Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.
Parallel translations
- KJV Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
- BSB So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.
- NKJV Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
- NASB So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; then Israel turned away from him.
- NLT Because Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their country, Israel was forced to turn around.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because Edom refused passage, Israel turned away and took another route. Israel yielded rather than fight a brother nation.
Overview
Honoring God's prohibition against taking Edom's territory, Israel chooses the longer, harder road around. Obedience here means accepting inconvenience and even insult. Their willingness to detour shows trust that God's commands, however costly, are wise and good.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Judg 11:18Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
- Deut 2:29as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me; until I pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.”
- Judg 11:24Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever Yahweh our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.
- Deut 2:27“Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left.
- Deut 2:4–8Command the people, saying, ‘You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore be careful.
- Deut 23:7You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 20:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.