Numbers 21

It’s unclear what or where Atharim was. Some scholars suggest it may have been a trading route from the southern side of the Dead Sea, up and into Arad. Others say it may have been a community. Some suggest the word refers simply to the route Joshua, Caleb, and the other 10 scouts took 40 years earlier, when Moses sent them up to explore the land.

The vow they took was to dedicate themselves to herem, the annihilation of the Canaanites. In today’s culture, that might qualify as genocide. This kind of vow in ancient times was considered irrevocable and irredeemable. You couldn’t take it back. And nothing of the enemy was allowed to live. Everything in the city was devoted to God, much like sacrificial animals that are slaughtered and burned. “It’s a vow of devotion. If something is devoted to the LORD—whether human, animal, or land—you can’t have it back. If you devote something in this unique way, it’s holy and it stays holy because it belongs to the LORD…You can’t reverse that. You can’t buy back that person’s life. That person is doomed to die” (Leviticus 27:28-29).

The Hebrew word is herem. Scholars describe it as a “curse of war” or a “ban.” It means that when soldiers conquer a city, for example, they are banned from keeping anything for themselves—everything in the city is under the curse of war and must die. Joshua later fought by those rules. His orders at the Battle of Jericho: “Keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it” (Joshua 6:18 English Standard Version).

The name in Hebrew is Hormah. It’s a word linked to herem, and to the vow that the Israelites made to “devote” the Canaanites to God in much the same way they “devote” sacrificial animals. Those animals were reserved for God, dedicated to him, and given to him in death. Hormah can mean: to exterminate, to devote to God by killing something, banned from humans and reserved for God. For the Israelites, the name could have served as a rally cry and as a warning to the Canaanites. Perhaps a bit like a Hebrew version of “Remember the Alamo.”

The original Hebrew language here doesn’t identify the terrible food as manna, but scholars say that’s what the people were likely talking about. They ate manna for 40 years (Exodus 16:35). The Hebrew word is man, pronounced “MAWN.” It’s a good journalism word because it can mean: How? Why? Who? What? What is it? (Exodus 16:15). Some scholars say a fair English translation of the word might be “whatchamacallit.” Or maybe “whatever.” As in, the Israelites had that whatever for breakfast every morning. “It looked like white coriander seeds, and tasted like honey wafers” (Exodus 16:31.) Coriander seeds are small, roughly 2-3 millimeters in diameter, about an eighth of an inch. They’re edible and often used as a spice. Some say it has a nutty citrus taste of lemon or orange.

God, by the way, was the chef. He donated the manna and prepared it for them (Exodus 16:14-5). When the Israelites complained about the free food they were getting, the chef/philanthropist heard them.

It’s unclear where Oboth was located. One popular suggestion has been a site known as ‘Ain el-Weibeh (spelled various ways). It’s about 15 miles (24 km) south of the Dead Sea, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Petra, capital of Edom. That would place it inside what is usually considered the northern border of Edom.

Some scholars say Iye-abarim may not have been the name of a place, but was the description of an area: “regions beyond” or “ruins on the other side.”

More literally “Wadi Zered.” A wadi is usually a dry creek bed that will carry water after a rain. Dry, it’s a natural walking path.

The Book of the Wars was apparently an ancient collection of stories and poems describing Israelite battles. Joshua 10:13 mentions another lost book about their battles: the Book of Jashar.

The Hebrew word for a well is “beer.” Cheers.

Pisgah means “summit.” Mount Pisgah may refer to one or more of the high points on Moab’s plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and Canaan below, to the west. Mount Nebo is there, where Moses died. It’s the highest summit on the plateau, at 2,300 feet elevation, or 710 meters. That’s an especially good vantage point to view what is now Israel and Palestinian territories since the Dead Sea is about 1,400 feet below sea level, or 430 meters. With the Israelites camped near the Jordan River, Balak (Numbers 23:14) would have been more than a kilometer above them, about three-fourths of a mile.

There seemed reason to fear him. He ruled a kingdom of 60 walled cities, not counting villages. And he reportedly was a giant of a man. The Bible calls him the last of the giants, and says he slept in a bed about 13 feet long and 6 feet wide, which is about 4 by 2 meters. See Deuteronomy 3:1-11.