Matthew Henry on Numbers 21:1-3
Here is, 1. The descent which Arad the Canaanite made upon the camp of Israel, hearing that they came by the way of the spies; for, though the spies which Moses had sent thirty-eight years before then passed and repassed unobserved, yet their coming, and their errand, it is likely, were afterwards known to the Canaanites, gave them an alarm, and induced them to keep an eye upon Israel and get intelligence of all their motions. Now, when they understood that they were facing about towards Canaan, this Arad, thinking it policy to keep the war at a distance, made an onset upon them and fought with them. But it proved that he meddled to his own hurt; had he sat still, his people might have been…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Numbers 21:1
And when King Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south,.... Arad seems rather to be the name of a place, city, or country, of which the Canaanite was king, than the name of a man, since we read of the king of Arad, Joshua 12:14 see also Judges 1:16 and so the Targums of Onkelos and Jerusalem here render it, the king of Arad; and the Targum of Jonathan says, he changed his seat and reigned in Arad, which might have its name from Arvad, a son of Canaan, Genesis 10:18 and Jerom says (n), that Arath, the same with Arad, is a city of the Amorites, near the wilderness of Kadesh, and that to this day it is shown, a village four miles from Malatis and twenty from Hebron, in the tribe of Judah; a…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Numbers 21:1-3
Numbers 21:1-3
1. And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies, then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
1. Quum audisset Chananaeus rex Arad habitans in meridie quod veniret Israel per viam exploratorum, pugnavit cum Israele, et abduxit ab eo praedam (vel, captivitatem.)
2. And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
2. Vovit ergo Israel votum Jehovae, et dixit, Si tradendo tradideris populum istum in manum meam, delebo urbes eorum.
3. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up…
