Numbers 21:10-20

Numbers 21:10-20

[10] And the children  of Israel  set forward,  and pitched  in Oboth.  [11] And they journeyed  from Oboth,  and pitched  at Ijeabarim,  in the wilderness  which is before  Moab,  toward the sunrising.  [12] From thence they removed,  and pitched  in the valley  of Zared.  [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:  for Arnon  is the border  of Moab,  and the Amorites.  [14] Wherefore it is said  in the book  of the wars  of the LORD,  What he did  in the Red sea,  and in the brooks  of Arnon,  [15] And at the stream  of the brooks  that goeth down  to the dwelling  of Ar,  and lieth  upon the border  of Moab.  [16] And from thence they went to Beer:  that is the well  whereof the LORD  spake  unto Moses,  the people  together,  and I will give  them water.  [17] Then Israel  sang  this song,  Spring up,  O well;  sing  ye unto it: [18] The princes  digged  the well,  the nobles  of the people  digged  it, by the direction of the lawgiver,  with their staves.  And from the wilderness  they went to Mattanah:  [19] And from Mattanah  to Nahaliel:  to Bamoth:  [20] And from Bamoth  in the valley,  that is in the country  of Moab,  to the top  of Pisgah,  which looketh  toward  Jeshimon. 

What does Numbers 21:10-20 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The list of stopping places Moses recorded here differs from the one in Numbers 33:41-49. Apparently neither list is complete but both are selective. Archaeologists have not yet identified most of the sites Moses mentioned here. The route of the Israelites was around Edom in a counter-clockwise direction until they came to the Wadi Zered ( Numbers 21:12). [1] A wadi (Arabic, Heb. nahal) was a river or streambed that was dry during most of the year but became a rushing torrent during the rainy season. The Israelites took the Way of the Wilderness, a route that ran generally parallel to but east of the King"s Highway ( Numbers 20:17; Numbers 20:19). The Zered flowed westward, in the rainy season, into the Arabah near the south end of the Dead Sea. It constituted the boundary between Edom and Moab.
Moving farther north, through Moab, the nation crossed the Arnon Wadi that feeds into the east side of the Dead Sea about at its mid-point north to south. This river was the border between the Moabites and the Amorites ( Numbers 21:13). This crossing brought Israel to the threshold of the Promised Land.
The Amorites were, ". . . the mightiest of all the tribes of the Canaanites." [2]
Here the Israelites received direction from God to make war with Sihon, a king of the Amorites, and to possess his land. God promised them that they would be victorious ( Deuteronomy 2:24-25). This revelation filled the Israelites with joy and courage.
The "Book of the Wars of the Lord" ( Numbers 21:14) was a collection of songs that commemorated God"s glorious acts on behalf of the Israelites. Apparently Moses or one of his contemporaries wrote or edited it. The fragment of one of these songs that the writer included here ( Numbers 21:14-15) describes the Arnon. The fact that Moses inserted this strophe reflects the joy that the Israelites felt on this occasion.
At Beer (lit. Well) God provided water for the people by instructing them to dig wells ( Numbers 21:16-18). This proved to be another occasion of great rejoicing as God provided for His needy people.
Moses mentioned several other sites as camping places before the nation settled down on the tableland of the Pisgah range of mountains. This area lay east of the place where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea. The "wasteland" (Jeshimon) is the desert directly to the northeast of the Dead Sea.