Numbers 22:1

1 And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab, over against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.

Numbers 22:1 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:1

And the children of Israel set forward
From the country of Bashan, where we read of them last, after they had conquered Og the king of it, and also Sihon king of the Amorites, and settled some of their tribes in both kingdoms; the particular place from whence they came hither, according to the account of their journeys, were the mountains of Abarim, ( Numbers 33:48 ) :

and pitched in the plains of Moab
the part of them they encamped in reached from Bethjesimoth to Abelshittim, ( Numbers 33:49 ) ,

on this side Jordan by Jericho;
or Jordan of Jericho, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; a river that flowed near to Jericho, running between the plains of Moab and the plains of Jericho; according to Josephus ^F21 it was sixty furlongs, or seven miles and a half from Jericho; but, according to Jerome ^F23, it was but five miles: or rather, as some versions render it, "over against Jericho" ^F24; for Jericho was on the other side of the river Jordan, and the plains of Moab, or that part of them where Israel now pitched, were right against that city; and so Josephus says ^F25.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4.
F23 De locis Heb. fol. 87. G.
F24 (kata iericw) Sept. "ex opposito Heiricho", Tigurine version.
F25 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 1.

Numbers 22:1 In-Context

1 And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab, over against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.

2 And Balac the son of Sephor, seeing all that Israel had done to the Amorrhite,

3 And that the Moabites were in great fear of him, and were not able to sustain his assault,

4 He said to the elders of Madian: So will this people destroy all that dwell in our borders, as the ox is wont to eat the grass to the very roots. Now he was at that time king in Moab.

5 He sent therefore messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, a soothsayer, who dwelt by the river of the land of the children of Ammon, to call him, and to say: Behold a people is come out of Egypt, that hath covered the face of the earth, sitting over against me.