Bible Strands
Numbers 21:31
So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Israel’s status immediately after their campaign against Sihon and his cities. The statement bridges a boastful summary of territorial gains and the subsequent dispatch of spies to Jazer.
The words — The verb וַיֵּשֶׁב (va.ye.shév) literally means "and he dwelt" or "and he settled," applied directly to יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yis.rá'él) in אֶרֶץ הָ/אֱמֹרִי ('eretz ha./'e.mo.ri), "the land of the Amorites."
The thread — This occupation theme recurs in Numbers 32:33, Deuteronomy 3:16, and Joshua 12:1, where the same conquered Amorite territory is formally assigned or cataloged as Israel's possession.
Why it lands — The text shifts from military action to residential reality, requiring the reader to note that conquest is immediately followed by the concrete duty of inhabiting and securing the acquired land.
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
Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
Cross-references
- Numbers 32:33 So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.
- Deuteronomy 3:16 and to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.
- Joshua 12:1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites struck down and whose lands they took beyond the Jordan to the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:
- Joshua 13:8 The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them: