Numbers 21:30 (WEB)

Passage

We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”

Nearby Context

Numbers 21:28 for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.

Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.

Numbers 21:30 We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”

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

Numbers 21:32 Moses sent to spy out Jazer. They took its villages, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shot", "heshbon", "perished", "even", "dibon", "laid", and "waste". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shot" and "heshbon", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

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