Bilangan 21:14

21:14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

“Waheb in Suphah ¹  and the wadis,

the Arnon

Bilangan 21:2

21:2 So Israel made a vow ²  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ³  this people into our ⁴  hand, then we will utterly destroy ⁵  their cities.”

1 Samuel 1:18

1:18 She said, “May I, your servant, find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and got something to eat. ⁶  Her face no longer looked sad.

[21:14]  ¹ tc The ancient versions show a wide variation here: Smr has “Waheb on the Sea of Reeds,” the Greek version has “he has set Zoob on fire and the torrents of Arnon.” Several modern versions treat the first line literally, taking the two main words as place names: Waheb and Suphah. This seems most likely, but then there would then be no subject or verb. One would need something like “the Israelites marched through.” The KJV, following the Vulgate, made the first word a verb and read the second as “Red Sea” – “what he did in the Red Sea.” But subject of the passage is the terrain. D. L. Christensen proposed emending the first part from אֶת וָהֵב (’et vahev) to אַתָּה יְהוָה (’attah yehvah, “the Lord came”). But this is subjective. See his article “Num 21:14-15 and the Book of the Wars of Yahweh,” CBQ 36 (1974): 359-60.

[21:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ⁵ tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[1:18]  ⁶ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack the words “and got something to eat.”