Numbers 21:30

Num 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.

Ver. 30. We have shot at them.] Great swelling words of vanity, uttered by the conquering Amorites. How much better our Henry V, who, after his victory at Agincourt, gave strait order, that no ballad or song should be made or sung, more than of thanksgiving to God for his happy victory; and that nothing that might tend to ostentation or boasting of the valiant, or cowardly act of any, should be set forth. {a}

{a} Dan., Hist., p. 101.

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 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.

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

21:30 The area described here is the one that Israel had just conquered (21:24), making the ballad celebrating Sihon a fitting tribute to Israel’s victory.

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

Hebrew, light.

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

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 Num_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 Deu_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 2Ki_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’ (Num_21:27) unexplained. If the words ‘unto an Amorite king Sihon’ (Num_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.

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.

And the Lord said unto Moses, fear him not,.... Og being of a gigantic stature, and his forces numerous, might cause some fear in Moses, and in the people, and therefore the Lord encouraged them not to be afraid of him and his army:

for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; that is, he had determined to do it, and now promised it, and it might be depended on and looked upon as if actually done:

and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon; slay him and his people, and take possession of his country.

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

Hesebon in the north, to Dibon in the southern extremity of the conquered country, near the Arnon, where Moses places the station of Dibon-gad. The yoke, or dominion of the Moabites, was ruined in all those parts. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "We have shot at them; or their lamp, (children or power,) from Hesebon as far as Dibon, is extinguished; and their wives (or we have destroyed them) even unto Nophe and Medaba." Septuagint, "Their women have still kindled a fire against Moab." Nophe is probably the Nabo of Isaias, (xv. 2,) in the environs of Medaba, where the fainting Moabites had time to breathe. The fire, which the Septuagint say the women enkindled against Moab, might seem to indicate that the war was commenced on their account, like that which brought on the destruction of Troy. They entailed a still heavier destruction upon their country, when, by alluring the Hebrews to sin, they enkindled God’s indignation, chap xxv. With this verse the quotation, from the Amorrhite proverbial writers, concludes, ver. 27. (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).

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, Num 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 1Sa 15:20; Psa 10:6; 95:11. The sense is, the whole country of Sihon, taken by him from the Moabites, is wasted and perished.

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

30. Dibon — See Jos_13:17, note.

Which reacheth — Here there is supposed to be an error in the Hebrew אשׁר, which, being written for אשׁ עד, with fire unto. Thus the Masoretic mark. The Seventy render it πυρ επι, fire upon.

Medeba — “Here,” says Dr. Ridgaway, “are some of the most remarkable ruins of the country.” See Jos_13:16, note.

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

We have shot at them. A poetical word of somewhat doubtful meaning. It is generally supposed to be a verbal form (first person plural imperf. Kal), from hry, with an unusual suffix. (cf. for in Exo_29:30) hry has the primary meaning "to shoot at," the secondary, "to overthrow," as in Exo_15:4. Others, however, derive the word from hra, a root supposed to mean "burn." Even unto Dibon. See on Num_32:34. The site of Nophah, perhaps the Nobah of Jud_1:8:11, is unknown. Which reacheth unto Medeba. The reading is uncertain here as well as the meaning. The received text has abdymAd rvae, which gives no meaning, but the circle over the resh marks it as suspicious. The Septuagint (pur ep Mwab ) and the Samaritan evidently read vae, 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 (1Ch_19:7) and of Omri, as appears from the Moabite stone.

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

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.

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

ונירם means their sovreignty.

אבד חשבון עד דיבן means: the sovreignty and the subjugation which Moab had over Heshbon is destroyed from thence. Similar also is the meaning of עד דיבן because the Targum of סר “it hath departed” is עד, so that this phrase means to say, sovreignty hath departed from Dibon. The word ניר denotes the sovreignty and yoke which result from a person’s rulership, as, (1 Kings 11:36) “that David Thy servant may always have dominion (ניר) before Me”.

ונשים WE HAVE LAID WASTE — The ש has a Dagesh, for the word denotes waste (שמם). Thus say they who speak in parables: ונשים אותם עד נפח which signifies we have laid them waste as far as Nophah.

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.