Numbers 20:16

20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ¹  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ²  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ³ 

Numbers 21:3

21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, ⁴  and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called ⁵  Hormah.

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¹ tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

² tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

³ tn Heb “your border.”

⁴ tc Smr, Greek, and Syriac add “into his hand.”

⁵ tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject, and so here too is made passive. The name “Hormah” is etymologically connected to the verb “utterly destroy,” forming the popular etymology (or paronomasia, a phonetic wordplay capturing the significance of the event).