“For fire went out from Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon; It consumed Ar of Moab, The lords of the heights of the Arnon.
Parallel translations
- WEB for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
- KJV For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
- BSB For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
- NASB “For a fire spread from Heshbon, A flame from the town of Sihon; It devoured Ar of Moab, The dominant heights of the Arnon.
- NLT A fire flamed forth from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It burned the city of Ar in Moab; it destroyed the rulers of the Arnon heights.
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
The proverb says fire went out from Heshbon and devoured Ar of Moab and the heights of the Arnon. It celebrates Sihon's conquest of Moabite territory.
Overview
The poetic 'fire' depicts the devastating force of Sihon's earlier campaign against Moab. The song memorializes how Sihon stripped Moab of land up to the Arnon. Now that very kingdom has fallen to Israel, showing how the Lord overturns the boasts of the proud.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Num 21:15the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab.”
- Jer 48:45–46“Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the middle of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
- Deut 2:9Yahweh said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.”
- Deut 2:18“You are to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, today.
- Isa 10:16Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.
- Isa 15:1–2The burden of Moab: for in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.
- Amos 1:14But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day of the whirlwind;
- Amos 1:7but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its palaces.
- Amos 2:5But I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
- Amos 1:10but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it will devour its palaces.”
- Amos 1:12but I will send a fire on Teman, and it will devour the palaces of Bozrah.”
- Amos 1:4but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.
- Num 22:41In the morning, Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there part of the people.
- Amos 2:2but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;
- Judg 9:20but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.”
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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 21:28 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.