Bible Strands
Numbers 20:17
Please let us pass through your land. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Israel's representatives address the king of Edom from the camp at Kadesh, formally requesting temporary transit through Edomite borders after their exodus from Egypt.
The words — The request centers on נַעְבְּרָה־נָּא (na'be rah-na') for "let us pass through" and בְּאַרְצֶךָ (be-'ar-Tze-kha) for "in your land," establishing the journey as a measured corridor rather than a territorial claim.
The thread — This exact diplomatic phrasing reappears in Deuteronomy 2:27 and Numbers 21:22, while Numbers 21:1 notes the Canaanite king of Arad mobilizing upon hearing Israel approach that same route.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to weigh Israel's explicit promises of non-interference against Edom's immediate military rejection, demonstrating how geographic boundaries dictate covenantal encounters.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 2:27 “Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.
- Numbers 21:1 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some prisoners.
- Numbers 21:22 “Let us pass through your land. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”
- Deuteronomy 2:1 Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.
- Deuteronomy 2:29 just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”