Mínshùjì 20:17

17 Qiú nǐ róng wǒmen cóng nǐde dì jīngguò . wǒmen bú zǒu tiánjiān hé pútaóyuán , yĕ bú hē jǐng lǐ de shuǐ , zhǐ zǒu dà dào ( yuánwén zuò wáng dào ) , bú piān zuǒyòu , zhídào guō le nǐde jìngjiè .

Mínshùjì 20:17 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 20:17

Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country
That being the nearest and shortest way to the land of Canaan, from the place where they now were:

we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards;
to harm them, and injure any man in his private property, by gathering the fruit of them, if the season of the year for it, or by trampling them down:

neither will we drink of the water of the wells;
which private persons had dug, for the watering of their fields and vineyards, and for other uses, at least without paying for it; or only of the waters of the rivers, common to all passengers; from hence it appears, that the country of Edom was not then such a barren country as in later times, and as travellers ^F3 now report it is; (See Gill on Malachi 1:3)

we will go by the king's highway;
not the way in which the king used to walk, or which he should order them to walk in, as Aben Ezra; but the public roads, common to all his subjects, and travellers to walk in by his allowance; and such roads are now called by us the king's highway:

we will not turn to the right hand, or to the left;
to do any injury to any person's property, but go straight forward:

until we have passed thy borders;
from one to another, and got quite through the country.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 See Shaw's Travels, 4. 438. Ed. 2.

Mínshùjì 20:17 In-Context

15 Jiù shì wǒmen de lièzǔ xià dào Āijí , wǒmen zaì Āijí jiǔ zhù . Āijí rén è daì wǒmen de lièzǔ hé wǒmen ,

16 Wǒmen āi qiú Yēhéhuá de shíhou , tā tīng le wǒmen de shēngyīn , chāiqiǎn shǐzhĕ bǎ wǒmen cóng Āijí lǐng chūlai . zhè shì nǐ dōu zhīdào . rújīn , wǒmen zaì nǐ biānjiè shàng de chéng Jiādīsī .

17 Qiú nǐ róng wǒmen cóng nǐde dì jīngguò . wǒmen bú zǒu tiánjiān hé pútaóyuán , yĕ bú hē jǐng lǐ de shuǐ , zhǐ zǒu dà dào ( yuánwén zuò wáng dào ) , bú piān zuǒyòu , zhídào guō le nǐde jìngjiè .

18 Yǐdōng wáng shuō , nǐ bùkĕ cóng wǒde dì jīngguò , miǎndé wǒ daì dāo chū qù gōngjī nǐ .

19 Yǐsèliè rén shuō , wǒmen yào zǒu dà dào shàng qù . wǒmen hé shēngchù ruò hē nǐde shuǐ , bì gĕi nǐ jiàzhí . bú qiú biéde , zhǐ qiú nǐ róng wǒmen bùxíng guō qù .