Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The Hebrews defeat King Arad. Secondly, verse 4, the people murmur, and therefore God sends fiery serpents among them, from whose bites the afflicted are healed by looking upon the bronze serpent. Thirdly, God, verse 16, shows the Hebrews a well when they thirst. Fourthly, verse 21, the Hebrews conquer Kings Sihon and Og.
Vulgate Text: Numbers 21:1-35
1. When the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelt toward the south, heard that Israel had come by the way of the spies, he fought against them, and being victorious, carried off spoils from them. 2. But Israel, binding himself by a vow to the Lord, said: If You will deliver this people into my hand, I will destroy their cities. 3. And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered the Canaanite, whom Israel slew, overthrowing his cities: and he called the name of that place Hormah, that is, anathema. 4. And they set out also from Mount Hor, by the way that leads to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people began to grow weary of the journey and the toil; 5. and speaking against God and Moses, they said: Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, there are no waters: our soul now loathes this very light food. 6. Wherefore the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, from whose bites and the deaths of very many, 7. they came to Moses and said: We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you: pray that He may take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people, 8. and the Lord said to him: Make a bronze serpent, and set it up for a sign; whoever shall have been bitten and shall look upon it, shall live. 9. Moses therefore made a bronze serpent, and set it up for a sign: which when those who were bitten looked upon, they were healed. 10. And the children of Israel set forward and camped in Oboth. 11. Departing from there, they pitched their tents in Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which faces Moab toward the east. 12. And moving from there, they came to the torrent of Zared. 13. Leaving it, they camped over against Arnon, which is in the desert, and which juts out on the borders of the Amorites; for Arnon is the border of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorites. 14. Whence it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: As He did in the Red Sea, so will He do in the torrents of Arnon. 15. The rocks of the torrents were inclined, that they might rest in Ar, and lie down on the borders of the Moabites. 16. From that place appeared the well, concerning which the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people together, and I will give them water. 17. Then Israel sang this song: Let the well come up. They sang together. 18. The well which the princes dug, and the leaders of the multitude prepared, in the giver of the law, and with their staffs. From the wilderness, Mattanah. 19. From Mattanah to Nahaliel; from Nahaliel to Bamoth. 20. From Bamoth, a valley is in the region of Moab, on the top of Pisgah, which looks toward the desert. 21. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying: 22. I beseech you to let me pass through your land: we will not turn aside into the fields or vineyards, we will not drink waters from the wells; we will go by the king's highway, until we have passed your borders. 23. But he would not allow Israel to pass through his borders: but rather gathering an army, went out to meet them in the desert, and came to Jahaz, and fought against them. 24. And he was struck by them with the edge of the sword, and they possessed his land from Arnon to Jabbok, and to the children of Ammon: because the borders of the Ammonites were held by a strong garrison. 25. Israel therefore took all his cities, and dwelt in the cities of the Amorites, namely in Heshbon and its villages. 26. Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who fought against the king of Moab, and took from him all the land that had been under his dominion, as far as the Arnon. 27. Therefore it is said in the proverb: Come to Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established. 28. Fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon, and devoured Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the heights of the Arnon. 29. Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh. He gave his sons to flight and his daughters to captivity, to the king of the Amorites, Sihon. 30. Their yoke has perished from Heshbon to Dibon; weary, they came to Nophah and as far as Medeba. 31. Israel therefore dwelt in the land of the Amorite. 32. And Moses sent men to explore Jazer, whose villages they captured and dispossessed the inhabitants. 33. And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og, king of Bashan, came out against them with all his people to fight at Edrei. 34. And the Lord said to Moses: Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the inhabitant of Heshbon. 35. They therefore struck him down also, with his sons and all his people, even to utter destruction, and they possessed his land.
Verse 1: The Canaanite King of Arad
1. THE CANAANITE KING ARAD DWELT IN THE SOUTH -- of the land of Canaan. For in relation to the Canaanites, Scripture customarily indicates positions and regions of the world. THAT ISRAEL HAD COME, NAMELY, BY THE WAY OF THE SPIES -- so also the Chaldean, Vatablus, and others generally, as if to say: When Arad understood that the Hebrews had come by that road along which, formerly in the second year after the exodus from Egypt, their twelve spies had passed into the land of Canaan, Numbers 13, then from this he concluded and firmly persuaded himself that they were heading through his territory into Canaan; for he saw them now taking the same road. The Septuagint translates: by the way of Atharim; for they retain the Hebrew name as if it were a proper place name.
