Numbers 21:14
in Numbers 21Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, And the valleys of the Arnon,
KJV
Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
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This verse in Numbers 21
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe book of the wars of the Lord - There are endless conjectures about this book, both among ancients and moderns. Dr. Lightfoot’s opinion is the most simple, and to me bears the greatest appearance of being the true one. “This book seems to have been some book of remembrances and directions, written by Moses for Joshua’s private instruction for the management of the wars after him. See Exo 17:14-
This site's exposition
it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord
on Numbers 21:14-15
Scripture names a book here and does not preserve it, the book of the wars of the Lord, quoted for a few lines about the Red sea and the brooks of Arnon. Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18 cite the book of Jasher the same way, so the text quotes outside records in other places too. The quoted lines are compressed and the translators divide over them, some reading a string of place names and others a fragment of a war song, and the American Standard Version opens it as Vaheb in Suphah rather than what he did in the Red sea.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The brooks - The brook, the plural number for the singular, as the plural number rivers is used concerning Jordan, Psalm 7iv, 15, and concerning Tigris, Nahum ii, 6, and concerning Euphrates, Psalm 1xxxvii, 1, all which may be to called because of the several little streams into which they were divided.
It is well that there are more ways than one to Canaan. The enemies of God's people may retard their passage, but cannot prevent their entrance into the promised rest. Care is taken to let us know that the Israelites in their march religiously observed the orders which God gave them to use no hostility against the Moabites ( Deut. ii.
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Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
book of the wars of the Lord--A fragment or passage is here quoted from a poem or history of the wars of the Israelites, principally with a view to decide the position of Arnon.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Of “the book of the wars of the Lord” nothing is known except what may be gathered from the passage before us. It was apparently a collection of sacred odes commemorative of that triumphant progress of God’s people which this chapter records. From it is taken the ensuing fragment of ancient poetry relating to the passage of the Arnon River, and probably also the Song of the Well, and the Ode on the Conquest of the Kingdom of Sihon Num 21:17-18, Num 21:27-30. What he did ... - The words which follow to the end of the next verse are a reference rather than a quotation. Contemporaries who had “the Book” at hand, could supply the context. We can only conjecture the sense of the words; which in the original are grammatically incomplete. The marg. is adopted by many, and suggests a better sense: supplying some such verb as “conquered,” the words would run “He” (i. e. the Lord) “conquered Vaheb in Suphah, and the brooks, etc.” Suphah would thus be the name of a district remarkable for its reeds and water-flags in which Vaheb was situated.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The simple meaning of [the expression] in the book of the wars of the Eternal. Ibid.: Therefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Eternal.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Arnon was a city which belonged to Moab, [located] near the end of the Amorite border and the beginning of the border of Moab, and it was situated on brooks that flowed through it. 258 Verse: and Arnon among the brooks.
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. 6 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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּן֙ | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יֵֽאָמַ֔ר | yeamar | it is said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְּסֵ֖פֶר | besefer | in [the] book of | H5612 → | |
| מִלְחֲמֹ֣ת | milchamot | [the] wars of | H4421 → | 320 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וָהֵ֣ב | vahev | Waheb | H2052 → | |
| בְּסוּפָ֔ה | besufah | in Suphah | H5492 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנְּחָלִ֖ים | hanechalim | the wadis | H5158 → | 141 times |
| אַרְנֽוֹן׃ | ʾarnon | Arnon | H769 → | 25 times |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּן֙-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
יֵֽאָמַ֔רit is said
yeamarH559 →5305 times
בְּסֵ֖פֶרin [the] book of
beseferH5612 →
מִלְחֲמֹ֣ת[the] wars of
milchamotH4421 →320 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
וָהֵ֣בWaheb
vahevH2052 →
בְּסוּפָ֔הin Suphah
besufahH5492 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַנְּחָלִ֖יםthe wadis
hanechalimH5158 →141 times
אַרְנֽוֹן׃Arnon
ʾarnonH769 →25 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
Joshua 10:13So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of…
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:11
Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.
- Isaiah 38:8
I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
- Joshua 10:14
There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.
- Judges 16:28
Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my…
- 2 Samuel 1:18
and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:
- Habakkuk 3:11
Through
2 Samuel 1:18and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:
it leads to
- Joshua 10:13
So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of…
- Genesis 49:8
Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
- Deuteronomy 4:10
The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all…
- Joshua 10:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.