(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)
Moses has lost both sister, Miriam, and brother, Aaron, and endured the embarassment of Meribah. He has asked the king of Edom for right of way to Canaan and been refused. Now the Israelites move along the road to Atharim. (The location of Atharim is unknown. This website has some suggestions.)
Numbers 21:1-3, Attack by Arad
When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. Then Israel made this vow to the LORD: "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities." The LORD listened to Israel's plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.
The king of Arad, in the Negev, attacks Israel and captures some of them. With the help of God, the Israelites retaliate and destroy the Canaanite in the region of Hormah.
Numbers 21:4-6, More complaints
They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
Once again, the people grumble as they attempt to pass through the arid region from Mount Hor. In this case, the punishment is a swarm of venomous snakes.
The Hebrew nachash hasseraphim literally means "snakes fiery" or "snakes poisonous." The core of hasseraphim is saraph, (fiery, burning, poisonous) from which we get the plural seraphim.
Numbers 21:7-9, A serpent on a pole
The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."
So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
The people beg for forgiveness. Moses made the image of a serpent out of bronze and place the image on a pole. Anyone who was bitten and looked at that serpent was healed.
In the New Testament, in John 3:14-15 (right before the famous John 3:16), we are told that Jesus is the equivalent of the serpent on a pole: anyone who is "bitten" may look at him and be healed.
Numbers 21:10-15, Approaching the Amorites
The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise. From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the desert extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says:
"... Waheb in Suphah and the ravines,
the Arnon and the slopes of the ravines
that lead to the site of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab."
After this recent grumbling in the wilderness, and the punishment that followed, the Israelites move on to Oboth and then the Zered valley and further. The author cites an unknown "Book of the Wars of the LORD" as a source.
Numbers 21:16-20, Water
From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water."
Then Israel sang this song:
"Spring up, O well!
Sing about it,
about the well that the princes dug,
that the nobles of the people sank--
the nobles with scepters and staffs."
Then they went from the desert to Mattanah, from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.
As the Israelites move on, YHWH gives them water near the region of Beer. (The region's name and an English word for a drink accidentally coincide, making the region easy to remember!) The Hebrew word beer means "well" or "pit."
Numbers 21:21-23, Request to Sihon
Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites:
"Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway until we have passed through your territory."
But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel.
As Moses had asked of Edom, he now asks of the Amorites. He would like for the Israelites to pass through the land, promising to leave nothing but footprints. He is refused and Sihon musters an army to repel the Israelites.
Numbers 21:24-30, Defeat of Sihon
Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified. Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements.
Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon. That is why the poets say:
"Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt;
let Sihon's city be restored.
"Fire went out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
the citizens of Arnon's heights.
Woe to you, O Moab!
You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh!
He has given up his sons as fugitives
and his daughters as captives
to Sihon king of the Amorites.
"But we have overthrown them;
Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon.
We have demolished them as far as Nophah,
which extends to Medeba."
Sihon attacked Israel but the Israelites retaliated and occupied the cites of the Amorites. Indeed the victory is apparently reported in song or poetry.
Numbers 21:31-33, Og
So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.
After defeating the Amorites, the Israelites settle into Amorite towns. Seeing a threat, Og, king of Bashan, marches out to meet them.
Numbers 21:34-35, Defeating Og
The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon." So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.
YHWH tells Moses that he will defeat Og and so the Israelites march out to victory and take over that territory.
See also Deuteronomy 3:1-11 regarding the conflict with Og, who there is described as a giant of a man.
Some Random Thoughts
Jewish tradition cites Moses as the author of the Pentateuch, although nowhere in the writings is the author given. This chapter includes an interesting editorial comment in verses 14 and 15, quoting an earlier ancient text and then again, with a different source, in verses 27 to 30. This would not be consistent with Moses authorship.
First published September 24, 2025; updated September 24, 2025
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