Unknown
Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
20:14-21 Encounter with Edom. According to Gen. 25:24-26, Edom (Esau) was the twin brother of Jacob (Israel). This made the Edomites the people with whom Israel felt greatest affinity. Yet the history of Israelite/Edomite relations is one of tension, if not bitter hostility, as this story illustrates. Note the form of address: your brother Israel (Num. 20:14).
20:16 Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. In the , Edom's main settlements were southeast of the Dead Sea, whereas Kadesh-barnea is a long way west of there, in northern Sinai. This suggests either that the Edomites were living west of the Dead Sea, or that another Kadesh is meant instead of Kadesh-barnea.
20:17-21 The King's Highway is the main trade route from Damascus to Arabia, passing through the Edomite heartlands on the high hills southeast of the Dead Sea. Israel wanted to travel along this road from south to north to bring them to the northern edge of the Dead Sea. Thwarted by the Edomites, Israel turned away, apparently making their way south toward the Gulf of Aqaba (21:4) and then northward through the wilderness east of the King's Highway (see Deut. 2:1-8).
