Numbers 20:21
New International Version
Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.

New Living Translation
Because Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their country, Israel was forced to turn around.

English Standard Version
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

Berean Standard Bible
So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

King James Bible
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

New King James Version
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

New American Standard Bible
So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; then Israel turned away from him.

NASB 1995
Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

NASB 1977
Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

Amplified Bible
Thus [the king of] Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

Christian Standard Bible
Edom refused to allow Israel to travel through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Edom refused to allow Israel to travel through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

American Standard Version
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

Contemporary English Version
to keep Israel from passing through its territory. So the Israelites had to go in another direction.

English Revised Version
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Since the Edomites refused to let Israel go through their territory, the Israelites turned around and went a different way.

Good News Translation
Because the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through their territory, the Israelites turned and went another way.

International Standard Version
That's how Edom refused Israel passage through their territory. So Israel turned away from there.

Majority Standard Bible
So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

NET Bible
So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him.

New Heart English Bible
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

World English Bible
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and Edom refuses to permit Israel to pass over through his border, and Israel turns aside from off him.

Young's Literal Translation
and Edom refuseth to suffer Israel to pass over through his border, and Israel turneth aside from off him.

Smith's Literal Translation
And Edom will refuse to give to Israel to pass over by his boundary; and Israel will turn away from him.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Neither would he condescend to their desire to grant them passage through his borders. Wherefore Israel turned another way from him.

Catholic Public Domain Version
neither was he willing to agree to their petition to concede passage through his borders. For this reason, Israel diverted away from him.

New American Bible
Therefore, since Edom refused to let Israel pass through their territory, Israel turned away from them.

New Revised Standard Version
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through their territory; so Israel turned away from them.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; wherefore Israel turned away from him.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Adum did not want to allow the children of Israel to pass through his border and Israel departed from him.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; wherefore Israel turned away from him.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his borders, and Israel turned away from him.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Edom Refuses Passage
20But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand. 21So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

Cross References
Deuteronomy 2:4-8
and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful. / Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession. / You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’” ...

Judges 11:17-18
Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh. / Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.

Obadiah 1:10-14
Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever. / On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them. / But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress. ...

Psalm 83:6-8
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, / of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia with the people of Tyre. / Even Assyria has joined them, lending strength to the sons of Lot. Selah

Amos 1:11
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly.

Malachi 1:2-4
“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved, / but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” / Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever.

Genesis 36:8-9
So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir. / This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the area of Mount Seir.

Isaiah 34:5-6
When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. / The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood. It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Ezekiel 25:12-14
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt, / therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and beast. I will make it a wasteland, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. / I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. Then they will know My vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.’

Jeremiah 49:7-22
Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed? / Turn and run! Lie low, O dwellers of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him. / If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, would they not steal only what they wanted? ...

Lamentations 4:21-22
So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself. / O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.

1 Samuel 14:47
After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side—the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them.

2 Chronicles 20:10-11
And now, here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. So Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them. / See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession that You gave us as an inheritance.

Romans 9:10-13
Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac. / Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand, / not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ...

Hebrews 12:16-17
See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright. / For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears.


Treasury of Scripture

Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: why Israel turned away from him.

refused

Deuteronomy 2:27,29
Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left…

wherefore

Deuteronomy 2:4-8
And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: …

Deuteronomy 23:7
Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.

Judges 11:18,24
Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab…

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Numbers 20
1. The children of Israel come to Zin, where Miriam dies.
2. They murmur for want of water
7. Moses smiting the rock, brings forth water at Meribah
14. Moses at Kadesh desires passage through Edom, which is denied him
22. At Mount Hor Aaron resigns his place to Eleazar, and dies














So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory
Edom, descended from Esau, Jacob's brother, had a longstanding enmity with Israel. This refusal highlights the deep-seated animosity between the two nations, rooted in the sibling rivalry of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:23). The Edomites' denial of passage is significant as it forced Israel to take a longer, more arduous route to the Promised Land. This act of refusal is a fulfillment of the prophecy given to Rebekah about the struggle between her sons' descendants (Genesis 25:23). Geographically, Edom was located south of the Dead Sea, and its terrain was rugged and mountainous, making it a strategic location that Israel hoped to traverse. Historically, this incident reflects the political tensions and territorial disputes common in the ancient Near East.

and Israel turned away from them
Israel's decision to turn away rather than engage in conflict demonstrates a commitment to peace and obedience to God's command to avoid hostility with Edom (Deuteronomy 2:4-5). This action can be seen as a test of faith and patience for the Israelites, who were learning to trust in God's timing and provision. Theologically, this turning away can be viewed as a type of Christ, who also chose the path of peace and submission to God's will, even in the face of opposition. This moment foreshadows the New Testament teaching of loving one's enemies and seeking peace (Matthew 5:44). The Israelites' detour around Edom is a reminder of the challenges and detours believers may face in their spiritual journey, emphasizing reliance on God's guidance.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Edom
A nation descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. The Edomites lived in the region south of the Dead Sea. Their refusal to let Israel pass through their land is a significant event in Israel's wilderness journey.

2. Israel
The nation chosen by God, consisting of the descendants of Jacob. At this point in their history, they are journeying from Egypt to the Promised Land.

3. Moses
The leader of Israel, chosen by God to lead His people out of Egypt and through the wilderness. He is the one who communicates with Edom on behalf of Israel.

4. Kadesh
A location in the wilderness where Israel camped. It is from here that Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom.

5. The King's Highway
An ancient trade route that Israel requested to use for passage through Edom. It was a direct and established path that would have facilitated their journey.
Teaching Points
Respect for Boundaries
The refusal of Edom to allow passage teaches us about respecting the boundaries and decisions of others, even when they seem inconvenient or unfair.

Trust in God's Provision
Despite the setback, Israel had to trust in God's provision and guidance. We are reminded to trust God when our plans are thwarted.

Historical Enmity and Reconciliation
The conflict between Israel and Edom is rooted in historical enmity. This challenges us to seek reconciliation and peace in our relationships, breaking cycles of animosity.

God's Sovereignty
God's instructions regarding Edom in other scriptures remind us of His sovereignty and the importance of obedience to His commands, even when they involve difficult relationships.

Perseverance in Faith
Israel's journey was filled with obstacles, yet they continued to move forward. This encourages us to persevere in our faith journey, trusting that God will lead us to our destination.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So Edom
אֱד֗וֹם (’ĕ·ḏō·wm)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 123: The name of a condiment

refused
וַיְמָאֵ֣ן ׀ (way·mā·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3985: To refuse

to allow
נְתֹן֙ (nə·ṯōn)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

to pass
עֲבֹ֖ר (‘ă·ḇōr)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

through their territory,
בִּגְבֻל֑וֹ (biḡ·ḇu·lōw)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1366: A cord, a boundary, the territory inclosed

and Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

turned away
וַיֵּ֥ט (way·yêṭ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5186: To stretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bend

from them.
מֵעָלָֽיו׃ (mê·‘ā·lāw)
Preposition-m | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against


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OT Law: Numbers 20:21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage (Nu Num.)
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