Numbers 20:21

21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so 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 So the children of Israel said to him, "We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more."

20 Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.

21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

22 Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: