, flame went out of the city of Sihon, and devoured (the city of) Ar of (the) Moabites, and the dwellers of the high places of (the) Arnon (and the inhabitants of the high places of the Arnon River).

29 Moab, woe to thee! thou, people of Chemosh, hast perished; it gave the sons thereof into flight, and the daughters into captivity to Sihon, king of Amorites; (Moab, woe to thee! O people of Chemosh, now ye have perished; thy god hath given his sons into flight, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon, the king of the Amorites;)