Verse 2: The Vow of Anathema (Hormah)
2. BUT ISRAEL, BINDING HIMSELF BY A VOW TO THE LORD, SAID: IF YOU DELIVER THIS PEOPLE INTO MY HAND, I WILL DESTROY THEIR CITIES. -- In Hebrew it is: I will cut down and devote them to anathema. For this was the vow of cherem (about which I spoke at Leviticus, last chapter, verse 20), by which they devoted to God hostile cities and cities that were enemies of God. Hence the name of the place was called Cherem and Hormah; or, as our Translator and others pronounce it, Herem and Hormah, that is, anathema.
Abulensis notes, in Question 4, that the Hebrews had three kinds of hormah, or anathema: the first, in which both people and livestock, and everything that was in the hostile city, were consumed, and nothing was reserved for the use of either the people or the temple. And God commanded such an anathema to be enacted against cities of Hebrews who apostatized from God to idols, so that, after all people and livestock were killed, all the furnishings of the city would be gathered in the square and the whole thing burned, Deuteronomy 13:15, and such seems to have been the case here. The second, in which people and livestock perished along with the furnishings, but gold, silver, iron, and bronze were reserved for the use of the Sanctuary: such a hormah was Jericho, Joshua 6:24; for there it was forbidden for the Hebrews to take anything for themselves. The third, in which only the people were killed, but the livestock and furnishings went to the victorious Hebrews: such a hormah was the city of Ai, Joshua 8:27.
Verse 4: The People Grow Weary of the Journey
4. AND THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO GROW WEARY OF THE JOURNEY. -- In Hebrew, the people was shortened in soul, that is, they were fatigued and began to lose heart, to languish, and to grow weary. This is a new murmuring of the people, on account of such a long pilgrimage of so many years, namely forty, longing for rest and a stable home and dwelling. For otherwise, as I said above, God lessened the labor of the journey, so that they scarcely felt fatigue.
Verse 5: The People Loathe the Manna
5. OUR SOUL NOW LOATHES THIS MOST LIGHT FOOD -- that is, the manna. Rabbi Solomon reports that manna was a most light food that did not weigh down the stomach, nor did it produce anything to be expelled; whence the Hebrews feared that it might putrefy within their bowels and they would die, and for this reason they murmured. But these are his usual fancies. For there is no food that does not have something impure, which nature does not convert into its own substance but rejects and expels; therefore the same must be said of manna. So Abulensis. There was therefore another reason for the murmuring about the manna, which I gave at Numbers 11:6.
Verse 6: The Fiery Serpents
6. WHEREFORE THE LORD SENT AMONG THE PEOPLE FIERY SERPENTS. -- The Lord here was both God the Father and God the Son, namely Christ, as the Apostle teaches in 1 Corinthians 10:9. Whence it is clear, against the Arians and Servetians, that Christ is true God and Lord of all. These serpents are called fiery, not because they were of a fiery nature, but from their effect, because by their bite they induced such heat that those bitten seemed to themselves to be burning; and therefore Pliny calls them presters: for these in Greek are the same as seraphim in Hebrew; whence Vatablus translates them as "burning ones": for in Hebrew it is seraphim, by which name the first order of angels is called, from the ardor of charity. God stirred up these serpents from the Arabian desert itself: for there, as also in Libya, they abound. Whence Deuteronomy 8:15 says: "Your guide was in the great and terrible wilderness, in which there was a serpent burning with its breath, and a scorpion, and the dipsas viper." Hence also Cato in Lucan, book 9, says of the serpents of the Libyan desert: Serpent, thirst, heat, sand / Are sweet to virtue; patience rejoices in hardships.
Moreover, that serpents or dragons were sometimes seen to be fiery, that is, to vomit fire, historians report. Leslie, in his History of Scotland, in the year of the Lord 1558, relates that in the March and Landovia, a certain dragon vomited such great fires that it set crops and harvests ablaze; wherefore the farmers had to keep watch in order to continually extinguish them.
Note: Fittingly they are punished by serpents who imitate the venom of serpents. For murmurers and detractors "have sharpened their tongue like a serpent's," says the Psalmist, and they bite in secret like a serpent. Justly therefore the serpent rules over them as an executioner. Conversely, serpents feared and fled the humble, meek, and obedient Anthony, as St. Athanasius testifies in his Life. And the Boas serpent obeyed the pious St. Hilarion: for when it was swallowing men and oxen (whence it was called Boas), St. Hilarion ordered "a pyre to be prepared, and having sent up a prayer to Christ, he summoned it and commanded it to climb the pile of wood; then he himself set fire to it and burned up the monstrous beast," says St. Jerome in his Life.
Thus Abbot Paul held with unharmed hands asps, serpents, and scorpions, and cut them in half. When asked how he had received this grace, he answered: "If anyone possesses purity, all things are subject to him, just as to Adam when he was in paradise before the transgression of the divine commandment," as is found in the Lives of the Fathers, book 6, title 2, number 11.
Verse 8: Make a Bronze Serpent
8. MAKE A SERPENT. -- In Hebrew: make a saraph (whence the seraphim already mentioned at verse 6), that is, a fiery serpent, one that has the likeness of a fiery and burning serpent, such as is a serpent made from bronze: for bronze glows white-hot, or rather glows red like fire. So Vatablus. Second, it was made from bronze: for if it had been made from gold or silver, it would have been of enormous and immense value, since it was huge, as I shall presently say.
Set It Up for a Sign
AND SET IT UP FOR A SIGN. -- In Hebrew: place it upon a standard (for this is what the Hebrew word nes means), as if to say: Place it upon a spear or standard-pole, so that it may be like a sign and banner that can be seen by all. Whence it follows that this bronze serpent must have been enormous, and raised up very high, and, as Christ says, exalted, so that throughout the entire camp -- which was vast and easily extended for six miles -- it could be seen by the wounded on every side.
WHOEVER HAD BEEN STRUCK (by the fiery serpents) AND LOOKED UPON IT, SHALL LIVE -- that is, he shall be preserved in life and healed. Not that this bronze serpent had any natural power of curing them -- for this is impossible, as Abulensis demonstrates at length here -- but that God, when this sign was seen, miraculously cured them. This serpent was therefore a sign, and at the same time a moral instrument of this healing. Moreover, the fitting sign was a bronze serpent rather than an ox or a sheep, because the Hebrews had been bitten not by oxen or sheep but by serpents, and fiery ones at that; and bronze has a fiery color and is forged by fire.
Allegorical Meaning: The Bronze Serpent and Christ Crucified
The allegorical and chief reason was that this serpent raised upon a pole signified Christ raised upon the cross, as though guilty and criminal, by the sight of whom, through faith and contrition, we are healed from the deadly bites of sins. For just as this serpent had the form of a serpent but not its venom, so Christ assumed the form of a sinner but not sin itself; for this is what Christ says of Himself in John 3:14: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (upon the cross), that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life." So Theodoret, Question 39, and Nyssen in his Life of Moses, near the end, and St. Augustine, Sermon 101 On the Seasons, and Tertullian, in the book On Idolatry, chapter 5: "The image," he says, "of the bronze serpent suspended, represented the figure of the Lord's cross, which was to free us from serpents, that is, from the angels of the devil, while through itself it hung the devil, that is the serpent, slain." Whence also the ancient Hebrews taught that the bite inflicted upon Adam and upon us through the ancient serpent was to be healed in the days of the Messiah. "Do not be reluctant," says St. Bernard, "to behold the serpent hanging on the gibbet, if you wish to see the King seated on His throne."
St. Anthony the Great, that athlete against the assaults of demons, when asked by his disciples what weapons could powerfully and surely repel diabolical attacks, answered: "The sign of the cross and a burning faith in Christ are an impregnable wall of bronze for men dedicated to God against the machinations of demons." The witness is St. Athanasius in his Life. Blessed Magdalene, doing penance in her cave, tempted by demonic apparitions, invoked Jesus. St. Michael appeared and put them to flight, and erected a cross at the mouth of the cave, saying: "Do not be afraid; the Most High is your guardian." Therefore, embracing the cross and praying before it, and contemplating in it Christ as her salvation, she joyfully and devoutly did penance there for thirty years.
The Power of the Cross
"The cross," says St. Augustine in his sermon on Good Friday, "is for us the cause of all blessedness: it has freed us from the blindness of error; it has restored us from darkness to light; it has restored the vanquished to peace; it has joined those estranged to God; it has shown pilgrims to be citizens. It is the cutting off of discord, the foundation of peace, the abundance of all good things."
