But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand.
We have here the application made by Israel to the Edomites. The nearest way to Canaan from the place where Israel now lay encamped was through the country of Edom. Now, I. Moses sends ambassadors to treat with the king of Edom for leave to pass through his country, and gives them instructions what to say, Num 20:14-17. 1.
Commenting on Numbers 20:14-21
Notwithstanding their near relation to each other, and the fair promises Israel made: wherefore Israel turned away from him: patiently bearing the refusal, and not resenting it; being ordered, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, by the Word of heaven, not to make war with them, because the time was not yet come to take vengeance on Edom by their hands; and to the...
Num 20:20-21 To give emphasis to his refusal, Edom went against Israel “with much people and with a strong hand,” sc., when they approached its borders. This statement, as well as the one in Num 20:21, that Israel turned away before Edom, anticipates the historical order; for, as a matter of course, the Edomites cannot have come at once with an army on the track...
Commenting on Numbers 20:20-21