Numbers 21:13

21:13 The Israelites traveled to the east of the Moabite territory that lay between the Zered Brook on the south and the Arnon River on the north. The far side of the Arnon River was probably north and east of the main east–west canyon of the Arnon; this “Grand Canyon” was an effective natural boundary line between Moab and the territory of the Amorites north of the Arnon (see 21:26). • The Amorites were a group of nomadic peoples who had conquered areas from Mesopotamia to Canaan in the Middle Bronze Age (about 2000–1500 BC), including Babylon (around 1830 BC) and Assur (around 1750 BC). Amorites living in the hill country of Canaan had terrified Israel’s spies (Deut 1:26-28) and had then repelled Israel’s misguided attempt to enter Canaan (Num 14:44-45; see Deut 1:42-44). At the time of Israel’s arrival, Amorites had gained control of much of Transjordan (the area east of the Jordan); see study note on Num 21:26.

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

pitched on the other side of Arnon--now El-Mojib, a deep, broad, and rapid stream, dividing the dominions of the Moabites and Amorites.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. Arnon] Another river which takes its rise in the mountains of Moab, and, after having separated the ancient territories of the Moabites and Ammonites, falls into the Dead Sea, near the mouth of Jordan.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) On the other side of Arnon.—Better, by the side of the Arnon. (Comp. Deu_2:24; Deu_2:26.) The Hebrew word which is here used does not determine on which side of the Arnon the encampment was. (Comp. Num_22:1, and Note.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. on the other side of Arnon] This probably means north of it, the direction being considered from the point of view of the march; cf. Jdg_11:18.

The Arnon, now known as the Wady-el-Mojib, was a large stream which flowed westward into the Dead Sea at about the middle point of its eastern side. For a fuller description see on Num_21:14.

which is in the wilderness] i.e. that part of it which is in the wilderness. The clause defines more exactly one of the many streams which compose the river, perhaps the Wady Wâleh which flows into it from the north about 4½ miles from its mouth (see Enc. Bibl. [Note: nc. Bibl. Encyclopaedia Biblica.] 3170 note 1). It shews that the Israelites were still eastward of Moab in the district of the upper reaches of the river and its tributaries, all of which might loosely be called the Arnon (G. A. Smith, H. G. [Note: . G. Historical Geography of the Holy Land.] 558). This district, here and in Num_21:23 called ‘the wilderness,’ is named ‘the wilderness of Kedemoth’ in Deu_2:26.

that cometh out from the territory of the Amorites] This describes the wilderness, not the Arnon. The uncultivated region of the upper Arnon stretched away eastward from the Amorite country.

Arnon is the border of Moab] i.e. the northern border. At an earlier time the Moabites had possessed some land north of the river, and the Ammonites had lived north of them as far as the Jabbok. But shortly before the arrival of the Israelites, the Amorites had driven the Ammonites eastward into the desert, and the Moabites to the south of the Arnon (Num_21:26, Jdg_11:22). Thus directly the Israelites crossed the Arnon they were on the eastern border of the Amorites’ country, and, with a view to striking westward to the Jordan, they asked Sihon’s permission to pass through his country. In Deu_2:26-37 this and the subsequent fight with the Amorites are related correctly at this point. But in Num. the journey through the Amorite land is related (Num_21:16-20) before the hostility of Sihon is described.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord,.... A history of wars in former times, which the Lord had suffered to be in the world; and which, as Aben Ezra thinks, reached from the times of Abraham and so might begin with the battle of the kings in his time, and take in others in later times, and particularly those of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and his conquests of some parts of Moab; and to this book, which might be written by some one of those nations, Moses refers in proof of what he here says:

what he did in the Red sea; that is, what Sihon king of the Amorites did, or the Lord by him, "at Vaheb in Suphah", as the words may be rendered; either against a king, or rather city, of Moab, whose name was Vaheb, in the borders of the land of Moab, or how he destroyed that city Vaheb with a storm or terrible assault (l):

and in the brooks of Arnon: some places situated on the streams of that river, which were taken by the Amorites from the Moabites, as the book quoted plainly testified.

(l) Vid. L'Empereur. Not. in Mosis Kimchi p. 195.

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

The Arnon, now the Wady Mojeb, an impetuous torrent, divided the territory which remained to the Moabites from that which the Amorites had wrested from them, Num 21:26.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Against. Hebrew, "on the other, or on this side of (the river, ver. 14) Arnon," which runs from the east, almost in the same direction as the torrent of Zared, but empties itself into the Dead Sea higher up, near the mouth of the Jordan. (Calmet) --- It divides the Moabites from their brethren, the children of Ammon, who lay to the north-east. The Hebrews encamped on the south side of this river, in the desert of Cademoth, (Deuteronomy ii. 26,) whence they sent to ask leave of Sehon to pass through his dominions; but, on his refusal, God ordered them to cross the Arnon by force. (Calmet)

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).

