Numbers 20:16
in Numbers 20and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and when we cried unto Jehovah, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border.
KJV
And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
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This verse in Numbers 20
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
An angel - See Gen 12:7, note; Exo 3:2, note. The term is to be understood as importing generally the supernatural guidance under which Israel was.
This site's exposition
This is what your brother Israel says
on Numbers 20:14-16
Moses speaks as your brother Israel, reaching back to Esau and Jacob, so Edom is asked as kin. The message is a short history: our fathers went down to Egypt, were mistreated, cried out, and were heard. Deuteronomy 2:4-5 adds that Israel was forbidden Edom's land, given to Esau.
This site's exposition
sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt
John Wesley reads the angel as a heavenly guide above Moses, whose mention gave weight to the request. Albert Barnes takes the term broadly as the supernatural guidance Israel lived under. Exodus 23:20 had promised that angel before Sinai.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
For though Moses may be called an angel or messenger yet it is not probable that he is meant, partly because Moses was the person that sent this message; and partly because another angel above Moses conducted them, and the mention hereof to the Edomites, was likely to give more authority to their present message.
And in this there was a double plea:-- (1.) Israel had been abused by the Egyptians, and therefore ought to be pitied and succoured by their relations: " The Egyptians vexed us and our fathers, but we may hope our brethren the Edomites will not be so vexatious." (2.) Israel had been wonderfully saved by the Lord, and therefore ought to be countenanced and favoured (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
It is a great mercy, to have plenty of water; a mercy which if we found the want of, we should own the worth of. Before the Lord - Suddenly, rather than to die such a lingering death. Their sin was much greater than that of their parents, because they should have taken warning by their miscarriages, and by the terrible effects of them, which their eyes had seen.
And when we cried unto the Lord,....
Dominion is founded in providence, not in grace. Thus when Christ was to pass through a village of the Samaritans, to whom his coming was likely to be offensive, he sent messengers before his face to ask leave, Luke ix.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Moses sent messengers . . . to the king of Edom--The encampment at Kadesh was on the confines of the Edomite territory, through which the Israelites would have had an easy passage across the Arabah by Wady-el-Ghuweir, so that they could have continued their course around Moab, and approached Palestine from the east [ROBERTS].
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַנִּצְעַ֤ק | vanitzak | and we cried out | H6817 → | 55 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע | vaiyishma' | and he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| קֹלֵ֔נוּ | kolenu | voice our | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מַלְאָ֔ךְ | malakh | an angel | H4397 → | 213 times |
| וַיֹּצִאֵ֖נוּ | vaiyotzienu | and he brought out us | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וְהִנֵּה֙ | vehineh | and here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֲנַ֣חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| בְקָדֵ֔שׁ | vekadesh | [are] in Kadesh | H6946 → | 18 times |
| עִ֖יר | ʾir | <the> city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| קְצֵ֥ה | ketzeh | [the] outskirt[s] of | H7097 → | 97 times |
| גְבוּלֶֽךָ׃ | gevulekha | territory your | H1366 → | 240 times |
וַנִּצְעַ֤קand we cried out
vanitzakH6817 →55 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּשְׁמַ֣עand he heard
vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times
קֹלֵ֔נוּvoice our
kolenuH6963 →506 times
וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
מַלְאָ֔ךְan angel
malakhH4397 →213 times
וַיֹּצִאֵ֖נוּand he brought out us
vaiyotzienuH3318 →1067 times
מִמִּצְרָ֑יִםfrom Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וְהִנֵּה֙and here!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אֲנַ֣חְנוּwe
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
בְקָדֵ֔שׁ[are] in Kadesh
vekadeshH6946 →18 times
עִ֖יר<the> city of
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
קְצֵ֥ה[the] outskirt[s] of
ketzehH7097 →97 times
גְבוּלֶֽךָ׃territory your
gevulekhaH1366 →240 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
Exodus 23:20Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
it leads to
- Exodus 32:34
Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 33:14
And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
- Psalms 91:11
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
- Exodus 14:19
And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
- Exodus 33:2
And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Exodus 32:34
Through
Exodus 14:19And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
it leads to
- Isaiah 63:9
In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days…
- Exodus 23:20–21
Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
- Isaiah 63:9
Through
Exodus 33:2And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
it leads to
- Joshua 24:11
After this, you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I delivered them into your…
- Joshua 24:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
On this verse
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.