Numbers 21:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 21:24
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.
to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
edge
לְפִיle.fi-
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
sword
חָ֑רֶבCha.rev
H2719
drought · noun, common feminine singular absolute
possessed
וַיִּירַ֨שׁvai.yi.Rash
H3423
to occupy (by driving out previous tenants · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
land
אַרְצ֜וֹ'ar.Tzo
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Arnon
מֵֽאַרְנֹ֗ןme.'ar.Non
H769
the Arnon · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Jabbok
יַבֹּק֙ya.Bok
H2999
Jabbok · proper noun, a place name
children
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Ammon
עַמּ֔וֹןa.Mon
H5983
Ammon · proper noun, a man's name
border
גְּב֖וּלge.Vul
H1366
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
children
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Ammon
עַמּֽוֹןa.Mon
H5983
Ammon · proper noun, a man's name
strong
עַ֔ז'Az
H5794
strong · adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Amos 2:9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his…
Genesis 32:22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
Joshua 24:8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your h…
Nehemiah 9:22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the…
Psalms 136:19 Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Numbers 21:13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites:…
Numbers 32:1-4 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land o…
Numbers 32:33-42 And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph,…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 21:21–end
We have here an account of the victories obtained by Israel over Sihon and Og, which must be distinctly considered, not only because they are here distinctly related, but because long afterwards the memorial of them is distinctly celebrated, and they are severally assigned as instances of everlasting mercy. He slew Sihon king of the Amorites, for his mercy endureth for ever, and Og the king of Bashan, for his mercy endureth for ever, Psa 136:19, Psa 136:20.
I. Israel sent a peaceable message to Sihon king of the Amorites (Num 21:21), but received an unpeaceable return, worse than that of the Edomites to the like message, Num 20:18, Num 20:20. For the Edomites only refused them a passage, and…
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.
John Gill on Numbers 21:24
And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword,.... Slew him and his army, entirely routed them, and got a complete victory over them; God giving them up into their hands, who otherwise were a very strong, powerful, and warlike people; see Amos 2:9.
and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok; two rivers, the one to the south, the other to the north of his country; the one was the boundary of his country between him and the Moabites, the other the boundary of his country between him and the Ammonites, as it follows:
even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong; which is given as a reason why the Israelites proceeded no further in their conquest; th…
Numbers 21:21-32
21. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
21. Misit Israel legatos ad Sihon regem AEmorrhaeorum, dicendo:
22. Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well; but we will go along by the king's high-way, until we be past thy borders.
22. Transeam per terram tuam: non declinabimus per agros, neque per vineam: non bibemus aquas puteorum, via regia pergemus, donec transierimus terminum tuum.
23. And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came t…
The Church Fathers
Yesterday we spoke of how Sihon, king of the Amorites, who is the lofty one and the barren tree, having engaged with Israel was defeated; concerning whom Scripture also says pointedly that he fell "by the slaughter of the sword" or, as we read elsewhere, "by the mouth of the sword." But if you wish to know more carefully by what sword this barren and lofty one, "like the cedar of Lebanon," fell, let us learn from the Apostle Paul, who says: "For the word of God is living and effective and more piercing than any sword," and again in another place: "and the sword," he says, "of the spirit, which is the word of God." By the slaughter of this sword, then, fell the spiritual Sihon, who is the devil. After these things it is added: "and the sons of Israel," he says, "had dominion over all his land." All this earthly region indeed is called the land of Sihon, but Christ and his Church have dominion over all the land of Sihon. "And they had dominion from Arnon as far as Jabbok." Arnon and Jabbok were cities of the kingdom of Sihon, but the beginning of his kingdom was Arnon and the end was Jabbok, and therefore it is said that "they had dominion from Arnon as far as Jabbok." Now Arnon is interpreted "their curses"; the beginning, therefore, of the kingdom of this lofty and barren Sihon is curses. But the end is Jabbok, which is interpreted "wrestling"; for it is necessary that everyone who wishes to go out from the kingdom of the devil and to escape his borders should find wrestling, and that contests be stirred up against him by his ministers and satellites. But if he has wrestled and conquered, then Jabbok will no longer be a city of Sihon, but will be a city of Israel. This is doubtless what we read also concerning the patriarch Jacob, since, when he had come to a certain place, a wrestling was prepared for him, and there, when he had wrestled the whole night and had prevailed and grown strong before God, his name was called Israel. "And Israel took," he says, "all these cities; and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites." This Israel, who is Israel in Christ, who is Israel not in the flesh, nor a Jew in what is manifest, he himself dwells in all the cities of the Amorites when in all the world the churches of Christ are being propagated. But each one of us also was formerly a city of King Sihon, the lofty king; for there reigned in us folly, pride,…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ammon — Another form of the name Ben-ammi, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). This name is also used for his posterity (Ps. 83:7).
