Kenaanite defeated at Hormah
21:1 The melekh Arad, the Kenaanite, who dwelt in the negev, heard that Yisrael was coming on the road to Atharim (spy). Then he fought against Yisrael and took some of them prisoners.
21:2 And Yisrael nadar a neder (vow) to ADONAI (יהוה), and said, If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
21:3 And ADONAI (יהוה) listened to the voice of Yisrael, and delivered up the Kenaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
21:4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Yam Suf, to compass the land of Edom: and the nefesh of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
21:5 And the people spoke against Elohim (אלהים) and against Moshe:
"Why have you brought us up out of Mitzrayim to die in the wilderness?
For there is no food and no water, and our nefesh loathes this worthless bread."
21:6 (LY:vi)
Vayeshalakh ADONAI baam et ha nekhashim haserafim vayenashkhu et-haam vayamat am-rav miYisrael:
And ADONAI (יהוה) sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Yisrael died.
21:7 Therefore the people came to Moshe, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against ADONAI (יהוה) and against you; pray to ADONAI (יהוה) that He take away the serpents from us." So Moshe prayed for the people.
21:8 And ADONAI (יהוה) said toMosheh:
Vayomer ADONAI el-Moshe aseh lekha saraf vesim oto al-nes vehaya kol-hanashukh veraah oto vakhai:
Make you a fiery serpents, and set it upon a signal staff : and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.
Vayaas Moshe nekhash nekhoshet vayesimehu al-hanes vehaya im-nashakh hanakhash et-ish vehibit el-nekhash hanekhoshet vakhai:
And Moshe made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a signal-staff, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Yisrael moves to the east of the Yarden
from Mount Hor to Moav
21:10 And the benai Yisrael set forward, and pitched in O Vot.
21:11 And they journeyed from O Vot, and pitched at Iyei-HaAvarim (עיּי העברים), in the midbar which [is] before Moav, toward the sunrising.
21:12 From there they moved and camped in the Valley of Zared.
21:13 From there they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which [is] in the midbar that comes out of the coasts of the Emorites: for Arnon [is] the border of Mo'av, between Moav and the Emorites.
21:14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of ADONAI (יהוה), What he did in the Yam Suf, and in the brooks of Arnon,
21:15 And at the stream of the brooks that goes down to the dwelling of Ar, and lies upon the border of Moav.
21:16 And from there [they went] to Beer: that [is] the well whereof ADONAI (יהוה) spoke to Moshe, Gather the people together, and I will give them mayim.
21:17 Then Yisrael sang this sirah (song),
Spring up, O well; sing you to it:
21:18 The sarim digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by [the direction of] the chakak (lawgiver, scepter), with their staves. And from the midbar [they went] to Matanah:
21:19 And from Matanah to Nahaliel (torrent of El): and from Nahaliel to Bamot (high places):
21:20 And from Bamot [in] the valley, that [is] in the country of Moav (of his father), to the top of Pisgah (Cleft), which looks toward Yeshimon (Desolate place).
And Yisrael sent messengers to Sihon melekh the Emorites, saying,
21:22 Let me pass through your land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink [of] the mayim of the well: [but] we will go along by the king's [high] way, until we be past your borders.
21:23 And Sihon would not suffer Yisrael to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Yisrael into the midbar: and he came to Yahaz, and fought against Yisrael.
21:24 And Yisrael smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon to Yabbok, even to the benai Ammon: for the border of the benai Ammon [was] strong.
21:25 And Yisrael took all these cities: and Yisrael dwelt in all the cities of the Emorites, in Heshvon, and in all the villages thereof.
21:26 For Heshvon was the city of Sihon king of the Emorites, who had fought against the former king of Moav, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon.
Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say:
Come into Heshvon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:
For there is a fire gone out of Heshvon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it has consumed Ar of Moav, [and] the lords of the high places of Arnon.
Woe to you, Moav! you are undone, O people of Chemosh: he has given his banim that escaped, and his banot, into captivity to Sihon melekh the Emorites.
We have shot at them; Heshvonis perished even to Divon, and we have laid them waste even to Nophah, which [reacheth] to Medeva.
21:31 Thus Yisrael dwelt in the land of the Emorites.
21:32 And Moshe sent to spy out Yaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Emorites that [were] there.
21:33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the melekh Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.
