Numbers 20:19
in Numbers 20“We will stay on the main road,” the Israelites replied, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay for it. There will be no problem; only let us pass through on foot.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.
KJV
And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.
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This verse in Numbers 20
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd the children of Israel said unto him,.... The messengers sent by the children of Israel made answer to the king of Edom: we will go by the highway; we desire no other favour but that of the public road; we propose not to go through any part of the country that is enclosed and cultivated, to do any damage to it: if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it; as it was usual, and still is, to buy water in those countries near the Red sea, where it is scarce.
This site's exposition
Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country
on Numbers 20:17-19
The terms give away every advantage a passing army has. Israel keeps to the king's high way, leaves the fields and the vineyards and the wells alone, and turns neither to the right hand nor to the left. When Edom refuses, Israel raises the offer and promises to pay for water that the first message had already waived. Numbers 21:22 puts nearly the same request to Sihon, and that refusal ends in a battle while this one ends in a detour.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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 Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it--From the scarcity of water in the warm climates of the East, the practice of levying a tax for the use of the wells is universal; and the jealousy of the natives, in guarding the collected treasures of rain, is often so great that water cannot be procured for money.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָ֥יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֘ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בַּֽמְסִלָּ֣ה | bamsilah | on the highway | H4546 → | |
| נַעֲלֶה֒ | naaleh | we will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| מֵימֶ֤יךָ | meimeikha | waters your | H4325 → | 581 times |
| נִשְׁתֶּה֙ | nishteh | we will drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| וּמִקְנַ֔י | umiknai | and livestock my | H4735 → | 76 times |
| וְנָתַתִּ֖י | venatati | and I will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| מִכְרָ֑ם | mikhram | price their | H4377 → | |
| רַ֥ק | rak | only | H7535 → | |
| אֵין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| דָּבָ֖ר | davar | [is] a thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| בְּרַגְלַ֥י | beraglai | on feet my | H7272 → | 247 times |
| אֶֽעֱבֹֽרָה׃ | ʾeevorah | let me pass through | H5674 → | 556 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֨וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֵלָ֥יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֘לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בַּֽמְסִלָּ֣הon the highway
bamsilahH4546 →
נַעֲלֶה֒we will go up
naalehH5927 →890 times
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
מֵימֶ֤יךָwaters your
meimeikhaH4325 →581 times
נִשְׁתֶּה֙we will drink
nishtehH8354 →217 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
וּמִקְנַ֔יand livestock my
umiknaiH4735 →76 times
וְנָתַתִּ֖יand I will give
venatatiH5414 →2011 times
מִכְרָ֑םprice their
mikhramH4377 →
רַ֥קonly
rakH7535 →
אֵין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
דָּבָ֖ר[is] a thing
davarH1697 →1440 times
בְּרַגְלַ֥יon feet my
beraglaiH7272 →247 times
אֶֽעֱבֹֽרָה׃let me pass through
ʾeevorahH5674 →556 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Exodus 12:38And a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with great droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.
it leads to
- Numbers 11:4
Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- Zechariah 8:23
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for…
- Numbers 11:4
Through
Deuteronomy 2:6You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”
it leads to
- Romans 12:17
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
- Deuteronomy 2:28–29
You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,
- Matthew 7:12
In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:7–8
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,
- Romans 12:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Numbers
This page draws on 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.