Numbers 21:13

13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

Numbers 21:13 in Other Translations

KJV
13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
ESV
13 From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
NLT
13 Then they moved out and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness adjacent to the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites.
MSG
13 Their next camp was alongside the Arnon River, which marks the border between Amorite country and Moab.
CSB
13 They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon [River], in the wilderness that extends from the Amorite border, because the Arnon was the Moabite border between Moab and the Amorites.

Numbers 21:13 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:13

From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of
Arnon
A river on the borders of Moab:

which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the
Amorites;
according to Jarchi, they went round the land of Moab, all to the south and east, and came not into the border of Moab, as Jephthah said, ( Judges 11:18 ) but before they came hither they had a station at Almondiblathaim, ( Numbers 33:46 Numbers 33:47 )

for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites;
a river which divided these two countries, and bounded them; and Moses is the more particular in this account, to show that the Israelites took nothing from the Moabites, but what the Amorites had taken from them, they being charged not to distress the Moabites and Ammonites, ( Deuteronomy 2:9 Deuteronomy 2:19 ) , see Jephthah's defence, ( Judges 11:15-27 ) .

Numbers 21:13 In-Context

11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the sunrise.
12 From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.
13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says: “. . . Zahab in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon
15 and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the settlement of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”

Cross References 2

  • 1. Numbers 22:36; Deuteronomy 2:24; Joshua 12:1; Judges 11:13,18; 2 Kings 10:33; Isaiah 16:2; Jeremiah 48:20
  • 2. S Genesis 10:16
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