Numbers 21:15
in Numbers 21even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the slope of the valleys That inclineth toward the dwelling of Ar, And leaneth upon the border of Moab.
KJV
And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.
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This verse in Numbers 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
To the dwelling of Ar - Ar (compare Num 21:28; Isa 15:1) was on the bank of the Arnon, lower down the stream than where the Israelites crossed. Near the spot where the upper Arnon receives the tributary Nahaliel Num 21:19, there rises, in the midst of the meadow-land between the two torrents, a hill covered with the ruins of the ancient city (Jos 13:9, Jos 13:16; compare Deu 2:36).
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 Awakening2 voices
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶ֙שֶׁד֙ | veeshed | and [the] slope of | H793 → | |
| הַנְּחָלִ֔ים | hanechalim | the wadis | H5158 → | 141 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָטָ֖ה | natah | it extends | H5186 → | 214 times |
| לְשֶׁ֣בֶת | leshevet | to [the] dwelling of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עָ֑ר | ʾar | Ar | H6144 → | |
| וְנִשְׁעַ֖ן | venishan | and it leans | H8172 → | |
| לִגְב֥וּל | ligvul | to [the] border of | H1366 → | 240 times |
| מוֹאָֽב׃ | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
וְאֶ֙שֶׁד֙and [the] slope of
veeshedH793 →
הַנְּחָלִ֔יםthe wadis
hanechalimH5158 →141 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נָטָ֖הit extends
natahH5186 →214 times
לְשֶׁ֣בֶתto [the] dwelling of
leshevetH3427 →1079 times
עָ֑רAr
ʾarH6144 →
וְנִשְׁעַ֖ןand it leans
venishanH8172 →
לִגְב֥וּלto [the] border of
ligvulH1366 →240 times
מוֹאָֽב׃Moab
moavH4124 →181 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
Isaiah 15:1This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
it leads to
- Numbers 21:28
For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 2:1–3
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
- Jeremiah 48:1–47
Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and…
- Ezekiel 25:8–11
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,”
- Isaiah 11:14
They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west; together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will lay their hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites…
- Numbers 21:28
Through
Deuteronomy 2:9Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants…
it leads to
- Genesis 19:36–37
Thus both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
- Genesis 19:36–37
Through
Deuteronomy 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…
it leads to
- 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 23:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.