Numbers 21:28

For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon,.... Not before, but after Sihon had subdued it, as Jarchi observes; and is to be understood of his soldiers going out from thence, and making desolations in

Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared: Wherefore they that speak in proverbs , [ hamoshªliym (H4911)] - parables, sententious

A fire, i.e. the fury of war, which is oft and fitly compared to fire here, as ,10,12,14 2:2,5; Heshbon; that city which before was a refuge and defence to all the country, now is turned into a great annoyance and a public mischief. Ar of Moab. Quest. How can this be, since Ar was yet in the hands of the Moabites, ,18,29? Answ. 1. This may be understood not of the city Ar, but of the people or the country subject or belonging to that great and royal city, as the Chaldee understands it. 2. Possibly Ar was taken by Sihon of the Moabites, but afterwards was either recovered by the Moabites, or upon the Israelites’ approach quitted by Sihon, gathering all his forces together that he might fight with the Israelites, and so repossessed by the Moabites. 3. This place may be thus rendered, It shall consume Ar of Moab, the past tense being put for the future, as is usual in prophetical passages; and so this may be the Amorites’ prediction or presage, that having taken Heshbon and its territories, they should now extend their victories to Ar of Moab, though they fell short of that hope, as ordinarily men do. The lords of the high places; either, 1. The princes or governors of the strong holds, which were frequently in high places, especially in that mountainous country, and which were in divers parts all along the river of Arnon; and having taken some of these, they promised to themselves that they should take all the rest, and so proceed further and further, till they had taken Ar itself. Or rather, 2. The priests and people that worshipped their god in their high places; which may seem more probable, 1. Because as the Israelites worshipped God, so the heathens worshipped Baal, in high places, , and particularly the Moabites are noted for so doing, . 2. Because amongst the eminent places of Moab there is mention of Bamoth-baal, or, of the high places of Baal, .

(27-30) Come into Heshbon.—These verses appear to commemorate first the victory of the Amorites over the Moabites, and then that of the Israelites over the Amorites. They may be rendered thus:— “Come ye to Heshbon! Let the city of Sihon be built up and restored! For a fire went out from Heshbon— A flame from the city of Sihon: It devoured Ar (or, the city) of Moab— The lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab!Thou art perished, O people of Chemosh: He (i.e., Chemosh) gave up his sons as fugitives,And his daughters into captivity,Unto Sihon, the King of the Amorites. We cast them down; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon: Yea, we laid them waste even unto Nophah, Which (reacheth) even unto Medcba.” Or, if we read esh (fire) instead of asher (which), a reading which derives some support from the Masoretic point over the last letter and from the context (Numbers 21:28), as well as from the LXX., the last words may be rendered, “With fire, even unto Medeba.” The Targum understands by “the lords of the high places of Arnon” the priests and worshippers in the temples and at the altars of the idols in Moab. Medeba, now Medaba, was situated at the south of Heshbon. The position of Nophah is unknown. It has been supposed that it may be the same as Nebo, which is mentioned in connection with Dibon and Medeba in Isaiah 15:2, or with Arneibah, which lies to the east of Medeba.

28. For a fire went out from Heshbon … it devoured &c.] The Amorites in the past gained possession of Heshbon, and from thence sent forth destruction upon the other towns of Moab. See Jeremiah 48:45 f. where the passage is quoted.

28. Ar — See Numbers 21:15, note. The high places of Arnon are mentioned as the limits to which Sihon had carried his victorious supremacy. The lords are the Moabites.