Numbers 21:30

We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Numbers 21:30. Though you, feeble Moabites, and your god too, could not resist Sihon, we Israelites, by the help of our God, have shot — With success and victory; at them — At Sihon and his Amorites. Heshbon — The royal city of Sihon, and by him lately repaired; is perished — Is taken away from Sihon, and so is all his country, even as far as Dibon.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

21:21-35 Sihon went with his forces against Israel, out of his own borders, without provocation, and so ran upon his own ruin. The enemies of God's church often perish by the counsels they think most wisely taken. Og, king of Bashan, instead of being warned by the fate of his neighbours, to make peace with Israel, makes war with them, which proves in like manner his destruction. Wicked men do their utmost to secure themselves and their possessions against the judgments of God; but all in vain, when the day comes on which they must fall. God gave Israel success, while Moses was with them, that he might see the beginning of the glorious work, though he must not live to see it finished. This was, in comparison, but as the day of small things, yet it was an earnest of great things. We must prepare for fresh conflicts and enemies. We must make no peace or truce with the powers of darkness, nor even treat with them; nor should we expect any pause in our contest. But, trusting in God, and obeying his commands, we shall be more than conquerors over every enemy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Chemosh - The national God of the Moabites (compare the marginal references). The name probably means "Vanquisher," or "Master." The worship of Chemosh was introduced into Israel by Solomon 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13. It was no doubt to Chemosh that Mesha, king of Moab, offered up his son as a burnt-offering 2 Kings 3:26-27.

In the first six lines Numbers 21:27-28 the poet imagines for the Amorites a song of exultation for their victories over Moab, and for the consequent glories of Heshbon, their own capital. In the next lines Numbers 21:29 he himself joins in this strain; which now becomes one of half-real, half-ironical compassion for the Moabites, whom their idol Chemosh was unable to save. But in the last lines Numbers 21:30 a startling change takes place; the new and decisive triumph of the poet's own countrymen is abruptly introduced; and the boastings of the Arnorites fade utterly away. Of the towns Heshbon was the northernmost, and therefore, to the advancing Israelites, the last to be reached. Medeba, now Madeba, was four miles south of Heshbon (compare 1 Chronicles 19:7, 1 Chronicles 19:15).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

29. people of Chemosh—the name of the Moabite idol (1Ki 11:7-33; 2Ki 23:13; Jer 48:46).

he—that is, their god, hath surrendered his worshippers to the victorious arms of Sihon.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Though you feeble Moabites, and your god too, could not resist Sihon, we Israelites, by the help of our God,

have shot, to wit, with success and victory, as the following words show, at them, to wit, at Sihon and his Amorites; which is easily and plainly understood, both from the foregoing and following words.

Heshbon, the royal city of Sihon, and by him lately repaired,

is perished, is taken away from Sihon, and so is all his territory or country, even as far as

Dibon, which, as some think is called Dibon-gad, Numbers 33:45.

Which reached unto Medeba, i.e. whose territory extendeth to Medeba. Or, yea, even to Medeba; for the Hebrew word asher is sometimes used for yea, or moreover, as 1 Samuel 15:20 Psalm 10:6 95:11. The sense is, the whole country of Sihon, taken by him from the Moabites, is wasted and perished.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

We have shot at them,.... Either the Amorites at the Moabites, or else the Israelites at the Amorites; for, according to Aben Ezra, these are the words of Moses, though they, with Numbers 21:29, seem rather to be a continuation of the song of the old Amorite bards, describing the ruin of the country of Moab by them; and this clause may be rendered with the next, "their light, or lamp, is perished from Heshbon" (r); or their yoke, as Jarchi, and so the Vulgate Latin version; that is, their kingdom, and the glory of it, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret it, and so Jarchi:

even unto Dibon; which was another city in the land of Moab; see Isaiah 15:2,

and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reached unto Medeba; Nophah perhaps is the same with Nebo, mentioned along with Medeba, Isaiah 15:2, however, they were both places in Moab, and are mentioned to show how far the desolation had or would spread; and the whole is observed to prove, that this part of the country of Moab, now possessed by the Israelites, was taken from them, not by them, but by the Amorites, a people Israel now conquered, and so had a right to what they found them in the possession of.

(r) "lucerna eorum, Heshbon (seilicet) periit", Tigurine version; "regnum eorum periit a Chesbon", Pagninus, Vatablus; "imperium eorum", Munster.

Geneva Study Bible

We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

30. And we shot at them] So the Heb. text. An extremely doubtful clause, which represents a single word in the Heb. (וַנִּירָם). If it is correct, the taunt has now ceased, and the words are those of the Israelites who triumph over the Amorites. But the sudden introduction of the first person is strange, the form of the Heb. verb is unusual, and the rhythmical division of the line is disturbed.

Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon] A very awkward expression, if it means that the people of all the towns from Heshbon to Dibon perished. Both these clauses require emendation. LXX. has καὶ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῶν ἀπολεῖται, Ἑσεβὼν ἕως Δαιβών, which may preserve the true reading, ‘and their posterity (וְנִינָם) perished (from) Heshbon to Dibon.’

And we have laid waste … Medeba] This latter half of the verse is even more corrupt, and no very satisfactory solution has been proposed. A variety of emendations is possible, as may be seen in Dillmann’s note on the passage1 [Note: Pesh. reads the last three words as אֲשֶׁר עַל מִדְבָּר ‘which is on the desert.’ This is adopted by G. A. Smith (H. G. 560). The LXX. translators found the passage hopeless.] . Nothing more can be said with certainty than that the verse describes the destruction of Moabite towns.

