Numbers 20:14
in Numbers 20From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
KJV
And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
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This verse in Numbers 20
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom,.... This country was sometimes governed by kings, and sometimes by "dukes", see Gen 36:14. At the time of the passage of the Israelites through the Red sea, we read of the dukes of Edom, Exo 15:15, and here, thirty nine years after, of a king of Edom, but who he was is not certain.
This site's exposition
Thus saith thy brother Israel
on Numbers 20:14-16
Moses addresses Edom as thy brother Israel, which reaches back to Esau and Jacob in Genesis 25 through 33, and Edom is asked as kin rather than as a neighbour. The message is a short history given to a stranger: the fathers went down into Egypt, the Egyptians vexed them, they cried and were heard, and an angel brought them out. Deuteronomy 2:4-5 supplies the other half of the case, that Israel was forbidden any of Edom's ground because it was given to Esau for a possession.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And in this there was a double plea:-- (1.) Israel had been abused by the Egyptians, and therefore ought to be pitied and succoured by their relations: " The Egyptians vexed us and our fathers, but we may hope our brethren the Edomites will not be so vexatious." (2.) Israel had been wonderfully saved by the Lord, and therefore ought to be countenanced and favoured (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
It is a great mercy, to have plenty of water; a mercy which if we found the want of, we should own the worth of. Before the Lord - Suddenly, rather than to die such a lingering death. Their sin was much greater than that of their parents, because they should have taken warning by their miscarriages, and by the terrible effects of them, which their eyes had seen.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Sent messengers - unto the king of Edom - Archbishop Usher supposes that the king now reigning in Edom was Hadar, mentioned Gen 36:39. Thus saith thy brother Israel - The Edomites were the descendants of Edom or Esau, the brother of Jacob or Israel, from whom the Israelites were descended.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Moses sent messengers . . . to the king of Edom--The encampment at Kadesh was on the confines of the Edomite territory, through which the Israelites would have had an easy passage across the Arabah by Wady-el-Ghuweir, so that they could have continued their course around Moab, and approached Palestine from the east [ROBERTS].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Compare the marginal reference. It appears from comparing Num 20:1 with Num 33:38, that the host must have remained in Kadesh some three or four months. No doubt time was required for re-organization. In order to gain the banks of Jordan by the shortest route they had to march nearly due east from Kadesh, and pass through the heart of the Edomite mountains. These are lofty and precipitous, traversed by two or three narrow defiles. Hence, the necessity of the request in Num 20:17. Thy brother - An appeal to the Edomites to remember and renew the old kindnesses of Jacob and Esau Gen. 33:1-17. It appears from Jdg 11:17 that a similar request was addressed to the Moabites.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Scripture did not mention the king’s name, because there was no necessity to do so. It did, however, mention Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, by name, because they were famous for their strength, and they had a name among. See II Samuel:18.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
AND HE WAS SANCTIFIED IN THEM — “in that Moses and Aaron died on account of them [i.e., the waters of Meribah ].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֧ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֛ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| מִקָּדֵ֖שׁ | mikadesh | from Kadesh | H6946 → | 18 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֱד֑וֹם | ʾedom | Edom | H123 → | 99 times |
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָחִ֣יךָ | ʾachikha | brother your | H251 → | 630 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יָדַ֔עְתָּ | yada'ta | you know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֵ֥ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַתְּלָאָ֖ה | hatelaah | the hardship | H8513 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מְצָאָֽתְנוּ׃ | metzaatenu | it has come upon us | H4672 → | 455 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַ֨חand he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
מֹשֶׁ֧הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
מַלְאָכִ֛יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
מִקָּדֵ֖שׁfrom Kadesh
mikadeshH6946 →18 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
אֱד֑וֹםEdom
ʾedomH123 →99 times
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אָחִ֣יךָbrother your
ʾachikhaH251 →630 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
יָדַ֔עְתָּyou know
yada'taH3045 →945 times
אֵ֥ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַתְּלָאָ֖הthe hardship
hatelaahH8513 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
מְצָאָֽתְנוּ׃it has come upon us
metzaatenuH4672 →455 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Malachi 1:2“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
- Isaiah 41:8–9
“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
- Deuteronomy 10:15
Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.
- Romans 9:10–13
Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac.
- Jeremiah 31:3
Through
Deuteronomy 23:7Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:21
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 10:19
So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Leviticus 19:34
You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
- Exodus 23:9
Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 22:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Numbers
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.