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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.

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

And Israel put him to the sword

on Numbers 21:24-25

This is the first land Israel takes and lives in since Egypt, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and the cities are occupied, not levelled. Genesis 15:16 had said the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete, and the Amorite is the first nation dispossessed.

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.

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

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.