Numbers 21:2

2 And Israel voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, `If Thou dost certainly give this people into my hand, then I have devoted their cities;'

Numbers 21:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:2

And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord
The Israelites made supplication to the Lord for help against their enemies, and that he would give them victory over them, and made promises to him:

and said, if thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand;
certainly and entirely deliver them, so as that a complete victory shall be obtained over them:

then will I utterly destroy their cities;
or "anathematize", or devote them to utter destruction ^F15; slay man and beast, burn their houses and take their goods, not for a spoil, for their own private use, but reserve them for the service of God; all which is implied in the vow made, as was done to Jericho, ( Joshua 6:21 Joshua 6:24 ) and so it is a vow, as Abendana observes, of what they would do when they came to the land of Canaan.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (ytmrxhw) "et anathematisabo", Montanus; "devovebo", Tigurine version.

Numbers 21:2 In-Context

1 And the Canaanite -- king Arad -- dwelling in the south, heareth that Israel hath come the way of the Atharim, and he fighteth against Israel, and taketh [some] of them captive.

2 And Israel voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, `If Thou dost certainly give this people into my hand, then I have devoted their cities;'

3 and Jehovah hearkeneth to the voice of Israel, and giveth up the Canaanite, and he devoteth them and their cities, and calleth the name of the place Hormah.

4 And they journey from mount Hor, the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people is short in the way,

5 and the people speak against God, and against Moses, `Why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to die in a wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water, and our soul hath been weary of this light bread.'