(25) Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.—There is considerable difficulty in regard to the meaning and connection of these words. They may be attached to the words which precede: “And his seed shall possess it, and the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelling in the valley”—i.e., shall possess the land occupied by them. There are strong objections, however, to this rendering, as well as to the rendering adopted by the Authorised Version, if the latter be understood as an historical statement respecting the geographical position of the Amalekites and Canaanites, of which Moses can scarcely be supposed to have been ignorant, and which may be assigned with greater probability to the “hill” than to the “valley.” (Comp. Numbers 14:45 and Note; also Deuteronomy 1:44, where one or both of these races are spoken of under the name of Amorites or mountaineers.) The word which is rendered “dwelt” is often used in reference to a temporary sojourn, as, e.g., in Joshua 8:9 of the ambuscade sent by Joshua, which “abode” between Bethel and Ai, and in 1Samuel 25:13 of a portion of David’s men who “abode by the stuff.” It is used also in Numbers 14:45 of this chapter in respect to the position of the Amalekites and Canaanites, whether temporary or permanent, in the “hill,” which appears to be used in contrast with the “valley.” The passage may be rendered thus: “Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are abiding in the valley,” i.e., are lying in ambuscade in the valley, and waiting for an opportunity to attack the Israelites (comp. Numbers 14:43). If this interpretation of the words, which is that of Ibn Ezra, be adopted, they afford a strong reason for the command which follows:—“To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea”—i.e., do not fall into the snare which is laid for you, but turn and go in a contrary direction.

Numbers 14:25. In the valley — Beyond the mountain, at the foot whereof they now were, Numbers 14:40. And this clause is added, either, 1st, As an aggravation of Israel’s misery and punishment, that being now ready to enter and take possession of the land, they are forced to go back into the wilderness: or, 2d, As an argument to oblige them more willingly to obey the following command of returning into the wilderness, because their enemies were very near them, and severed from them only by that Idumean mountain, and if they did not speedily depart, their enemies would fall upon them, and so the evil which before they causelessly feared would come upon them; they, their wives, and their children, would become a prey to the Amalekites and Canaanites, because God would not assist nor defend them. By the way of the Red sea — That leadeth to the Red sea, and to Egypt, the place whither you desire to return.

14:20-35 The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take away his loving kindness.Render: And now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are dwelling (or abiding) in the valley: wherefore turn you, etc. (that so ye be not smitten before them). The Amalekites were the nomad bands that roved through the open pastures of the plain Numbers 14:45 : the Canaanites, a term here taken in its wider sense, were the Amorites of the neighboring cities (compare Numbers 14:45 with Deuteronomy 1:44), who probably lived in league with the Amalekites.

Tomorrow - Not necessarily the next day, but an idiom for "hereafter," "henceforward" (compare the marginal reading in Exodus 13:14; Joshua 4:6).

By the way of the Red sea - That is, apparently, by the eastern or Elanitic gulf.

25. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley)—that is, on the other side of the Idumean mountain, at whose base they were then encamped. Those nomad tribes had at that time occupied it with a determination to oppose the further progress of the Hebrew people. Hence God gave the command that they seek a safe and timely retreat into the desert, to escape the pursuit of those resolute enemies, to whom, with their wives and children, they would fall a helpless prey because they had forfeited the presence and protection of God. This verse forms an important part of the narrative and should be freed from the parenthetical form which our English translators have given it. In the valley; beyond the mountain at the foot whereof they now were, Numbers 14:40. And this clause is added, either,

1. As an aggravation of Israel’s misery and punishment, that being now ready to enter and take possession of the land, they are forced to go back into the wilderness; or,

2. As an argument to oblige them more willingly to obey the following command of returning into the wilderness, because their enemies were very near them, and severed from them only by that Idumean mountain, and if they did not speedily depart, their enemies would hear of them and fall upon them, and so the evil which before they causelessly feared would come upon them; they, their wives, and their children would become a prey to the Amalekites and Canaanites, because God had forsaken them, and would not assist nor defend them. The verse may be rendered thus,

And, or But, for the present,

the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley; therefore (which particle is here understood, as it is in other places)

to-morrow turn ye, & c. Though some knit these words to the former, and read the place thus, Caleb—and his seed shall possess it, to wit, the land near Hebron, and also the land of the Amalekites and of the Canaanites that dwell in the valley.

Quest. But how are the Canaanites said to dwell in the valley here, when they dwelt in the hill, Numbers 14:45, and by the sea-coasts, Numbers 21:1?

Answ. 1. Part of them dwelt in one place, and part in other places.

2. The word Canaanite may here be understood more generally of all the inhabitants of Canaan.

By the way of the Red Sea, i.e. that leadeth to the Red Sea, and to Egypt, the place whither you desire to return, Numbers 14:3,4.

And now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley,.... By the Canaanites are meant the Amorites, as Aben Ezra, which were a principal people of the land of Canaan, and which may be confirmed by Deuteronomy 1:19; this may seem contrary to what is said Numbers 13:29; where they are said to dwell in the mountain; but it may be reconciled by observing, that indeed their proper settled habitation was in the mountain; but now they went down from thence, and "sat" (z) in the valley, as it may be rendered, in ambush, there lying in wait for the children of Israel, as in Psalm 10:8; and so Aben Ezra interprets it of their sitting there, to lie in wait for them: and now, though these people had so sadly provoked the Lord, yet such was his goodness to them, as to warn them of the design of their enemies, and of the danger by them, to provide for their safety, by giving them the following instruction:

tomorrow turn you; do not go forward, lest ye fall into their ambushment, but turn about, and go the contrary way; return in the way, or towards the parts from whence ye came: this they are bid to do tomorrow, but did not till some time after; for, contrary to the command of God, they went up the mount, where they were defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites, after which they stayed in Kadesh some days, Deuteronomy 1:44,

and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea; or in the way towards it; and so they would be in the way to Egypt, where the people were desirous of returning again; but as they were always a rebellious and disobedient people, and acted contrary to God, so in this case; for when he bid them go back towards the Red sea again, then they were for going forward, and entering into the land of Canaan, Numbers 14:40; though when he bid them go up, and possess it, then they were for returning to Egypt, Numbers 14:4.

(z) "sedet", Drusius, Piscator.

(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites {l} dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the {m} wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

(l) And lie in wait for you.

(m) For I will not defend you.