St. Bernard devoutly writes, Sermon 5 on the Canticles: "How sweetly, Lord Jesus, You have dwelt among men! How abundantly You have lavished many great goods upon men! How bravely You have suffered things so unworthy, so harsh and hard for men! Hard words, harder blows, the hardest torments. O hard and hardened and obstinate sons of Adam, whom so great a flame does not soften, such great kindness, such an immense ardor of love, so passionate a lover, who for worthless baggage spent such precious wares!" The same, in the Sermon on the Lord's Passion: "In the Passion of the Lord," he says, "three things are particularly worthy of contemplation: the work, the manner, the cause. For in the work, patience is commended; in the manner, humility; in the cause, charity -- a singular patience, an admirable humility, but an inestimable charity."
Saints and Serpents
St. Augustine adds that this serpent was made of bronze to signify, first, the divinity and eternity of Christ -- for bronze is very hard, incorruptible, and virtually eternal; second, the renown and glory of the cross of Christ, which has pervaded all nations -- for bronze vessels, among all metals, produce the greatest sound and resonance; third, the fiery charity both of God and of Christ on the cross, roasted and scorched as much by pain as by love for us -- for this bronze serpent was a saraph, that is, fiery, as I have said. And this is what St. John, chapter 3, verse 16, immediately adds, saying: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life." Each of these words introduces a new argument and stimulus of love, as is clear to anyone who weighs them carefully. I expounded them at Titus 3:4. Christ crucified, therefore, is a saraph, that is, fiery, burning, kindling, and consuming us with His charity. "Fittingly, therefore, the bronze serpent was hung upon wood, so that the Lord was signified both as dead in the serpent and as eternal in the bronze; namely, that He was shown to be dead through humility, and as if bronze through divinity," says St. Ambrose, and Ansbert in book 5 on the Apocalypse, after the beginning.
The Stigmata of St. Francis
For this reason, that Seraph appearing to St. Francis in the form of a crucifix impressed upon his hands, feet, and side the five wounds of Christ, as sacred stigmata, and transformed him wholly into love of Christ crucified, and made him a seraph -- indeed, nailed to the cross with Christ, so that thereafter, with a new ardor of mind and a new martyrdom of body, he scarcely felt anything else, thought of anything else, loved anything else, or said anything else than: Grant, O Lord, that I may die for love of Your love, You who for love of my love deigned to die. See St. Bonaventure in his Life.
Hezekiah Destroys the Bronze Serpent
This bronze serpent, in memory of so great a benefit, the Hebrews carried with them through the desert into Canaan, and there it remained until the time of Hezekiah, king of Judah, who, because the common people were beginning to regard and worship it as a divinity, ordered it to be broken in pieces, and instead of nechoset, that is "bronze," he called it by a diminutive and contemptuous name nechustan, or noestan, that is "a little piece of bronze," as if to say: What do you think, O wretched Jews -- that a little bit of bronze has divinity? That this little bronze serpent is God? 4 Kings 18:4.
"Today the cross is raised, and the world is sanctified. Today the cross is raised, and demons are scattered. Today the cross is raised, and death is overthrown. Today the cross has conquered, and death is conquered. Today the devil is bound, man is freed, and God is glorified." The same author, in the book On Virginity: "Behold," he says, "the wounds of Him who hangs, the blood of Him who dies, the price of Him who redeems, the scars of Him who rises. His head is bowed for kissing, His heart is open for loving, His arms are extended for embracing, His whole body is exposed for redeeming. Consider how great these things are; weigh them in the balance of your heart, so that He may be wholly fixed in your heart, who was wholly fixed for us upon the cross."
Verse 11: Iye-abarim
11. DEPARTING THENCE, THEY PITCHED THEIR TENTS IN IYE-ABARIM -- in Hebrew it is beile haabarim, which the Chaldean takes not as a proper name but as a common noun, and translates: near the ford of those crossing over, namely into the desert.
Verse 14: The Book of the Wars of the Lord
14. WHENCE IT IS SAID IN THE BOOK OF THE WARS OF THE LORD. -- This was an ancient book written before the Pentateuch, but it has perished, as have also the books of Enoch, Gad, and Nathan; I add, and of many others, which Scripture mentions. So St. Augustine, Question 42, and Rabanus. Whence it is clear that this book was prophetic, for it prophesies the future victory under Moses against the Amorites, as will be evident at verse 24. However, one could perhaps more truly say that this book was written later, so that "so will He do," at verse 14, means the same as "so He did": for these things seem to have been woven into the text by someone else who compiled these journals of Moses, as I said in the proem to Genesis. For thus the Proverbs of Solomon, written by him in scattered fashion, were collected by another and compiled into one book of Proverbs, as is sufficiently clear from Proverbs 25:1. Therefore Eugubinus incorrectly translates: "therefore it will be said in the commemoration of the wars of the Lord."
