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Numbers 21:1

in Numbers 21

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.

KJV

And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

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This verse in Numbers 21

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
King Arad the Canaanite - Rather, “the Canaanite, the king of Arad.” Arad stood on a small hill, now called Tel-Arad, 20 miles south of Hebron. In the south - See Num 13:17, Num 13:22. By the way of the spies - i. e. through the desert of Zin, the route which the spies sent out by Moses 38 years before had adopted (compare Num 13:21). He fought against Israel - This attack (compare Num 20:1 and note), can hardly have taken place after the death of Aaron.

This site's exposition

king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south

on Numbers 21:1-3

Israel vows before the battle and the terms are destruction of the cities rather than plunder. The place is called Hormah, a name Numbers 14:45 had already used for the ground where the fathers were driven back after going up without leave, and Judges 1:17 records the name being given again by Judah and Simeon. Keil and Delitzsch read 14:45 as using the later name in advance, and the three passages stand in the text as they are written.

The record, by era

The Reformation1 voice

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

Some think that he was an Amalekite, but this error is refuted by the fact that the Amalekites had already attempted in vain to interrupt the journey of the people. Nor is it credible that after so great a slaughter, they would have endeavored to do so again, especially since their territories remained untouched.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

King Arad - Or rather, the Canaanite King of Arad: for Arad is not the name of a man, but of a city or territory. And he seems to be called a Canaanite in a general sense, as the Amorites and others.
And when King Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This, no doubt, puffed him up, and he began to thin that he should have the honour of crushing this formidable body, and saving his country from the ruin which it threatened. It was likewise a trial to the faith of the Israelites and a check to them for their distrusts and discontents.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The Septuagint and others consider the Hebrew word "spies" a proper name, and render it: "Came by the way of Atharim towards Arad" [KENNICOTT]. he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners--This discomfiture was permitted to teach them to expect the conquest of Canaan not from their own wisdom and valor, but solely from the favor and help of God (De 9:4;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

OUR text is a long one, but we must have it all in order to get the sense of the passage, so as to contrast the two wilderness incidents which are here mentioned and to learn how we may use them to our own spiritual profit. I. So, in the first place, LET US CONTRAST THESE TWO WILDERNESS INCIDENTS. First of all, let us examine the details of the first incident. We learn, from this part of the narrative, that the children of Israel were in real danger.
OUR text is a long one, but we must have it all in order to get the sense of the passage, so as to contrast the two wilderness incidents which are here mentioned and to learn how we may use them to our own spiritual profit. I. So, in the first place, LET US CONTRAST THESE TWO WILDERNESS INCIDENTS. First of all, let us examine the details of the first incident. We learn, from this part of the narrative, that the children of Israel were in real danger. They were attacked by a ferocious foe who, being probably aware that he was doomed to destruction, determined to anticipate the contest by fighting against the Israelites while they were unprepared, and so injuring them as much as he could. Arad appears to have been a king of some considerable power and his skill in warfare is proved by the fact that he was at least partially successful against the Israelites, for he, "took some of them prisoners." So that the people were in real danger. And have you not noticed, dear Friends, that God's people often behave best when they are in their worst case? Usually, when they are in imminent peril, they cry to their God to deliver them, and so they soon obtain relief—but when they make trouble for themselves by a willful fretfulness of spirit—then it is that they lose their confidence in God and, instead of playing the man, they play the fool! You must have noticed how often accidents happen to people when they are engaged in play rather than when they are at work. I always warn our friends to be especially careful when they are leaving for a holiday, for I have observed how frequently they come back with signs of having suffered injuries of one kind or another, though they have been perfectly well while occupied with their usual avocations. It is very much the same in spiritual things.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The way of the spies - אתרים atharim. Some think that this signifies the way that the spies took when they went to search the land. But this is impossible, as Dr. Kennicott justly remarks, because Israel had now marched from Meribah-Kadesh to Mount Hor, beyond Ezion-Gaber, and were turning round Edom to the south-east; and therefore the word is to be understood here as the name of a place.

The words behind it

16 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.

  • וַיִּשְׁמַ֞עand he heard

    vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times

  • הַכְּנַעֲנִ֤יthe Canaanite

    hakenaaniH3669 →73 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • עֲרָד֙Arad

    ʾaradH6166 →

  • יֹשֵׁ֣ב[who] dwelt

    yoshevH3427 →1079 times

  • הַנֶּ֔גֶבthe Negev

    hanegevH5045 →112 times

  • כִּ֚יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • בָּ֣אit had come

    ba'H935 →2568 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • דֶּ֖רֶךְ[the] way of

    derekhH1870 →707 times

  • הָאֲתָרִ֑יםthe Atharim

    haatarimH871 →

  • וַיִּלָּ֙חֶם֙and he engaged in battle

    vaiyilachemH3898 →177 times

  • בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לagainst Israel

    beyisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וַיִּ֥שְׁבְּ׀and he took captive

    vaiyishbH7617 →47 times

  • מִמֶּ֖נּוּsome of it

    mimenuH4480 →1188 times

  • שֶֽׁבִי׃captive[s]

    sheviH7628 →49 times

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

Related verses

10 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 33:40Now the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.5 worksJudges 1:16Now 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 among the people.5 worksJoshua 12:14the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;4 worksJoshua 7:5And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.2 worksDeuteronomy 2:32So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.2 worksJoshua 11:19–20No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; all others were taken in battle.2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Numbers 14:45Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.2 worksPsalms 44:3–4For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.2 worksNumbers 13:21–22So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.2 worksNumbers 20:17Please 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.”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

    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…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 10:29–32

      Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us,…

    • Judges 4:11

      Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

    • 1 Samuel 15:6

      And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away…

    • Deuteronomy 34:3

      the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.

    • Judges 3:13

      After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.

  • Through

    Joshua 7:5

    And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 2:11

      When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

    • Joshua 2:9

      and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting…

    • Leviticus 26:36

      As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Bronze Serpent — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Bronze Serpent — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 21 →
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3214: “Two Wilderness Incidents” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; 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 21 →