Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Numbers 21:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Numbers 21:3 within “A Vow of Destruction Ends at Hormah,” names this act of violence or distribution without moral softening; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
Arad attacks first and takes captives
This verse is one part of that explanation in Numbers 21:1–3. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Numbers 21:1–3
Read Numbers 21:3 with 21:1–3. It within “A Vow of Destruction Ends at Hormah,” names this act of violence or distribution without moral softening; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah. The complete unit establishes this contextual meaning: The Canaanite king of Arad attacks and takes captives; Israel vows to devote the cities to destruction if given victory, the LORD hears, and the people destroy the Canaanites and name the place Hormah.
Why This Verse Appears Here
A Vow of Destruction Ends at Hormah contributes this unit's war movement to Numbers' progress from Sinai through wilderness crisis to Moab: The Canaanite king of Arad attacks and takes captives; Israel vows to devote the cities to destruction if given victory, the LORD hears, and the people destroy the Canaanites and name the place Hormah. At 21:3, the verse within “A Vow of Destruction Ends at Hormah,” names this act of violence or distribution without moral softening; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
What Remains True
Because Numbers 21:3 within “A Vow of Destruction Ends at Hormah,” names this act of violence or distribution without moral softening; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah, its proportionate enduring truth is this: War texts must be read with civilians, captives, children, sexual vulnerability, displacement, propaganda, accountability, and nontransferability fully visible. This unit also keeps the following boundary explicit: The vow does not authorize genocide, destruction of cities, retaliation against civilians, or claiming that military success proves divine approval.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Numbers 21:1–3 — A Vow of Destruction Ends at HormahSources used for this Verse Lens
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 21:1–3, 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 21:1–3
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, source files dated 2026-08-08
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 21:1–3
Open source ↗