Allegorically, Rupert takes this book to be heavenly, namely the knowledge of God, in which the Evangelical faith is written; and by the opposing torrents of the Arnon he understands the eloquence of heretics. For Arnon signifies their curse.
As He Did in the Red Sea
AS HE DID IN THE RED SEA, SO WILL HE DO IN THE TORRENTS OF THE ARNON. -- Vatablus translates: the city of Vaheb (that is, God destroyed or conquered it) in the whirlwind, and the torrents that border the Arnon. The Septuagint favors him, for they translate: therefore it is said in the book: The War of the Lord consumed Zoob, and the torrents of the Arnon. Note here: instead of Vaheb, the Septuagint read Zoob, that is, instead of vav they read the similar zayin, and with different vowel points. But our Translator renders it better, and the Chaldean agrees with him: for vaheb is used for iaheb, that is, "he gave." Thus, word for word, the Hebrew reads: what He gave, or did, in the Red Sea, so (for the copulative vav, when it connects similar things, means "so" or "just as") the same in the torrents of the Arnon -- supply: He will do.
Now, setting aside the variety of interpretations, the first and genuine sense is this, as if to say: Just as the Lord fought for Israel against the Egyptians in the Red Sea, so He will do, that is, He did, in the Arnon, fighting for the Hebrews and conquering Sihon, king of the Amorites, as if to say: Therefore I rightly said at verse 13 that the Arnon juts out into the borders of the Amorite, because Sihon the Amorite was slain there, and you, O Hebrews, occupied his territory, as far as the borders of Moab, as is clear from verse 24.
Verse 15: The Rocks of the Torrents of the Arnon
Verse 15. THE ROCKS OF THE TORRENTS OF THE ARNON WERE BENT DOWN (are bent down) THAT THEY MIGHT REST (and they rest) IN AR (for so it must be read with the Hebrew, the Chaldean, and the Septuagint, not "Arnon," as the Royal and Plantin Bibles read; and this is a city of the Moabites, as is clear from Deuteronomy 2:29; and therefore they recline) IN THE BORDERS OF THE MOABITES -- as if to say: The rocks of the Arnon are adjacent and jut out into Ar, a city of Moab; whence it is clear that the Arnon and the Amorites are neighbors of the Moabites; and consequently, that you, O Hebrews, by occupying the Arnon and the territory of Sihon the Amorite, extend as far as the borders of Moab. For all these things depend on that statement at verse 13: "For the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorites," and they explain it.
Second, the Hebrews -- whom Lyranus, Abulensis, Hugo, Adrichomius, and others follow -- report that the Amorites had ambushed the Hebrews in these rocks of the Arnon as they were passing through; but that God miraculously caused these rocks to collapse upon the Amorites themselves, and thus, with them crushed, the Hebrews escaped free; and that this is signified by these words: "the rocks of the torrents were bent down," etc. But I would wish to find a more ancient authority for this tradition, for it seems strange that Moses would have passed over so great a miracle in silence here, especially since he himself narrates the battle and victory over the Amorites at verse 23.
Third, Vatablus translates the Hebrew esced as "outpourings," as if to say: God conquered the outpourings of the torrents, that is, the region of the Amorites, through which the rivers pour out and flow, from the Arnon to Ar, and flow into the Moabite region. But it is better to believe St. Jerome and the Hebrews, who translate esced as "rocks." The first interpretation, therefore, seems the plain and genuine one.
Verse 16: The Well Appears
16. FROM THAT PLACE -- understand: having departed; whence in Hebrew it is: and from there to the well, namely they came. THE WELL APPEARED, CONCERNING WHICH THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES: GATHER THE PEOPLE, AND I WILL GIVE THEM WATER. -- From this it seems that the people had been suffering from thirst and a lack of water; whence Moses asked the Lord to relieve it, and He, being prevailed upon, showed him the well, saying: Gather the people to this well, and from it I will give them water. Similar Hebrew aposiopeses are frequent in Scripture.
