Numbers 21

Numbers 21 is a chapter in the latter part of the Book of Numbers. In Numbers 20, Edom refused Israel passage, and Aaron died on Mount Hor. This chapter continues the account of what followed, as Israel went around Edom and drew near to the land of Moab.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: The Canaanite king of Arad attacks Israel and takes some of the people captive. Israel makes a vow and utterly destroys their cities. The place is named Hormah.
• Verses 4–9: On the way around the land of Edom, the people grow discouraged and speak against God and Moses. The LORD sends fiery serpents, and many people die. When Moses prays, the LORD instructs him to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole; anyone who has been bitten and looks at it lives.
• Verses 10–20: A series of encampments follows, from Oboth to the top of Pisgah. This section quotes "the book of the wars of the LORD" and includes the song sung at the well at Beer.
• Verses 21–32: Sihon king of the Amorites refuses Israel passage along the King's Highway and comes out to fight at Jahaz. Israel prevails and takes possession of the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, along with Heshbon. A song about Heshbon is included, and Israel then takes Jaazer.
• Verses 33–35: Israel fights Og king of Bashan at Edrei, defeats him, and occupies his land.

Key Verses

• Numbers 21:8 "Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." This is the central verse of the bronze serpent account and is taken up again in the New Testament.
• Numbers 21:14 "Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD…" This verse shows that the biblical writer drew on another record that no longer survives.

People and Places

• Sihon: King of the Amorites, whose royal city was Heshbon. He had earlier attacked Moab and taken its land as far as the Arnon.
• Og: King of Bashan, who fought against Israel at Edrei.
• Hormah: The name given to the place after the battle with the king of Arad.
• Arnon: The valley that formed the border between Moab and the Amorites.
• Heshbon: The royal city of Sihon.
• The chapter also mentions the border of the children of Ammon and Chemosh, the god of Moab.

Points for Reflection

• In John 3:14–15, Jesus says that as Moses lifted up the serpent, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. For this reason, many Christian traditions read the bronze serpent as a type (a figure that foreshadows something to come) of the cross. Interpreters differ, however, on how far this connection should be pressed in its details.
• 2 Kings 18:4 records that Hezekiah broke in pieces the bronze serpent to which the people had been burning incense. This account shows that worshiping the bronze serpent itself was regarded as idolatry.
• 1 Corinthians 10:9 applies this event as a warning against murmuring and testing the Lord.
• The serpent-entwined staff used as a medical symbol is generally understood to derive from Asclepius of Greek mythology. Claims linking it to the bronze serpent are later associations not found in the biblical text.
• The accounts of utterly destroying cities and peoples (verses 3 and 35) are interpreted in various ways, with readers appealing to ancient customs of warfare, divine judgment, or literary convention.

In the Korean Church

The bronze serpent account is frequently preached together with John 3:14–16 to explain the cross and faith. It is also widely taught in Sunday school curricula as one of the wilderness narratives.