King's Highway

Biblical Text

The King's Highway appears twice in Numbers. Korean Bible translations render it as "the king's highway" or "the king's great road"; the King James Version reads "the king's high way."

• Numbers 20:14-21: While staying at Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom, asking to pass through without entering any field or vineyard or drinking water from any well, and promising: "we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left" (Numbers 20:17). Edom refused and came out against them with an army, and Israel went around the land of Edom.
• Numbers 21:21-24: Israel asked Sihon king of the Amorites for passage on the same terms: "we will go along by the king's high way" (Numbers 21:22). Sihon also refused and fought against Israel at Jahaz, where he was defeated, and Israel took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok.

Deuteronomy 2:26-30 recounts the request sent to Sihon, recording the words "I will go along by the high way" (Deuteronomy 2:27), which are generally read as referring to the same road.

Background

The Hebrew expression is derekh ha-melekh, literally "the way of the king." Scholars differ on whether the name designates a road directly maintained by a king or a public trunk road connecting several kingdoms.

Scholars generally hold that the road ran from the region of Damascus in the north through the highlands of Aram, Gilead, Ammon, Moab, and Edom to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Bozrah, the chief city of Edom, is known to have stood along the route. Together with the coastal road along the sea, it was one of the region's principal north–south corridors, carrying goods such as spices and metals. The road built in this region in the later Roman period is also understood to have largely followed this route. A road bearing the name exists in Jordan today. The exact course of the road and the period of its use, however, remain debated in archaeological research.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In the biblical narrative, the King's Highway forms the backdrop for Israel's dealings with neighboring peoples on the way to the Promised Land. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, and Moses addressed them as kin when requesting peaceful passage: "Thus saith thy brother Israel" (Numbers 20:14). The refusal and the detour associated with this road are remembered as one of the events that prolonged the forty years in the wilderness. The conflict with Sihon, by contrast, led to Israel's occupation of the land east of the Jordan. The New Testament does not mention the road directly.

Interpretation and Issues

• Differences between Numbers and Deuteronomy: Numbers 20 reports that Edom refused passage. Deuteronomy 2:4-8 and 2:29, however, state that Israel passed by the children of Esau who dwelt in Seir and bought food and water from them with money. Some explain the difference as referring to different times or regions, while others attribute it to divergent transmissions of the tradition.
• Spiritual application: Preachers sometimes use the words "we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left" as an image of the straight path of faith. This is an application rather than the direct meaning of the text. The "highway" (the way of holiness) in Isaiah 35:8 translates a different Hebrew word and should be distinguished from the King's Highway as a place name.