Verse 17: The Song of the Well
17. THEN ISRAEL SANG THIS SONG: LET THE WELL ARISE. -- "The well," that is, the water of the well, as if to say: May the water immediately bubble up and rise from the bottom of the well, so that all of us may drink from it, as well as our beasts of burden. This is a song of thanksgiving of those rejoicing over so great a benefit and miracle, of which there are many in Scripture.
THEY SANG TOGETHER. -- Take this as a parenthetical remark, for it interrupts the song itself; what immediately follows are the words of the song already begun, and they complete it. However, the Chaldean, the Septuagint, and more recent scholars, instead of anu la, that is, "they sang of it," read with different vowel points in the imperative enu la, that is, "sing to it," as if to say: Congratulate this well, and applaud it, and sing a hymn to it; and thus these words pertain to the song.
Verse 18: The Well Which the Princes Dug
18. THE WELL WHICH THE PRINCES DUG, AND THE LEADERS OF THE MULTITUDE PREPARED, WITH (that is, together with) THE LAWGIVER (that is, Moses) AND WITH (that is, together with) THEIR STAFFS. -- From this it appears that God showed Moses a spring or vein of water, which Moses and the leaders of the people, with their staffs, that is, their mattocks, digging around in the earth, widened and deepened, so that it became like a well.
FROM THE WILDERNESS, MATTANAH -- as if to say: From the wilderness to Mattanah the Hebrews set out, as the Royal and Plantin Bibles add, and as is clear from what follows.
Verses 19-20: From Mattanah to Pisgah
19 and 20. FROM MATTANAH TO NAHALIEL; FROM NAHALIEL TO BAMOTH. FROM BAMOTH THERE IS A VALLEY IN THE REGION OF MOAB, AT THE TOP OF PISGAH (that is, from Bamoth begins the valley of Moab, which is at, that is near, the summit of Mount Pisgah), WHICH (Pisgah) LOOKS TOWARD THE DESERT -- as if to say: The Hebrews had now come to the edge of the desert, namely to the valley of the region of Moab, which is near Pisgah.
Tropologically, says Rupert, those are signified here who make progress in merits and grace. For Mattanah in Hebrew means the same as a "gift descending," namely from the Father of lights; from which they first ascend to Nahaliel, that is, to the inheritance or possession of God, through the virtue of the active life; then to Bamoth, that is, to the heights, namely of the contemplative life. From Bamoth comes this valley, namely of humility: for this is born from the contemplation and consideration of both God and oneself; and it is near the summit of Pisgah, that is, near lofty wisdom and eloquence, for humility teaches this (since Pisgah in Hebrew means the same as "a great mouth"), and this is directed against the desert, that is, against the empty lies of the devil, the deserter.
Hence there is also a proverb among the Hebrews: from Nahaliel, Bamoth; that is, from virtue and piety arise loftiness and glory. For virtue is, as it were, the inheritance and possession of God, which Nahaliel signifies.
Moreover, the Chaldean takes these not as proper names but as common nouns, and refers them to the well mentioned at verse 16. For Mattanah in Hebrew means the same as "a gift" or "a present." Nahaliel is a "torrent." Bamoth are "hills"; so the Chaldean translates thus: "From the time when it (the well) was given to them, it descended with them to the torrents, and from the torrents it ascended with them to the hill, and from the hill to the valley, which is in the fields of Moab," as if this well miraculously followed the Hebrews everywhere. Many others follow the Chaldean and use him as their authority, saying that the rock giving water like a spring or well truly accompanied the Hebrews, and that the Apostle signifies this in 1 Corinthians 10, when he says: "And they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them," about which I spoke in that place. Certainly to the most learned Bellarmine and others, this seems to be a Jewish fable.
Verses 21-24: The Defeat of Sihon
21, 22, and 23. AND ISRAEL SENT MESSENGERS TO SIHON, KING OF THE AMORITES, SAYING: I BESEECH YOU, LET ME PASS THROUGH YOUR LAND, etc.; BUT HE WOULD NOT GRANT IT. -- In Deuteronomy 2:24 and following, where these events are narrated more fully, it is said that God hardened Sihon so that he would not grant passage. For God wanted to give the region of Sihon, as well as that of Og, king of Bashan, to the Israelites: for He had promised to give both to the Hebrews in Genesis 15:20. For there, by the land of the Rephaim, He means the land of Og the giant. It should be noted, says St. Augustine, Question 40, "how just wars were waged here by the Hebrews: for an innocent passage was denied to them, which by the most equitable right of human society ought to have been open"; although this was only the pretext and occasion for war. For the true cause was the promise and grant of God, about which I have already spoken.