And ADONAI (יהוה) said to Moshe, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you didst to Sihon melekh the Emorites, which dwelt at Heshvon.
21:35 So they smote him, and his banim, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.
King of Og - King of Bashan,a cake; breadd baked in ashes, ("gigantic"; Hebrew: עוֹגֿ, Arabic: عوج, ) according to the Bible, was an Amorite king of Bashan who, along with his army, was slain by Moshe and his men at the battle of Edrei. In Islamic folklore he is referred to as ‘Uj ibn Anaq (‘Ûj ibn ‘Anâq عوج بن عنق), one of the giants mentioned in the Qur'an (jababirat or jabbirun). an Emorite nation situated on the northern edge of the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Killed in battle by the Israelites shortly before Moshe’ death. According to the Midrash, he was a giant who survived the Flood. The Talmud, Niddah 61a, explains that Og (who was a giant, and one of their descendants) survived the great flood by holding onto Noah’s ark and staying close to it.
Who’s Afraid of Big Bad Og?The Amorites, The Adites, The Andites, The Atlanteans
21:8 - In Septuagint
as signal Staff, Pole,
Nes, standard, signal staff - It
refers to a symbol or sign representing a cause, a person, Elohim: a standard,
a representation of ADONAI (Shemot 17:15); and the Name of an altar dedicated
to ADONAI. It indicates a pole on which to display something (Bamidbar 21:8-9).
It signifies a sign representing Tzyon (Yeshayahu 31:9; Yemiryahu 4:6); or a
tragedy that could serve as a nes, a warning
or a sign (Bamidbar 26:10). It indicates
a flag or a symbol to rally around (Shemot 17:15; Yeshayahu 18:3). The Root
of Yishai will stand as an ensign, a signal for the people (Yeshayahu 11:10).
Memorial
object turn into idolatry
This
picture was taken when I was at mount Nebo it is a replica of the original
which was in the days of Hezekiah because the serpent later became a stumbling
block to the nation and was finally destroyed in the days of Chizkiyah Ben
Achaz Melech Yehudah (2Ki_18:4).
2 Melekhim 18:3 And he did what was right in the sight of Adonay, according to all that his father David had done.
2 Melekhim18:4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made; for until those days the Benai Yisrael burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.
2 Melekhim 18:5 Chizkiyah trusted in Adonay Elohim of Yisrael, so that after him was none like him among all the melekhim Yehudah, nor who were before him.
2 Melekhim 18:6 For Chizkiyah held fast to Adonay; Chizkiyah did not depart from following Him, but kept His mitzvot, which Adonay had commanded Moshe.
The Nehushtan ( Hebrew: נחושתן or נחש הנחושת) literally meaning a bronze thing or piece of brass. it was the name of the *copper serpent which Melekh Chizkiyah broke into pieces (II Kings 18:4). its serpentine shape (nahash) as well as the material (nehoshet). Since the smashing of the copper serpent parallels the shattering of the pillars and the cutting down of the Asherah, it was probably located in the Temple court in Yerushalayim. Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age: archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: It was thus one of the cultic symbols of the people who assembled in the Temple courts.
Mattanah - mat'-a-na (mattanah; Codex Vaticanus, Manthanaein; Codex Alexandrinus, Manthanein): A station of the Israelites which seems to have lain between Beer and Nahaliel (vs 21:18 f). The name means "gift," and might not inappropriately be applied to a well in the wilderness (Budde translates "Out of the desert a gift"; see The Expository Times, VI, 482). Some would therefore identify it with Beer. This is improbable. There is now no clue to the place, but it must have lain Southwest of the Dead Sea.
see Archeology Map of Exodus Route
This song begins with a recital of the earlier victory of Emorites over the people of Moav and their Elohim chemosh. After defeating Sihon and Emorites, Yisrael became a formidable threat to Moav
Heshbon. The modern site of Tell-Heshban 10 mi (16 km) southwest of Amman
is located nearly fifty miles directly east of Yerushalayim. However, archaeologists
have not been able to detect any evidence that this site was settled prior to
1200 B.C. Sihon’s
answer was to muster his army and march out from his capital at Heshvon
and engage Yisrael at Jahaz. Scripture gave an account that Yisrael defeated the army of Sihon and took
over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok (Bamidbar 21:23–26; Devarim 2:30–36; Softim
11:20–22)
