Numbers 21:30

We have shot at them,.... Either the Amorites at the Moabites, or else the Israelites at the Amorites; for, according to Aben Ezra, these are the words of Moses, though they, with Numbers 21:29, seem

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

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, . 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 95:11. The sense is, the whole country of Sihon, taken by him from the Moabites, is wasted and perished.

Numbers 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. Dan., Hist., p. 101.

(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.

30. And we shot at them] So the Heb. text. An extremely doubtful clause, which represents a single word in the Heb. (εַ ?πִּ ?ιψָ ?ν). 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 καὶτὸσπέρμααὐτῶνἀπολεῖται, ἙσεβὼνἕωςΔαιβών, which may preserve the true reading, ‘and their posterity (εְ ?πִ ?ιπָ ?ν) 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 ΰֲ ?ωֶׁ ?ψςַ ?μξִ ?γְ ?αָּ ?ψ ‘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 Dhibβn, 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 Judges 8:11; this lay to the east of Moab near the desert. Medeba] spelt Mehedeba in Mesha’s inscription. It is the modern Mβdebβ, 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 Numbers 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 Deuteronomy 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 2 Kings 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’ (Numbers 21:27) unexplained. If the words ‘unto an Amorite king Sihon’ (Numbers 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.

30. Dibon — See Joshua 13:17, note. Which reacheth — Here there is supposed to be an error in the Hebrew ΰωׁ ?ψ, which, being written for ΰωׁ ςγ, with fire unto. Thus the Masoretic mark. The Seventy render it πυρεπι, fire upon.