23 and 24. And (Sihon) fought against him (Israel), BY WHOM HE WAS STRUCK DOWN BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD -- that is, by the blade of the sword. For the edge is to a sword what the mouth is to a man. Second, "by the mouth," that is, by slaughter, that is, through the slaughter of the sword; so the Septuagint. For just as the mouth devours bread, so the sword devours, kills, and consumes men.
24. And the land of him (Sihon) was possessed (by Israel) FROM THE ARNON TO THE JABBOK, AND THE CHILDREN OF AMMON, BECAUSE THE BORDERS OF THE AMMONITES WERE HELD BY A STRONG GARRISON. -- Note the word "because," as if to say: The Israelites, in occupying Sihon's territory, did not invade the neighboring Ammonites but stopped there, because the Ammonites had fortified themselves with a strong garrison against the Israelites. There was also another and more important reason, namely that God had forbidden them to be invaded, Deuteronomy 2:9.
Verse 25: Israel Takes Sihon's Cities
25. Israel therefore took (seized from Sihon and transferred into its own dominion) ALL HIS CITIES, AND DWELT IN THE CITIES OF THE AMORITE (according to that division among the twelve tribes which will be recounted in chapter 32), IN HESHBON, NAMELY, AND ITS VILLAGES. -- In Hebrew: and its daughters. For the Hebrews call cities subject to a metropolis "daughters," by metaphor, because they depend on their metropolis as daughters on a mother.
Verse 26: Heshbon, City of Sihon
26. THE CITY OF HESHBON BELONGED TO SIHON, KING OF THE AMORITES, WHO FOUGHT AGAINST THE KING OF MOAB -- and by fighting wrested from him Heshbon and his other cities, as far as the Arnon, as is clear from the Hebrew. Moses here meets a tacit objection; for someone might ask: How did the Hebrews occupy Heshbon, a city of the Moabites, when God had forbidden them to fight against the Moabites? He answers that Heshbon was no longer the Moabites' but the Amorites': for Sihon had taken it from them by right of war, through which, by the law of nations, dominion is transferred, just as through sale, as is clear from the Digest, On Justice and Law, in the passage "From This Right." Nevertheless, three hundred years later, the king of Moab seized upon a claim to recover Heshbon and these other cities from Jephthah; but Jephthah rightly answered him, first, that he had received them not from the Moabites but from the Amorites; second, that he had possessed them peacefully for three hundred years, and therefore claimed them by the title of prescription; and when the king of Moab and Ammon did not acquiesce but sought to recover them by arms, he was routed and crushed by Jephthah, as is clear from Judges 11. So Abulensis.
Verse 27: The Proverb of Heshbon
27. THEREFORE IT IS SAID IN THE PROVERB: COME TO HESHBON. -- This proverb is a proverbial song, or victory ode, of the kind that soldiers or other versifiers are accustomed to compose about conquered cities or enemies, especially in a dramatic mode, such as that about David conquering Goliath: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands," 1 Samuel 18.
LET THE CITY OF SIHON BE BUILT AND ESTABLISHED -- as if to say: Let the city of Heshbon be built, which, taken from the Moabites, was captured and laid waste by Sihon, king of the Amorites, so that Sihon might establish his royal seat there for himself and the Amorites. For from verse 30 it is clear that the Moabites had controlled the city of Heshbon and had their garrison soldiers in it; but Sihon struck them down and expelled them, and made himself absolute king of Heshbon, and from there he crept forth like a fire and burned, devastated, and subjected to himself all of Moab. See Jeremiah 48:45; whence there follows:
Verse 28: Fire from Heshbon
28. FIRE WENT OUT FROM HESHBON, A FLAME FROM THE TOWN OF SIHON, AND DEVOURED AR OF THE MOABITES AND THE INHABITANTS OF THE HEIGHTS (who dwelt in elevated places) OF THE ARNON -- as if to say: The victory, oppression, and overthrow of Sihon, devastating all of Heshbon, spread in every direction, all the way to the city of Ar, which is in Moab, and to the Arnon, which borders it. Heshbon is here called the town of Sihon, as its conqueror; for in the manner of Hebrew rhythm and poetry, this verse says and repeats the same thing, but in different words; for "fire went out from Heshbon" is the same as "a flame from the town of Sihon."
