Numbers 21:30 (LSB)

Passage

But we have cast them down, Heshbon perishes as far as Dibon, And we have made desolate even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”

Nearby Context

Numbers 21:28 For a fire went forth from Heshbon, A flame from the town of Sihon; It devoured Ar of Moab, The dominant heights of the Arnon.

Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, O Moab! You perish, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, And his daughters into captivity, To an Amorite king, Sihon.

Numbers 21:30 But we have cast them down, Heshbon perishes as far as Dibon, And we have made desolate even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”

Numbers 21:31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.

Numbers 21:32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its towns and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "cast", "down", "heshbon", "perishes", "dibon", "desolate", "even", and "nophah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "cast" and "down", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 29's "Woe to you O Moab You perish..." into verse 31's "Thus Israel lived in the land of...", so "cast" and "down" 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 "cast" and "down" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.