Numbers 21:20

And from Bamoth, [in] the valley,.... Or rather "to the valley", as the Targum of Onkelos, since Bamoth signifies high places; though, according to the Jerusalem Talmud (o), Bamoth, Baal, which seems

And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon. Bamoth , [ uwmi-Baamowt (H1120) hagayª' (H1516)] - heights or high places in the gorge or narrow glen (cf.

In the valley; or, the valley, which might be called Bamoth, not because it was a place naturally high, but from divers other reasons, which may be easily guessed. Or, to the valley, or to that valley, that famous or rather infamous valley, to wit, of Abel-shittim, , where they committed those foul abominations recorded Numbers 25 Pisgah was the top of these high hills of Abarim; of which see ,27 32:49 34:1,6.

(20) And from Bamoth in the valley.—Better, and from Bamoth to the valley that is . . . The country (or, rather, field) of Moab was a portion of the table-land which stretches from Rabbath Ammân to the Arnon. The valley in this table-land was upon the height of Pisgah—i.e., the northern part of the mountains of Abarim. Toward Jeshimon.—Or, across the waste (or, desert).

20. the valley that is in the region of Moab, [om. to] the top of the Pisgah] The two expressions are placed somewhat awkwardly in apposition; but they appear to mean: the valley which is in that part of the region of Moab known as the top of the Pisgah. the valley] was a glen (gay’, distinct from naḥ ?al, Numbers 21:14) which cut through the hills and emerged at the Jordan, perhaps the present Wâdy ‘Ayûn Mûsa (‘Moses’ springs’) which runs into the Jordan valley some four or five miles north of the northern end of the Dead Sea, the torrent then flowing with a south-westerly curve into the Sea. the region of Moab] denotes the region which properly belonged to Moab, but of which the Amorites were in possession at the moment. the top of the Pisgah] ‘The Pisgah’ seems to have been the name applied to the broken edge of the Moabite plateau where it falls steeply to the Dead Sea and the Jordan valley; and ‘the top, or head, of the Pisgah’ (Numbers 23:14, Deuteronomy 3:27; Deuteronomy 34:1) is a collective term for the projections or promontories slightly lower than the main plateau and standing out from the western slopes. The word is derived from a root which in Aram. and late Heb. signifies ‘to cleave’; and it may describe the appearance of the range as seen from the west, standing out in a series of separate peaks. which looketh down upon the Jeshimon] The name, which denotes ‘arid or desert land,’ is used of the deserts through which Israel passed in their journey from Egypt (Deuteronomy 32:10, Psalms 68:7 &c.), and of the waste land on the east of Judah, north of the Dead Sea (1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 23:24; 1 Samuel 26:1; 1 Samuel 26:3 marg.). But here the verb ‘looketh down,’ which is chiefly used of men looking down from a window (Genesis 26:8, 2 Samuel 24:20, Son 6:10), or of God looking down out of heaven (Psalms 102:19), seems to point to a district more immediately below the Pisgah, which must be the barren tract north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan (see G. A. Smith, H. G. [Note: . G. Historical Geography of the Holy Land.] 564 note).

In the country of Moab - Rather, in the field of Moab: the upland pastures, or flat downs, intersected by the ravine of Wady Waleh. Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon - Or, “toward the waste.” See Numbers 33:47.

20. In the valley — Rather, to the valley, which is in the fields of Moab upon the top of Pisgah.