Discovery BoxNumbers 14:25 
Context14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) 1 Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”
Numbers 21:15
Context21:15 and the slope of the valleys 2
that extends to the dwelling of Ar, 3
and falls off at the border of Moab.”
Numbers 24:6
Context24:6 They are like 4 valleys 5 stretched forth,
like gardens by the river’s side,
like aloes 6 that the Lord has planted,
and like cedar trees beside the waters.
1 sn The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south – unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.
2 tc There are many variations in this text, but the MT reading of something like “the descent of the torrents/valleys” is preferable, since it is describing the topography.
3 sn The place is unknown; it is apparently an important city in the region.
4 tn Heb “as valleys they spread forth.”
5 tn Or “rows of palms.”
6 sn The language seems to be more poetic than precise. N. H. Snaith notes that cedars do not grow beside water; he also connects “aloes” to the eaglewood that is more exotic, and capable of giving off an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 298).