On the other side of Arnon, or rather, on this side of Arnon, for so it now was to the Israelites, who had not yet passed over it, as appears from Deu 2:24. But the same words, Jdg 11:18, are to be rendered on the other side of Arnon, for so it was to Jephthah; and the same preposition signifieth on this side, or beyond, according to the circumstances of the place.

Between Moab and the Amorite, i.e. though formerly it and the land beyond it belonged to Moab, yet afterwards it had been taken from them by Sihon, Num 21:26,28. This is added to reconcile two seemingly contrary commands of God, the one that of not meddling with the land of the. Moabites, Deu 2:9, the other that of going over Arnon and taking possession of the land beyond it, Deu 2:24, because, saith he, it is not now the land of the Moabites, but of the Amorites.

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

13. Arnon — “The rushing river,” dashing through a tremendous chasm, was the first river they had seen since leaving the Nile. “Looking across its width of about three miles from crest to crest, and into its depths over two thousand feet below, its sides rich with permanent verdure, and floods of bright water sparkling far underneath, the joy after a long life in the thirsty and barren wilderness must have been indescribable.” — Geikie. The Arnon rises in the mountains of Arabia, flows westward about eighty miles through the desert, and falls into the Dead Sea. Jos_12:1, note. The Arnon is the modern Wady Mojib. Israel encamped on its south side waiting the return of the embassy to Sihon sent to ask for a passage through his territory. Tristram has given a most vivid description of the gorge through which the Arnon flows. From crest to crest is three miles, the height of the southern bank is 2,150 feet, and that of the northern is 1,950. “Of course, the army of Israel could not have passed the river here, but higher up, to the east, ‘in the wilderness.’” The Revised Version translates Num_21:14-15; Num_21:18 in poetical form, also Num_21:27-30.

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

Pitched on the other side of Arnon. The Arnon was without doubt the stream or torrent now known as the Wady Mojeb, which breaks its way down to the Salt Sea through a precipitous ravine. It must have been in the upper part of its course, in the desert uplands, that the Israelites crossed it; and this both because the passage lower down is extremely difficult, and also because they were keeping well to the eastward of Moabitish territory up to this point. It is not certain which side of the stream is intended by "the other side," because the force of these expressions depends as often upon the point of view of the writer as of the reader. It would appear from Deu_2:26 that Israel remained at this spot until the embassage to Sihon had returned. That cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites, i.e., the Aruon, or perhaps one of its confluents which comes down from the northeast. For Arnon is the border of Moab. It was at that time the boundary (see on verse 26).

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

On the other side - Or rather, on this side of Arnon, for so it now was to the Israelites, who had not yet passed over it. Between Moab and the Amorites - Though formerly it and the land beyond it belonged to Moab, yet afterwards it had been taken from them by Sihon. This is added to reconcile two seemingly contrary commands of God, the one that of not meddling with the land of the Moabites, Deut. ii, 9, the other that of going over Arnon and taking possession of the land beyond it, Deut. ii, 24, because, saith he, it is not now the land of the Moabites, but of the Amorites.

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

מגבל האמרי The word גבול denotes boundary-line of (marking) the end of their frontier. Similar is the term the גבול of Moab (in this verse): it is an expression for extremity and end.

מעבר ארנון ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ARNON — they travelled round the land of Moab along the whole of its southern and eastern sides until they came to the other side of the Arnon into the land of the Amorites on the north of the land of Moab.

היצא מגבל האמרי [ARNON WHICH IS IN THE WILDERNESS] THAT COMETH OUT OF THE BOUNDARY OF THE AMORITES — a strip of land jutted out from the territory of the Amorites — it belonged to the Amorites — and entered into the territory of Moab extending unto the Arnon which is the boundary of Moab. It was there that the Israelites encamped and thus they did not pass into the territory of Moab, כי ארנון גבול מואב, FOR ARNON IS THE BOUNDARY OF MOAB, and they did not grant them permission to pass through their land. And although Moses did not state this plainly, Jephtha plainly stated it], as Jephtha said, (Judges 11:17) "And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab, out he would not permit him to pass through his territory”. Moses, however, made an allusion to it when he stated, (Deuteronomy 2:29) “As the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me”. What was the case with these (the children of Esau)? They did not permit them to pass through their land, but they made them travel right round it! Similarly, too, Moab did!

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.

FOR ARNON IS THE BORDER OF MOAB, BETWEEN MOAB AND THE AMORITES. Arnon was a city which belonged to Moab, [located] near the end of the Amorite border and the beginning of the border of Moab, and it was situated on brooks that flowed through it..

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.