Numbers 21:28
in Numbers 21For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon: It hath devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
KJV
For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
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This verse in Numbers 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
there is a fire gone out of Heshbon
on Numbers 21:28-30
The song is an Amorite victory piece about the fall of Moab, made when Heshbon was taken from Moab, and Moses puts it into the record now that the singers themselves have fallen. Chemosh is named as the god of Moab, the god 1 Kings 11:7 says Solomon built a high place for. Jeremiah 48:45-46 takes these same lines up again against Moab centuries later, so a taunt made by Amorites ends in the prophets.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), which sufficiently proves what is vouched for, namely, [1.] That such and such places that are here named, though they had been in the possession of the Moabites, had by right of war become the dominion of Sihon king of the Amorites.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
A fire - The fury of war, which is fitly compared to fire. Out of Heshbon - That city which before was a refuge and defense to all the country, now is turned into a great annoyance.
For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Wherefore they that speak in proverbs--Here is given an extract from an Amorite song exultingly anticipating an extension of their conquests to Arnon.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵשׁ֙ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| יָֽצְאָ֣ה | yatzeah | it went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מֵֽחֶשְׁבּ֔וֹן | mecheshbon | from Heshbon | H2809 → | 38 times |
| לֶהָבָ֖ה | lehavah | flame | H3852 → | |
| מִקִּרְיַ֣ת | mikiryat | from [the] town of | H7151 → | |
| סִיחֹ֑ן | sichon | Sihon | H5511 → | 37 times |
| אָֽכְלָה֙ | ʾakhelah | it consumed | H398 → | 810 times |
| עָ֣ר | ʾar | Ar | H6144 → | |
| מוֹאָ֔ב | moav | of Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| בַּעֲלֵ֖י | baalei | [the] citizens of | H1167 → | |
| בָּמ֥וֹת | bamot | [the] high places of | H1116 → | |
| אַרְנֹֽן׃ | ʾarnon | Arnon | H769 → | 25 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵשׁ֙fire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
יָֽצְאָ֣הit went out
yatzeahH3318 →1067 times
מֵֽחֶשְׁבּ֔וֹןfrom Heshbon
mecheshbonH2809 →38 times
לֶהָבָ֖הflame
lehavahH3852 →
מִקִּרְיַ֣תfrom [the] town of
mikiryatH7151 →
סִיחֹ֑ןSihon
sichonH5511 →37 times
אָֽכְלָה֙it consumed
ʾakhelahH398 →810 times
עָ֣רAr
ʾarH6144 →
מוֹאָ֔בof Moab
moavH4124 →181 times
בַּעֲלֵ֖י[the] citizens of
baaleiH1167 →
בָּמ֥וֹת[the] high places of
bamotH1116 →
אַרְנֹֽן׃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
Judges 9:20But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”
it leads to
- Judges 9:15
But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the…
- Psalms 28:4
Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- Judges 9:15
Through
Numbers 21:15even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 2:9
Then 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…
- Deuteronomy 2:18
“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.
- Deuteronomy 2:29
just 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…
- Isaiah 15:1
This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
- Deuteronomy 2:9
Through
Amos 1:10So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre to consume its citadels.”
it leads to
- Zechariah 9:4
Behold, the Lord will impoverish her and cast her wealth into the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.
- Amos 1:7
So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza, to consume its citadels.
- Zechariah 9:4
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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.