Numbers 21:2
in Numbers 21So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Israel vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
KJV
And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
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This verse in Numbers 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
When the Canaanite king of Arad
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.
This site's exposition
So Israel made a vow to the LORD
The vow follows a loss, since the king of Arad had just taken some Israelites prisoner. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as a people made to feel their own weakness and turning to God for help, and they point to Leviticus 27 for the law of things devoted. Matthew Henry notes that the vow was made through the elders.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord,....
They, by their elders, in prayer for success, vowed a vow. Noe, When we are desiring and expecting mercy from God we should bind our souls with a bond that we will faithfully do our duty to him, particularly that we will honour him with the mercy we are in the pursuit of.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3214: “Two Wilderness Incidents” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
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.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3214: “Two Wilderness Incidents” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
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.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּדַּ֨ר | vaiyidar | and it vowed | H5087 → | 31 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נֶ֛דֶר | neder | a vow | H5088 → | 60 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and it said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | <if> | H518 → | 1069 times |
| נָתֹ֨ן | naton | certainly [if] <to give> | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| תִּתֵּ֜ן | titen | you will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָ֤ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּה֙ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| בְּיָדִ֔י | beyadi | in hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְהַֽחֲרַמְתִּ֖י | vehacharamti | and I will totally destroy | H2763 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָרֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾareihem | cities their | H5892 → | 1090 times |
וַיִּדַּ֨רand it vowed
vaiyidarH5087 →31 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֥לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נֶ֛דֶרa vow
nederH5088 →60 times
לַֽיהוָ֖הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand it said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
אִם־<if>
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
נָתֹ֨ןcertainly [if] <to give>
natonH5414 →2011 times
תִּתֵּ֜ןyou will give
titenH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָעָ֤םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּה֙<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
בְּיָדִ֔יin hand my
beyadiH3027 →1618 times
וְהַֽחֲרַמְתִּ֖יand I will totally destroy
vehacharamtiH2763 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עָרֵיהֶֽם׃cities their
ʾareihemH5892 →1090 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 6:26At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations;…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:34
In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to…
- 1 Kings 16:34
Through
1 Samuel 1:11And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then…
it leads to
- Judges 13:5
For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will…
- Numbers 6:5
For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let…
- Genesis 29:32
And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Judges 13:5
Through
Genesis 28:20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:8
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
- 2 Samuel 15:8
For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”
- Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up and leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”
- 1 Timothy 6:8
Through
Judges 11:30Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
it leads to
- Genesis 28:20
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,
- Genesis 28:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.