Dibon] The modern Dhibân, which lies in the south of what was the Amorite district, half-an-hour’s walk N.W. of Aroer, and 1½ hours from the Arnon (Baedeker’s Palestine).

Nophah] is unknown, and the name is probably only the result of the corruption of the text. G. A. Smith and others suggest Nobaḥ, which is mentioned with Jogbehah in Jdg 8:11; this lay to the east of Moab near the desert.

Medeba] spelt Mehedeba in Mesha’s inscription. It is the modern Mâdebâ, two hours to the south of Heshbon.

Another explanation of the song, adopted by several writers, is that it celebrates a conquest of Moab by Israel. The verbs in Numbers 21:28 f. can, in this case, be rendered as perfects, as in R.V. But nothing has been said of any conquest of the Moabites by Israel; indeed in the tradition preserved in Deuteronomy 2:9 the Israelites were forbidden to attack Moab. Hence the supporters of this interpretation understand the song to refer to a later victory over Moab, e.g. that in the 9th century which reduced Moab to pay tribute to Israel (see 2 Kings 3:4 f., and Mesha’s inscription), and suppose that the compiler inserted it at this point with no regard to the context. But even if that were possible it would leave ‘wherefore’ (Numbers 21:27) unexplained. If the words ‘unto an Amorite king Sihon’ (Numbers 21:29) are genuine, they definitely exclude this interpretation; but see note above. Cf. also G. A. Smith, H. G. [Note: . G. Historical Geography of the Holy Land.] 560 f. and Appendix III.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 30. - We have shot at them. וַגִּירָם. A poetical word of somewhat doubtful meaning. It is generally supposed to be a verbal form (first person plural imperf. Kal), from יָרָה, with an unusual suffix (cf. יִלְבָּשָׁם for יִלְבָּשֵׁם in Exodus 29:30). יָרָה has the primary meaning "to shoot at," the secondary, "to overthrow," as in Exodus 15:4. Others, however, derive the word from ארה, a root supposed to mean "burn." Even unto Dibon. See on Numbers 32:34. The site of Nophah, perhaps the Nobah of Judges 8:11, is unknown. Which reacheth unto Medeba. The reading is uncertain here as well as the meaning. The received text has אֵַשֶׁר עַד־מַידבָא, which gives no meaning, but the circle over the resh marks it as suspicious. The Septuagint (πῦρ ἐπ Μωάβ) and the Samaritan evidently read אֵשׁ, and this has been generally followed: "we have wasted even unto Nophah, - with fire unto Medeba." Medeba, of which the ruins are still known by the same name, lay five or six miles south-south-east of Heshbon. It was a fortress in the time of David (1 Chronicles 19:7) and of Omri, as appears from the Moabite stone. Numbers 21:30

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Third strophe, in which the woe evoked upon Moab is justified: "We cast them down: Heshbon is lost even to Dibon; and we laid it waste even to Nophah, with fire to Medeba." ונּירם is the first pers. pl. imperf. Kal of ירה with the suffix ־ם for ־ם (as in Exodus 29:30). ירה, to cast arrows, to shoot down (Exodus 19:13): figuratively to throw to the ground (Exodus 15:4). נשּׁים for נשּׁם, first pers. pl. imperf. Hiph. of נשׁה, synonymous with נצה, Jeremiah 4:7. The suffixes of both verbs refer to the Moabites as the inhabitants of the cities named. Accordingly Heshbon also is construed as a masculine, because it was not the town as such, but the inhabitants, that were referred to. Heshbon, the residence of king Sihon, stood pretty nearly in the centre between the Arnon and the Jabbok (according to the Onom. twenty Roman miles from the Jordan, opposite to Jericho), and still exists in extensive ruins with deep bricked wells, under the old name of Hesbn (cf. v. Raumer, Pal. p. 262). On Dibon in the south, not more than an hour from Arnon. Nophach is probably the same as Nobach, Judges 8:11, but not the same as Kenath, which was altered into Nobach (Numbers 32:42). According to Judges 8:11, it was near Jogbeha, not far from the eastern desert; and in all probability it still exists in the ruined place called Nowakis (Burckhardt, p. 619; Buckingham, ii. p. 46; Robinson, App. p. 188), to the north-west of Ammn (Rabbath-Ammon). Nophach, therefore, is referred to as a north-eastern town or fortress, and contrasted with Dibon, which was in the south. The words which follow, עד מ אשׁר, "which to Medeba," yield no intelligible meaning. The Seventy give πῦρ ἐπὶ Μ. (fire upon Medeba), and seem to have adopted the reading עד אשׁ. In the Masoretic punctuation also, the ר in אשׁר is marked as suspicious by a punct. extraord. Apparently, therefore, אשׁר was a copyist's error of old standing for אשׁ, and is to be construed as governed by the verb נשּׁים, "with fire to Medeba." The city was about two hours to the south-east of Heshbon, and is still to be seen in ruins bearing the name of Medaba, upon the top of a hill of about half-an-hour's journey in circumference (Burckhardt, p. 625; v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 264-5).

(Note: Ewald and Bleek (Einleitung in d. A. T. p. 200) are both agreed that this ode was composed on the occasion of the defeat of the Amorites by the Israelites, and particularly on the capture of the capital Heshbon, as it depicts the fall of Heshbon in the most striking way; and this city was rebuilt shortly afterwards by the Reubenites, and remained ever afterwards a city of some importance. Knobel, on the other hand, has completely misunderstood the meaning and substance of the verses quoted, and follows some of the earliest commentators, such as Clericus and others, in regarding the ode as an Amoritish production, and interpreting it as relating to the conquest and fortification of Heshbon by Sihon.)