Numbers 21:21
in Numbers 21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
KJV
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
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This verse in Numbers 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites,.... Who were one of the nations of the Canaanites, and a principal and powerful one, and who were devoted to destruction, and their land designed for the people of Israel; see Gen 15:16, at this time Sihon was their king, to whom Moses, in the name of Israel, sent a very peaceable message from the wilderness of Kedemoth, which lay near his country, Deu 2:26, saying; as follows.
This site's exposition
Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites
on Numbers 21:21-23
Israel asks Sihon for exactly what it asked Edom at 20:17, passage along the highway with nothing taken from field or vineyard or well. Edom refused and Israel turned aside, and Sihon refuses and comes out to fight, so the outcome follows from who attacked whom. Deuteronomy 2:26-30 tells the same approach and adds a reason Numbers withholds, that the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, and both accounts stand as they are written.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Sent messengers - By God's allowance, that so Sihon's malice might be the more evident and inexcusable, and their title to his country more clear in the judgment of all men, as being gotten by a just war, into which they were forced for their own defense.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Israel sent messengers unto Sihon--The rejection of their respectful and pacific message was resented--Sihon was discomfited in battle--and Israel obtained by right of conquest the whole of the Amorite dominions.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח | vaiyishlach | and it sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֔ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| סִיחֹ֥ן | sichon | Sihon | H5511 → | 37 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| הָאֱמֹרִ֖י | haemori | the Amorite[s] | H567 → | 87 times |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַ֤חand it sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
מַלְאָכִ֔יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
סִיחֹ֥ןSihon
sichonH5511 →37 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
הָאֱמֹרִ֖יthe Amorite[s]
haemoriH567 →87 times
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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.