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Numbers 21:24

in Numbers 21

And Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok—but only up to the border of the Ammonites, because it was fortified.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

KJV

And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

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This verse in Numbers 21

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Jabbok (now Wady Zerka: compare Gen 32:22) runs eastward under Rabbah of the children of Ammon, thence westward, and reaches the Jordan, 45 miles north of the Arnon. It was between Rabbah and Gerasa that it formed the Ammonite boundary.

This site's exposition

Israel smote him with the edge of the sword

on Numbers 21:24-25

This is the first land Israel holds and lives in since Egypt, from Arnon to Jabbok, and the cities are occupied rather than levelled. Genesis 15:16 had told Abraham his seed would come back in the fourth generation because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full, and the Amorite is the first nation Israel dispossesses. Jabbok is the brook where Jacob wrestled at Genesis 32:22-24, so the northern boundary of the new holding carries the name of that night.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

(1.) The justification itself is that though it was true this country had belonged to the Moabites, yet the Amorites had taken it from them some time before, and were now in full and quiet possession of it,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

from Arnon unto Jabbok--now the Zurka. These rivers formed the southern and northern boundaries of his usurped territory. for the border of . . . Ammon was strong--a reason stated for Sihon not being able to push his invasion further.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

18 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.

  • וַיַּכֵּ֥הוּand it struck him

    vaiyakehuH5221 →499 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • לְפִי־to [the] mouth of

    lefi-H6310 →498 times

  • חָ֑רֶב[the] sword

    charevH2719 →413 times

  • וַיִּירַ֨שׁand it took possession of

    vaiyirashH3423 →231 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אַרְצ֜וֹland his

    ʾartzoH776 →2504 times

  • מֵֽאַרְנֹ֗ןfrom Arnon

    mearnonH769 →25 times

  • עַד־to

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • יַבֹּק֙Jabbok

    yabokH2999 →

  • עַד־to

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • בְּנֵ֣י[the] descendants of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • עַמּ֔וֹןAmmon

    amonH5983 →

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • עַ֔ז[was] strong

    ʾazH5794 →

  • גְּב֖וּל[the] border of

    gevulH1366 →240 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[the] descendants of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • עַמּֽוֹן׃Ammon

    amonH5983 →

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

Related verses

18 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.

Amos 2:9Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.5 worksDeuteronomy 3:16and to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.5 worksDeuteronomy 2:37But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.5 worksGenesis 32:22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.3 worksPsalms 136:19Sihon king of the Amorites His loving devotion endures forever.3 worksJoshua 24:8Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I delivered them into your hand, that you should possess their land when I destroyed them before you.3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Nehemiah 9:22You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.3 worksJoshua 12:1Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites struck down and whose lands they took beyond the Jordan to the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:3 worksNumbers 32:4which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, are suitable for livestock—and your servants have livestock.”3 worksJudges 11:21–23Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country,2 worksJoshua 9:10and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.2 worksJudges 12:1–2Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”2 worksJudges 21:8So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.2 worksNumbers 21:13From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory. Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.2 worksDeuteronomy 2:31–37Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”2 worksPsalms 135:10–12He struck down many nations and slaughtered mighty kings:2 worksNumbers 32:33–42So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.2 worksJoshua 13:8–10The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them: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

    Joshua 24:8

    Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I delivered them into your hand, that you should possess their land when I…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 21:21–35

      Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 136:17–22

      He struck down great kings His loving devotion endures forever.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Genesis 32:22

    During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 3:16

      and to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the…

    • Deuteronomy 2:37

      But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD…

    • Joshua 12:2

      Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, up to the Jabbok River (the border of…

    • 1 Timothy 5:8

      If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

  • Through

    Amos 2:9

    Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and…

    it leads to

    • Job 18:16

      The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.

    • Malachi 4:1

      “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…

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 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); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 21 →