Bible Strands
Numbers 22:3
and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes Moab’s reaction after King Balak observes Israel’s defeat of the Amorites. Moab perceives the sheer size of the Israelite camp and reacts to their approach.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּגָר (va.Ya.gor) literally means “it was afraid” or “dreaded,” while the adjective רַב (rav) translates to “numerous” or “exceedingly many.”
The thread — This theme of national dread appears in Exodus 15:15 and Deuteronomy 2:25, where neighboring leaders and distant nations experience trembling or fear in response to Israel’s presence and God’s actions.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that military scale and divine favor produce tangible political consequences, requiring readers to assess how perceived power shapes the decisions of opposing rulers.
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
And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
Cross-references
- Exodus 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
- Isaiah 23:5 When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre.
- Deuteronomy 2:25 This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
- Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.
- Joshua 2:24 “The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
- Joshua 9:24 The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.
- Psalms 53:5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.