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Numbers 20:17

in Numbers 20

Please let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells; we will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border.

KJV

Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

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This verse in Numbers 20

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

We will go by the king’s high-way - This is the first time this phrase occurs; it appears to have been a public road made by the king’s authority at the expense of the state.

This site's exposition

Please let us pass through your land

on Numbers 20:17-19

The terms give away every advantage a passing army has: the King’s Highway, no field or vineyard, not to the right or to the left. When Edom refuses, Israel offers to pay for water the first message had waived.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Gregory of Nazianzus

ORATION 2 (IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS) 34 · Written before 390.

proposed

So in the case of one of us, if he leans to either side, whether from vice or ignorance, no slight danger of a fall into sin from vice or ignorance, no slight danger of a fall into sin is incurred, both for himself and those who are led by him. But we must really walk in the king's highway and take care not to turn aside from it either to the right hand or to the left, as the Proverbs say.

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

The wells - Or, pits, which any of you have digged for your private use, not without paying for it, ver. 19, but only of the waters of common rivers, which are free to all passengers. No man's property ought to be invaded, under colour of religion. Dominion is founded in providence, not in Grace.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

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.
Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country,....
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The engineering necessary for carrying them over marshes or mountains, and the care requisite for protecting them from the shifting sands, led to their being under the special care of the state. Hence the expression, "the king's highway," which is of great antiquity.

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • נַעְבְּרָה־let us pass

    na'berah-H5674 →556 times

  • נָּ֣אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • בְאַרְצֶ֗ךָin land your

    veartzekhaH776 →2504 times

  • לֹ֤אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • נַעֲבֹר֙we will pass

    naavorH5674 →556 times

  • בְּשָׂדֶ֣הin a field

    besadehH7704 →334 times

  • וּבְכֶ֔רֶםand in a vineyard

    uvekheremH3754 →92 times

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • נִשְׁתֶּ֖הwe will drink

    nishtehH8354 →217 times

  • מֵ֣יwater of

    meiH4325 →581 times

  • בְאֵ֑רa well

    veerH875 →38 times

  • דֶּ֧רֶךְ[the] way of

    derekhH1870 →707 times

  • הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • נֵלֵ֗ךְwe will go

    nelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • לֹ֤אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • נִטֶּה֙we will turn aside

    nitehH5186 →214 times

  • יָמִ֣יןright

    yaminH3225 →140 times

  • וּשְׂמֹ֔אולand left

    usemolH8040 →

  • עַ֥דuntil

    ʾadH5704 →1261 times

  • אֲשֶֽׁר־that

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • נַעֲבֹ֖רwe will pass through

    naavorH5674 →556 times

  • גְּבוּלֶֽךָ׃territory your

    gevulekhaH1366 →240 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 21:22“Let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”5 worksDeuteronomy 2:27“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.3 worksNumbers 21:1When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some prisoners.2 worksDeuteronomy 2:29just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”2 worksDeuteronomy 2:1–4Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.2 works2 Samuel 14:19So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 24:49Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; but if not, let me know, so that I may go elsewhere.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Numbers 21:1

    When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some prisoners.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 33:40

      Now the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

    • Judges 1:16

      Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live…

    • Joshua 12:14

      the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 2:27

    “Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.

    it leads to

    • Judges 11:19

      And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 2:29

    just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 20:18

      But Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

    • Deuteronomy 23:3–4

      No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.

    • Judges 11:17–18

      Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab,…

    • Deuteronomy 4:21

      The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you…

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 20 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Gregory of Nazianzus, ORATION 2 (IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS) 34; 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.

Read on in Numbers 20 →