Numbers 21:2 (DRB)

Passage

But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said: If thou wilt deliver thus people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.

Nearby Context

Numbers 21:1 And when king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south, had heard this, to wit, that Israel was come by the way of the spies, he fought against them, and overcoming them carried off their spoils.

Numbers 21:2 But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said: If thou wilt deliver thus people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.

Numbers 21:3 And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities: and they called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.

Numbers 21:4 And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the people began to be weary of their journey and labour:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "israel", "binding", "himself", "lord", "said", "thou", "wilt", and "deliver". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "israel" and "binding", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And when king Arad the Chanaanite who..." into verse 3's "And the Lord heard the prayers of...", so "israel" and "binding" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "israel" and "binding" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.