and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many. Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
- KJV And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
- NKJV And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.
- NASB So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel.
- NLT And when the people of Moab saw how many Israelites there were, they were terrified.
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
Moab is gripped with dread and distress at the sheer number of the Israelites. Fear, not faith, governs Moab's reaction to God's people.
Overview
Moab's terror echoes the dread that fell on the nations as Israel approached (Exodus 15:15-16). Though Israel had been commanded not to harass Moab (Deuteronomy 2:9), Moab assumes the worst. The chapter contrasts the nations' fearful scheming with God's settled purpose to bless and protect His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 15:15Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
- Isa 23:5When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre.
- Josh 9:24The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.
- Josh 2:10–11For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.
- Deut 2:25This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
- Ps 53:5There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.
- Josh 2:24“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 22:3 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.