Numbers 21:3
New International Version
The LORD listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.

New Living Translation
The LORD heard the Israelites’ request and gave them victory over the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and the place has been called Hormah ever since.

English Standard Version
And the LORD heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.

Berean Standard Bible
And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.

King James Bible
And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

New King James Version
And the LORD listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah.

New American Standard Bible
The LORD heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named Hormah.

NASB 1995
The LORD heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.

NASB 1977
And the LORD heard the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Yahweh heard the voice of Israel and gave the Canaanites over; so they devoted them and their cities to destruction. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.

Amplified Bible
The LORD heard the voice of Israel and handed over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah (dedicate to destruction).

Christian Standard Bible
The LORD listened to Israel’s request and handed the Canaanites over to them, and Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So they named the place Hormah.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The LORD listened to Israel’s request, the Canaanites were defeated, and Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So they named the place Hormah.

American Standard Version
And Jehovah hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And LORD JEHOVAH listened to the voice of Israel and delivered the Canaanites into their hands and they killed them by the sword and utterly destroyed them and their towns, and they called the name of country that KharmaDestruction.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered the Chananite into his power; and Israel devoted him and his cities, and they called the name of that place Anathema.

Contemporary English Version
The LORD answered their prayer and helped them wipe out the Canaanite army and completely destroy their towns. That's why one of the towns is named Hormah, which means "Destroyed Place."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities: and they called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.

English Revised Version
And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The LORD listened to the Israelites and handed the Canaanites over to them. They destroyed the Canaanites and their cities. So they called the place Hormah [Claimed for Destruction].

Good News Translation
The LORD heard them and helped them conquer the Canaanites. So the Israelites completely destroyed them and their cities, and named the place Hormah.

International Standard Version
When the LORD heard what Israel had decided to do, he delivered the Canaanites to them, and Israel exterminated them and their cities. They named the place Hormah.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; and the name of the place was called Hormah.

Literal Standard Version
and YHWH listens to the voice of Israel and gives up the Canaanite, and he devotes them and their cities, and calls the name of the place Hormah.

Majority Standard Bible
And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.

New American Bible
The LORD paid attention to Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they put them and their cities under the ban. Hence that place was named Hormah.

NET Bible
The LORD listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah.

New Revised Standard Version
The LORD listened to the voice of Israel, and handed over the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their towns; so the place was called Hormah.

New Heart English Bible
The LORD listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

World English Bible
Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.

Young's Literal Translation
and Jehovah hearkeneth to the voice of Israel, and giveth up the Canaanite, and he devoteth them and their cities, and calleth the name of the place Hormah.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Defeat of Arad
2So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.” 3And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.

Cross References
Numbers 14:45
Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

Deuteronomy 20:16
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.

Judges 1:17
Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah.

1 Samuel 30:30
to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;


Treasury of Scripture

And the LORD listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

hearkened

Psalm 10:17
LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Psalm 91:15
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

Psalm 102:17
He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

and they utterly.

Numbers 14:45
Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

Deuteronomy 1:44
And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.

1 Samuel 30:30
And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach,

Hormah, that is, utter destruction.

Jump to Previous
Canaanite Canaanites Cities Completely Delivered Destroyed Destruction Devoteth Heard Hearkened Hearkeneth Hormah Israel Israel's Plea Towns Utterly Voice
Jump to Next
Canaanite Canaanites Cities Completely Delivered Destroyed Destruction Devoteth Heard Hearkened Hearkeneth Hormah Israel Israel's Plea Towns Utterly Voice
Numbers 21
1. Israel destroys the Canaanites at Hormah
4. The people murmuring are plagued with fiery serpents
7. They repenting are healed by a bronze serpent
10. Various journeys of the Israelites
21. Sihon is overcome
33. And Og














(3) And they utterly destroyed them and their cities.--The meaning of the verb which is here employed is to devote to destruction, and hence to destroy utterly. It does not clearly appear whether this destruction was effected at once, or whether the fulfilment of the vow took place at a later period. (See Joshua 12:14; Judges 1:17.) If the attack of the Canaanites was made at the time of the final departure from Kadesh, the latter view must be maintained, as it can scarcely be supposed that the cities could have been rebuilt and again destroyed in so short an interval.

And he called the name of the place Hormah.--Better, And the name of the place was called Hormah. The word Hormah--i.e., a devoted thing--is cognate with the verb which occurs in this and the preceding verse, and which is rendered utterly destroy. The place is so called by anticipation in Numbers 14:45, and, as in regard to other names (e.g., Bethel and Jacob), the name was probably given anew to the place on a later occasion (Judges 1:17).

