Verse Lens · Context pointer
Numbers 20:18 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 18. 18And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Numbers 20:18 within “Edom Refuses Israel's Negotiated Passage,” moves the itinerary, negotiation, departure, or encampment through this step; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Edom said to him, You will not pass by me, lest I come out against you with the sword.
Read It With
- Numbers 20:14–21
Read Numbers 20:18 with 20:14–21. It within “Edom Refuses Israel's Negotiated Passage,” moves the itinerary, negotiation, departure, or encampment through this step; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Edom said to him, You will not pass by me, lest I come out against you with the sword. The complete unit establishes this contextual meaning: Moses sends a kinship appeal recounting Egypt and deliverance, promises to stay on the king's highway and pay for water, but Edom twice refuses and comes out with a strong force, so Israel turns away.
Why It Needs Context
Numbers 20:18 within “Edom Refuses Israel's Negotiated Passage,” moves the itinerary, negotiation, departure, or encampment through this step; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: Edom said to him, You will not pass by me, lest I come out against you with the sword. Its responsible force depends on 20:14–21; isolated from “Edom Refuses Israel's Negotiated Passage,” the verse's actor, action, reason, object, or transition could be mistaken for independent teaching.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Numbers 20:14–21 — Edom Refuses Israel's Negotiated PassageSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Numbers 20:14–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 20:14–21
Open source ↗