Add parallel Print Page Options

28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has consumed Ar of Moab
and the lords[a] of the high places of Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab.
You are ruined, O people of Chemosh![b]
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.
30 We have overpowered them;[c]
Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.
We have shattered them as far as Nophah,
which[d] reaches to Medeba.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 21:28 tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (balʿah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (baʿale, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.
  2. Numbers 21:29 sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.
  3. Numbers 21:30 tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).
  4. Numbers 21:30 tc The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ʾasher) posed a problem for the ancient scribes here, as indicated by the so-called extraordinary point (punta extraordinaria) over the letter ר (resh) of אֲשֶׁר. Smr and the LXX have “fire” (אֵשׁ, ʾesh) here (cf. NAB, NJB, RSV, NRSV). Some modern scholars emend the word to שֹׁאָה (shoʾah, “devastation”).

28 “Fire went out from Heshbon,
    a blaze from the city of Sihon.(A)
It consumed(B) Ar(C) of Moab,
    the citizens of Arnon’s heights.(D)
29 Woe to you, Moab!(E)
    You are destroyed, people of Chemosh!(F)
He has given up his sons as fugitives(G)
    and his daughters as captives(H)
    to Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 “But we have overthrown them;
    Heshbon’s dominion has been destroyed all the way to Dibon.(I)
We have demolished them as far as Nophah,
    which extends to Medeba.(J)

Read full chapter