Verse 3. - They utterly destroyed them and their cities. Rather, "they banned (יַּחַרֵם - ἀναθεμάτισεν) them and their cities." No doubt the banning implies here their utter destruction, because it is not the vow before the battle, but the carrying of it out after the victory, which is here spoken cf. And he called the name of the place Hormah. Rather, "the name of the place was called (impersonal use of the transitive) Charmah." חָרְמָה. Septuagint, Ἀνάθεμα. It is not very clear what place received this name at this time. It does not appear to have been Arid itself, as would have seemed most natural, because Arid and Hormah are mentioned side by side in Joshua 12:14. It is identified with Zephath in Judges 1:17. It may have been the place where the victory was won which gave all the cities of Arid to destruction. Whether it was the Hormah mentioned in chapter Numbers 14:45 is very doubtful (see note there). The nomenclature of the Jews, especially as to places, and most especially as to places with which their own connection was passing or broken, was vague and confused in the extreme, and nothing can be more unsatisfactory than arguments which turn upon the shifting names of places long ago perished and forgotten. It must be added that the three verses which narrate the chastisement of this Canaanite chieftain have caused immense embarrassment to commentators. If the incident is narrated in its proper order of time, it must have happened during the stay of the Israelites under Mount Hor, when they had finally left the neighbourhood of the Negeb, and were separated from the king of Arid by many days' march, and by a most impracticable country. It is therefore generally supposed that the narrative is out of place, and that it really belongs to the time when Israel was gathered together for the second time at Kadesh, and When his reappearance there in force might well have given rise to the report that be was about to invade Canaan from that side. This is unsatisfactory, because no plausible reason can be assigned for the insertion of the notice where it stands, both here and in Numbers 33:40. To say that Moses wished to bring it into juxtaposition with the victories recorded in the latter part of the chapter, from which it is separated by the incident of the fiery serpents, and the brief record of many journeys, is to confess that no explanation can be invented which has the least show of reason. If the narrative be displaced, the displacement must simply be due to accident or interpolation. Again, it would seem quite inconsistent with the position and plans of Israel since the rebellion of Kadesh that any invasion and conquest, even temporary, of any part of Canaan should be made at this time, and that especially if the attack was not made until Israel was lying in the Arabah on his way round the land of Edom. It is therefore supposed by some that the vow only was made at this time, and the ban suspended over the place, and that it was only carried out as part of the general conquest under Joshua; that, in fact, the fulfillment of the vow is narrated in Joshua 12:14; Judges 1:16, 17. This, however, throws the narrative as it stands into confusion and discredit, for the ban and the destruction become a mockery and an unreality if nothing more was done to the towns of the king of Arad than was done at the same time to the towns of all his neighbours. It would be more reverent to reject the story as an error or a falsehood than to empty it of the meaning which it was obviously intended to convey. We are certainly meant to understand that the vow was there and then accepted by God, and was there and then carried into effect by Israel; the towns of Arad were depopulated and destroyed as far as lay in their power, although they may have been immediately reoccupied. There are only two theories which are worth considering. 1. The narrative may really be displaced, for what cause we do not know. If so, it would he more satisfactory to refer it, not to the time of the second encampment at Kadesh, but to the time of the first, during the absence of the spies in Canaan. It is probable that their entry was known, as was the case with Joshua's spies (Joshua 2:2); and nothing could be more likely than that the king of Arad, suspecting what would follow, should attempt to anticipate invasion by attack. If it were so it might help to account for the rash confidence shown by the people afterwards (Numbers 14:40), for the mention of Hormah (Numbers 14:45), and for the reappearance of kings of Hormah and of Arad in the days of Joshua 2. The narrative may after all be in place. That the Israelites lay for thirty days under Mount Hor is certain, and they may have been longer. During this period they could not get pasture for their cattle on the side of Edom, and they may have wandered far and wide in search of it. It may have been but a comparatively small band which approached the Negeb near enough to be attacked, and which, by the help of God, was enabled to defeat the king of Arad, and to lay waste his towns. It had certainly been no great feat for all Israel to overthrow a border chieftain who could not possibly have brought 5000 men into the field. CHAPTERS 21:4-9 THE FIERY SERPENTS (verses 4-9).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And the LORD
יְהוָ֜ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

heard
וַיִּשְׁמַ֨ע (way·yiš·ma‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

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

plea
בְּק֣וֹל (bə·qō·wl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6963: A voice, sound

and delivered up
וַיִּתֵּן֙ (way·yit·tên)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

the Canaanites.
הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֔י (hak·kə·na·‘ă·nî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3669: Canaanite -- inhabitant of Canaan

Israel completely destroyed
וַיַּחֲרֵ֥ם (way·ya·ḥă·rêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2763: To seclude, to devote to religious uses, to be blunt as to the nose

them
אֶתְהֶ֖ם (’eṯ·hem)
Direct object marker | third person masculine plural
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

and their cities;
עָרֵיהֶ֑ם (‘ā·rê·hem)
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

so they named
וַיִּקְרָ֥א (way·yiq·rā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

the place
הַמָּק֖וֹם (ham·mā·qō·wm)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4725: A standing, a spot, a condition

Hormah.
חָרְמָֽה׃ (ḥā·rə·māh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2767: Hormah -- 'asylum', a place in Simeon


Links
Numbers 21:3 NIV
Numbers 21:3 NLT
Numbers 21:3 ESV
Numbers 21:3 NASB
Numbers 21:3 KJV

Numbers 21:3 BibleApps.com
Numbers 21:3 Biblia Paralela
Numbers 21:3 Chinese Bible
Numbers 21:3 French Bible
Numbers 21:3 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Numbers 21:3 Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel (Nu Num.)
Numbers 21:2
Top of Page
Top of Page