Numbers 20:18

Num 20:18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.

Ver. 18. Thou shalt not pass.] As fearing what so great an army once got in might do; they are not usually so easily removed. It was therefore great injustice in Pope Julius, to excommunicate and depose John, king of Navarre, as a heretic, and public enemy to the see apostolic, because being himself a peer of the realm of France, and having a great part of his patrimony in that country, he would not suffer the Spaniard, the Pope’s champion, to lead an army through his country against the French, his liege lord, and deliver to him three of the strongest castles he had in his kingdom. {a}

{a} Guicciard., lib. ii.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 20:18-19. By me — Through my country: I will not suffer thee to do so; which was an act of policy, to secure themselves from so numerous a host. Said — That is, their messengers replied what here follows.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:18-21 Stay out of my land: As their ancestor Esau had distrusted Jacob (Gen 27:36), the Edomites now distrusted Jacob’s descendants. So Israel was forced to turn around and find another way to approach Canaan (cp. Deut 2:4-6).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, come not.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And the children of Israel said unto him,.... The messengers sent by the children of Israel made answer to the king of Edom:

we will go by the highway; we desire no other favour but that of the public road; we propose not to go through any part of the country that is enclosed and cultivated, to do any damage to it:

if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it; as it was usual, and still is, to buy water in those countries near the Red sea, where it is scarce. We are told (d), that at Suess, a city on the extremity of the Red sea, there is no water nearer than six or seven hours journey towards the north east, which is brought from thence on camels; and a small vessel of it is sold for three or four medinas, and a larger vessel for eight or ten, according to the demand for it; a medina is an Egyptian piece of money, worth about three halfpence of our English money:

I will only (without doing anything else) go through on my feet; as fast as I can, without saying anything to the inhabitants to terrify and distress them, and without doing them any injury. Some render it, I will only go "with my footmen" (e); foot soldiers, an army on foot, as Israel were.

(d) See a Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai, p. 10, 11. Ed. 2. (e) "cum meo exercitu pedestri"; so some in Fagius & Vatablus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Edom, the people who dwelt near Mount Hor. Those of Seir, lying more to the west, (Du Hamel) granted them leave to pass, and to buy food, Deuteronomy ii. 28, 29. Grotius maintains, that the Hebrews might justly have forced a passage upon this refusal; as St. Augustine (q. 44,) says, that they might lawfully have waged war upon the Amorrhites, on the like occasion; and the holy wars have been defended on the same plea, because the Saracens would not suffer the Christians to go in pilgrimage to the holy land. See Mare, lib. i. 1. But Selden (Mare. claus. 20) asserts, that princes have a right ot hinder others from passing through their territories; and St. Augustine only excepts one case, when they are sure the strangers can or will do no harm. But how can they obtain this assurance? Calmet answers, the long continuance of the Hebrews near the confines of Seir, without offering any molestation, and their being conducted by so holy a general, might give the people of Hor sufficient security. But at any rate the Israelites could not wage war upon them for refusing a passage, since they were expressly forbidden by God: Stir not against them, (Deuteronomy ii. 5,) the people of Seir, nor against any of the Idumeans, the children of Esau, who had taken possession of the country of Horrhites, Genesis xiv. 6. The Hebrews seem to have been convinced of this, otherwise they would not have feared their multitudes, nor taken such a circuitous road. The angel in the cloud directed them to proceed, without molesting their territory. They went, therefore, towards the south, round the land of the Idumeans, who dwelt near the Dead Sea. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

i.e. Through my country, as thou desirest; I will not suffer time to do so: which was an act of common policy to secure themselves from so numerous a host.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. Thou shalt not pass by me — Literally, in me. This refusal was dictated partly by the hereditary grudge cherished by Esau against Jacob, (Gen_27:41,) and partly by fear of so great a multitude passing through his country. Exo_17:8-16. In consequence of this refusal, Israel, instead of marching through some pass in Mount Seir, was obliged to make a detour southward around Edom. The only alternative was an aggression upon the country of Edom and a fratricidal war which was against the divine will. Deu_2:5; see Num_21:4, note.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Edom said... Thou shalt not pass by me. This was the first of a series of hostile acts, prompted by vindictive jealousy, which brought down the wrath of God upon Edom (compare the prophecy of Obadiah). See, however, on Deu_2:29.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By me - Through my country: I will not suffer thee to do so: which was an act of policy, to secure themselves from so numerous an host.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Edomites refused the visit of the Israelites in a most unbrotherly manner, and threatened to come out against them with the sword, without paying the least attention to the repeated assurance of the Israelitish messengers, that they would only march upon the high road, and would pay for water for themselves and their cattle. אין־דּבר רק, lit., "it is nothing at all; I will go through with my feet:" i.e., we want no great thing; we will only make use of the high road.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

You may not pass ... to attack you

Here "you" is singular and refers to Moses, who represents the people of Israel. AT: "Your people may not pass ... to attack them" (See: Forms of You and Synecdoche)

I will come with the sword

Here the sword represents the king's army. AT: "I will send my army" (See: Metonymy)

the people of Israel

This phrase refers to the Israelite messengers.

walk through on foot

This idiom means that they would simply travel through the area by walking. They would not come in chariots to attack the people of Edom. (See: Idiom)

translationWords

sword

livestock

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

פן בחרב אצא לקראתך LEST I COME OUT AGAINST THEE WITH THE SWORD — You pride yourselves on the “voice” which your father bequeathed you as a blessing, saying, “And we cried unto the Lord and He heard our voice” (cf. Rashi on v. 16); I, therefore, will come out against you with that which my father bequeathed me when he said, (Genesis 27:40) “And by thy sword shalt thou live” (Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 9 on בשלח)

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.