Numbers 21:30
in Numbers 21But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We demolished them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, And we have laid waste even unto Nophah, Which reacheth unto Medeba.
KJV
We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
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This verse in Numbers 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThough you feeble Moabites, and your God too, could not resist Sihon, we Israelites, by the help of our God, have shot, with success and victory, at them, at Sihon and his Amorites. Heshbon - The royal city of Sihon, and by him lately repaired, Is perished - Is taken away from Sihon, and so is all his country, even as far as Dibon.
This 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
. [2.] That the Moabites were utterly disabled ever to regain the possession. Even Ar of Moab, though not taken or attempted by Sihon, but still remaining the metropolis of Moab, yet was so wasted by this loss that is would never be able to make head,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
We have shot at them,....
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַנִּירָ֛ם | vaniram | and we shot at them | H3384 → | |
| אָבַ֥ד | ʾavad | it has perished | H6 → | 184 times |
| חֶשְׁבּ֖וֹן | cheshbon | Heshbon | H2809 → | 38 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| דִּיב֑וֹן | divon | Dibon | H1769 → | 11 times |
| וַנַּשִּׁ֣ים | vanashim | and we have devastated | H8074 → | |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| נֹ֔פַח | nofach | Nophah | H5302 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֖רׄ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | [is] to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מֵֽידְבָֽא׃ | meideva' | Medeba | H4311 → |
וַנִּירָ֛םand we shot at them
vaniramH3384 →
אָבַ֥דit has perished
ʾavadH6 →184 times
חֶשְׁבּ֖וֹןHeshbon
cheshbonH2809 →38 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
דִּיב֑וֹןDibon
divonH1769 →11 times
וַנַּשִּׁ֣יםand we have devastated
vanashimH8074 →
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
נֹ֔פַחNophah
nofachH5302 →
אֲשֶׁ֖רׄwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עַד־[is] to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מֵֽידְבָֽא׃Medeba
meideva'H4311 →
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 15:2Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 48:1
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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 21:5
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
- Jeremiah 48:1
Through
Jeremiah 48:22upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 48:18
Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 48:18
Through
Jeremiah 48:18Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.
it leads to
- Joshua 13:17
to Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 47:1
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Isaiah 15:2
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Joshua 13:17
Through
Numbers 32:34And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 2:36
From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God…
- Numbers 32:3
“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
- Deuteronomy 2:36
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
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.