Verse 29: Woe to You, Moab
29. WOE TO YOU, MOAB! YOU HAVE PERISHED, O PEOPLE OF CHEMOSH. -- As if to say: You have perished, O Moabites, who worship the idol Chemosh, 3 Kings 11:5; nor could your Chemosh deliver you from this destruction.
Note: Sihon did not destroy or subdue all the Moabites, for Balak was still reigning in Moab at the same time, as will be said in the following chapter, verse 4; but he only destroyed Heshbon and the places near it, and their inhabitants, who had previously been subject to the Moabites.
Experts in languages judge that Chemosh was Bacchus, the god of drunkenness, and that from this comes the Greek komos, and the Latin comessari (to carouse) and comoedia (comedy). See what was said at Romans 13:13.
HE GAVE -- namely Chemosh, that is, he permitted the sons of Moab, devoted to him, to be given up, captured, and killed by Sihon, king of the Amorites.
Verse 30: The Yoke Perished from Heshbon
30. Their yoke (of the Moabites, which they had imposed upon the inhabitants of Heshbon) PERISHED FROM HESHBON TO DIBON. -- The Chaldean translates: the kingdom ceased from Heshbon, the power was taken from Dibon. The Hebrew has: the lamp, that is, the glory of the kingdom, of the Moabites, perished from Heshbon.
WEARY, THEY CAME TO NOPHAH -- weary, that is, from flight. For in Hebrew it is: those fleeing (namely from the destruction of Heshbon inflicted by Sihon) came to Nophah. For the Hebrew word nasim, if written with sin (which is the same as samech), means "those fleeing"; but if written with shin, it means "wives"; and this is how the Septuagint read it. Third, the Chaldeans and more recent scholars derive nasim from shamam, that is, "he desolated, he laid waste," and translate it as "we have laid waste," namely Moab as far as Nophah. Here the rhythmic song, or victory ode, about the capture of Heshbon and Moab by Sihon, comes to an end.
Verse 32: The Exploration of Jazer
32. AND MOSES SENT MEN TO EXPLORE JAZER, WHOSE VILLAGES THEY CAPTURED AND DISPOSSESSED THE INHABITANTS. -- "They possessed," that is, they subdued by killing or driving out the inhabitants or residents of Jazer; for the Hebrews could not accept them in surrender. For God had commanded all the Canaanites to be killed and exterminated, Deuteronomy 20:16; whence the Chaldean and the Septuagint translate: they drove out. For the Hebrew word iaras is one of those words of contrary meaning; whence it means both "to possess and inherit" and "to drive out and dispossess."
Verses 33-35: The Defeat of Og, King of Bashan
33 and 35. Og, king of Bashan, came out against them, etc.: THEY THEREFORE STRUCK HIM DOWN ALSO, WITH HIS SONS AND ALL HIS PEOPLE, EVEN TO UTTER DESTRUCTION -- that is, so that they did not leave anyone alive as a survivor, as the Hebrew and the Septuagint have it.
Masius notes in Joshua 12 that the Chaldean everywhere translates Bashan as Matan or Matanan, because he substituted the letter mem for beth (for both are labial letters, and therefore related and interchangeable), which is also not unusual among the Greeks. Second, he substituted tau for shin, which is customary among the Chaldeans.
Hear here, and laugh at, the charming, or rather foolish, fable of the Talmudists about the immense size of this Og and his slaughter. Og, they say, was the greatest of giants, who, when the Hebrews were approaching, uprooted a mountain two leagues wide and placed it on his head, so that he might bury all the Hebrews with a single throw of this mountain. But God sent ants, which, boring through the mountain, caused it to descend down to Og's shoulders; then, as his teeth grew to ten cubits, he could not throw the mountain off himself. Seeing this, Moses, who was ten cubits tall, took an axe of ten cubits, and leaped ten cubits upon Og, and reached the joint of his shin with his foot, and there struck and killed him, the mountain falling upon him at the same time. For Og was of such bulk that a stag entering his dead leg bone wandered about in it for half a day, and a hunter pursued it in this shin bone. Lyranus and Abulensis report these things, in Question 27. See here how true of the Jews is that saying of David, Psalm 68:23: "Let their table become a snare before them, and a retribution, and a stumbling block; let their eyes be darkened, so that they may not see."