Arnon — Swift, the southern boundary of the territory of Israel beyond Jordan, separating it from the land of Moab (Deut. 3:8, 16). This river (referred to twenty-four times in the Bible) rises in the…
Heshbon — Intelligence, a city ruled over by Sihon, king of the Amorites (Josh. 3:10; 13:17). It was taken by Moses (Num. 21:23-26), and became afterwards a Levitical city (Josh. 21:39) in the tribe of Reuben…
Jabbok — A pouring out, or a wrestling, one of the streams on the east of Jordan, into which it falls about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, or about 45 miles below the Sea of Galilee. It…
Sihon — Striking down. The whole country on the east of Jordan, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, was possessed by the Amorites, whose king, Sihon, refused to permit the Israelites to pass through his territory,…
Wars of the Lord, The Book of the — (Num. 21:14, 15), some unknown book so called (comp. Gen. 14:14-16; Ex. 17:8-16; Num. 14:40-45; 21:1-3, 21-25, 33-35; 31. The wars here recorded might be thus designated).
Ammonites · Territory of — Territory of
Ammonites, The · Country of: Bordered on the Amorites — Country of: Bordered on the Amorites
Amorites · Conquest of — Conquest of
Amorites, The · Deprived of their eastern territory by Israel — Deprived of their eastern territory by Israel
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Sihon conquered — Sihon conquered
Defeat of the Amorite Kings, Sihon of Heshbon and Og of Bashan, and Conquest of their Kingdoms.
Num 21:21-23
When the Israelites reached the eastern border of the kingdom of the Amorite king Sihon (see at Num 21:13), they sent messengers to him, as they had previously done to the king of Edom, to ask permission to pass peaceably through his territory upon the high road (cf. Num 21:22 and Num 20:17); and Sihon refused this request, just as the king of Edom had done, and marched with all his people against the Israelites. But whereas the Lord forbade the Israelites to make war upon their kinsmen the Edomites, He now commanded them to make war upon the Amorite king, and take possession of his l…
The Israelite victories over King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan were previews of the Hebrew conquest of Canaan and came to represent God’s promise to assist his people in their time of need (cp. 13:10-12; Deut 2:24–3:7; Josh 2:10; 9:10; 12:1-6; Judg 11:19-22; Neh 9:22; Pss 135:10-12; 136:17-22; Jer 48:45-46). • Because Israel had left the wilderness (cp. Num 21:18, 23) before arriving at Pisgah (21:20), this account is probably a flashback of something that took place before the movement described in 21:18-20.
21:21-24 The territory of King Sihon was sandwiched between Moab and Ammon. The Israelites were not to invade Ammon (Deut 2:19), Edom, or Moab (Deut 2:4-9) because they were…
כי עז FOR [THE BOUNDARY OF THE CHILDREN OF AMMON] WAS STRONG — And what constituted its strength? The warning of the Holy One, blessed be He, who had said to them (the Israelites), (Deuteronomy 2:19), Harass them not, etc.”.
Jabbok · of the possessions of the Ammonites — of the possessions of the Ammonites
Sihon · Conquest of his kingdom by the Israelites — Conquest of his kingdom by the Israelites
Sword, The · Was used: For destruction of enemies — Was used: For destruction of enemies
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
