Numbers 20:21

21 Edom refused to allow Israel to cross his border. And 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 The Israelites said to him, "We'll go up by the road. If we drink from your water, either we or our livestock, we'll pay for it. It's a small matter. We would only ask to cross on foot."

20 But he said, "You won't cross." Then Edom came out against them with a powerful army and a strong hand.

21 Edom refused to allow Israel to cross his border. And Israel turned away from him.

22 They marched from Kadesh. The entire Israelite community came to Mount Hor.

23 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor on the border of the land of Edom: