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Números 21

BLIVRE · Chapter 21/36

1E quando o cananeu, o rei de Arade, que habitava ao sul, ouviu falar que Israel vinha pelo caminho de Atarim, lutou contra Israel, e dele levou alguns como prisioneiros.

2Então Israel fez voto ao SENHOR, e disse: Se com efeito entregares a este povo em minha mão, eu destruirei suas cidades.

3E o SENHOR escutou a voz de Israel, e entregou aos cananeus, e destruiu-os a eles e a suas cidades; e chamou o nome daquele lugar Hormá.

4E partiram do monte de Hor, caminho do mar Vermelho, para rodear a terra de Edom; e abateu-se o ânimo do povo pelo caminho.

5E falou o povo contra Deus e Moisés: Por que nos fizeste subir do Egito para que morrêssemos neste deserto? que nem há pão, nem água, e nossa alma tem ódio deste pão tão miserável.

6E o SENHOR enviou entre o povo serpentes ardentes, que mordiam ao povo: e morreu muito povo de Israel.

7Então o povo veio a Moisés, e disseram: Pecado temos por haver falado contra o SENHOR, e contra ti: roga ao SENHOR que tire de nós estas serpentes. E Moisés orou pelo povo.

8E o SENHOR disse a Moisés: Faze-te uma serpente ardente, e põe-a sobre a haste: e será que qualquer um que for mordido e olhar a ela, viverá.

9E Moisés fez uma serpente de bronze, e a pôs sobre a haste, e foi, que quando alguma serpente mordia a algum, olhava à serpente de bronze, e vivia.

10E partiram os filhos de Israel, e assentaram acampamento em Obote.

11E partidos de Obote, assentaram em Ijé-Abarim, no deserto que está diante de Moabe, ao oriente.

12Partidos dali, assentaram no vale de Zerede.

13De ali moveram, e assentaram da outra parte de Arnom, que está no deserto, e que sai do termo dos amorreus; porque Arnom é termo de Moabe, entre Moabe e os amorreus.

14Por isso se diz no livro das batalhas do SENHOR: Vaebe em Sufa, e nos ribeiros de Arnom:

15E à corrente dos ribeiros que vai a parar em Ar, e descansa no termo de Moabe.

16E dali vieram a Beer: este é o poço do qual o SENHOR disse a Moisés: Junta ao povo, e lhes darei água.

17Então cantou Israel esta canção: Sobe, ó poço; a ele cantai:

18Poço, o qual cavaram os senhores; Cavaram-no os príncipes do povo, E o legislador, com seus bordões. E do deserto [partiram] para Matana.

19E de Mataná a Naaliel: e de Naaliel a Bamote:

20E de Bamote ao vale que está nos campos de Moabe, e ao cume de Pisga, que está voltado a Jesimom.

21E enviou Israel embaixadores a Seom, rei dos amorreus, dizendo:

22Deixa-me passar por tua terra: não nos desviaremos pelos campos, nem pelas vinhas; não beberemos as águas dos poços; pelo caminho real iremos, até que passemos os teus termos.

23Mas Seom não deixou passar a Israel por seus termos: antes juntou Seom todo seu povo, e saiu contra Israel no deserto: e veio a Jaza, e lutou contra Israel.

24Mas Israel o feriu a fio de espada, e tomou sua terra desde Arnom até Jaboque, até os filhos de Amom: porque o termo dos filhos de Amom era forte.

25E tomou Israel todas estas cidades: e habitou Israel em todas as cidades dos amorreus, em Hesbom e em todas suas aldeias.

26Porque Hesbom era a cidade de Seom, rei dos amorreus; o qual havia tido guerra antes com o rei de Moabe, e tomado de seu poder toda a sua terra até Arnom.

27Portanto, dizem os proverbistas: Vinde a Hesbom, Edifique-se e repare-se a cidade de Seom:

28Que fogo saiu de Hesbom, E chama da cidade de Seom, E consumiu a Ar de Moabe, aos senhores dos altos de Arnom.

29Ai de ti, Moabe! Pereceste, povo de Camos: Pôs seus filhos em fuga, E suas filhas em cativeiro, por Seom rei dos amorreus.

30Mas devastamos o reino deles; pereceu Hesbom até Dibom, E destruímos até Nofá e Medeba.

31Assim habitou Israel na terra dos amorreus.

32E enviou Moisés a reconhecer a Jazer; e tomaram suas aldeias, e expulsaram aos amorreus que estavam ali.

33E voltaram, e subiram caminho de Basã. E Ogue, rei de Basã, ele e todo o seu povo, saíram contra eles, para lutar em Edrei.

34Então o SENHOR disse a Moisés: Não tenhas medo dele, que em tua mão o dei, a o e a todo seu povo, e a sua terra; e farás dele como fizeste de Seom, rei dos amorreus, que habitava em Hesbom.

35E feriram a ele, e a seus filhos, e a toda sua gente, sem que lhe restasse um, e possuíram sua terra.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Israel defeats the king of Arad (Hormah), but complains again along the way, and is punished with venomous serpents. God tells Moses to raise a bronze serpent for healing, and afterward Israel defeats kings Sihon (the Amorites) and Og (Bashan), advancing its territory.

Explanation

The bronze serpent is one of the most theologically rich symbols in the Old Testament: instead of simply removing the serpents, God provides a means of healing that required faith and a simple action (looking at the raised symbol), showing that God's salvation often comes in a way that defies our logic about merit and effort. The military victories over Sihon and Og, two powerful kings, begin to shift Israel's narrative from constant defeat to effective conquest, showing that the 40 years of discipline did not mean abandonment — God kept fighting for His people. This chapter is a visible turning point: Israel finally begins to take possession of territories that will become part of the promised land.

Fun facts

  • Jesus makes direct reference to this episode in John 3:14-15, comparing His own crucifixion ('lifted up') to the bronze serpent raised by Moses, as a source of healing and life for whoever looks in faith.
  • Centuries later, King Hezekiah destroyed this same bronze serpent (2 Kings 18:4) because the people had begun worshiping it as an idol (calling it Nehushtan) — showing how even a genuine symbol of divine healing can be corrupted into idolatry when the object itself comes to be venerated in place of God.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 21:1The Canaanite king of Arad, hearing that Israel was approaching, attacks the people and even manages to take some of them prisoner.
  2. Números 21:2In response, Israel makes a vow to the LORD: if He would hand that people over to them, they would utterly destroy the enemy cities.
  3. Números 21:3The LORD grants the request, hands the Canaanites over to Israel, and the people destroy everything completely, giving the place the name Hormah.
  4. Números 21:4The caravan sets out from Mount Hor toward the Red Sea, going around the territory of Edom, and the people begin to lose patience with the long journey.
  5. Números 21:5Once again the people complain against God and Moses, repeating the same old question — why bring them out of Egypt only to die in the wilderness — and now they are also sick of the manna, called here worthless food.
  6. Números 21:6After yet another complaint from the people about the food and the journey, God sends venomous serpents into the camp, and several people die from the bites. It is one more episode in the string of rebellions that mark this generation in the wilderness.
  7. Números 21:7Repentant, the people acknowledge the sin of speaking against God and Moses, ask for the serpents to be taken away, and Moses intercedes in prayer for them.
  8. Números 21:8The LORD responds with an unusual solution: make a serpent and set it on a pole, so that whoever was bitten and looked at it would survive.
  9. Números 21:9To heal whoever had been bitten, God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a raised pole; whoever looked at it after being bitten survived. It was not the serpent itself that healed, but the act of obeying and looking at the sign God had given.
  10. Números 21:10This stop comes right after the episode of the bronze serpent. Oboth already marks the final stretch of the journey, approaching the land of Moab, going around the territory of Edom.
  11. Números 21:11From Oboth they move on to the hills of Abarim, in the wilderness facing Moab, toward the sunrise.
  12. Números 21:12The Zered brook marks Israel’s final departure from the territory of Edom, already on the last leg toward Moab — the same closing stretch that appears summarized, under other names, in the list in Numbers 33.
  13. Números 21:13Next they camp on the other side of the Arnon, right on the natural border between the territory of Moab and that of the Amorites.
  14. Números 21:14Here appears a citation from “the book of the wars of the Lord,” a work that did not survive to this day and about which nothing else is known beyond this mention. It shows that the Bible, at some points, cites external sources from that era that have been lost over time — the biblical text does not claim to be the only thing ever written about these events.
  15. Números 21:15The text also describes the terrain of the region: the slope of the valleys that stretches out toward Ar, right on the border of Moab.
  16. Números 21:16From there they move on to Beer, the specific well where the LORD had promised Moses He would gather the people there to give them water.
  17. Números 21:17At this point, Israel sings a song celebrating the well, inviting everyone to sing to it.
  18. Números 21:18The song recalls that this well was dug by the people’s own leaders, using their staffs of authority — and from there they move on to Mattanah.
  19. Números 21:19From Mattanah they go to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, continuing the journey recorded place by place.
  20. Números 21:20From Bamoth they reach a valley in the territory of Moab, at the top of Mount Pisgah, from where the wilderness ahead could already be seen.
  21. Números 21:21Israel sends messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, repeating the same diplomatic request already made to Edom.
  22. Números 21:22The request was to pass through the land without touching any crops or wells, staying only on the main road until they crossed the territory.
  23. Números 21:23Sihon, unlike Edom, does not just refuse — he gathers his army and goes out to meet Israel at Jahaz, heading into battle.
  24. Números 21:24Israel wins and takes possession of Sihon’s land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, stopping at the border of the Ammonites, which was heavily fortified.
  25. Números 21:25Israel then occupies all the conquered Amorite cities, including Heshbon and its surrounding villages.
  26. Números 21:26Heshbon had in fact been Sihon’s capital, after he had already taken that land from the former king of Moab.
  27. Números 21:27Because of this conquest, the popular poets of the time sang about the rebuilding and strengthening of Heshbon, Sihon’s city.
  28. Números 21:28An ancient poem, quoted here, describes how Heshbon’s power had devastated Ar of Moab and the lords of the heights of the Arnon.
  29. Números 21:29The same poem laments the fall of Moab and its god Chemosh, whose people had been handed over as captives to Sihon.
  30. Números 21:30The poem goes on to describe the extent of Moab’s defeat, from Heshbon to Dibon, reaching all the way to Nophah and Medeba.
  31. Números 21:31After this victory, Israel begins to actually live in the land that had once belonged to the Amorites.
  32. Números 21:32Moses also sends spies to Jaazer, and the people take its villages, driving out the Amorites who lived there.
  33. Números 21:33Next, Israel heads toward Bashan, where Og, the local king, comes out to face them in battle at the city of Edrei.
  34. Números 21:34The LORD reassures Moses, telling him not to be afraid, because He had already handed Og, his people, and his land over to Israel, just as had happened with Sihon.
  35. Números 21:35Israel defeats Og completely, along with his sons and all his people, leaving no survivors, and takes possession of his land.

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