God’s Word Translation
Numbers 20:15
15Our ancestors went to Egypt, and we lived there for many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors.
Numbers 20:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
- New International Version (NIV)Our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors,
- English Standard Version (ESV)how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers.
- New King James Version (NKJV)how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.
Context of Numbers 20:15
13This was the oasis of Meribah [Complaining], where the Israelites complained about the Lord and where he showed them he was holy. 14Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. He said, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardships we’ve had. Our ancestors went to Egypt, and we lived there for many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors. 16When we cried out to the Lord, he heard us, sent a messenger, and brought us out of Egypt. “Now we’re here in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17Please let us go through your country. We won’t go through any of your fields or vineyards, or drink any of the water from your wells. We’ll stay on the king’s highway and never leave it until we’ve passed through your territory.”
Read all of Numbers 20Numbers 20:15 word by word
וַיֵּרְד֤וּ אֲבֹתֵ֙ינוּ֙ מִצְרַ֔יְמָה וַנֵּ֥שֶׁב בְּמִצְרַ֖יִם יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֑ים וַיָּרֵ֥עוּ לָ֛נוּ מִצְרַ֖יִם וְלַאֲבֹתֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 20:15
- Genesis 46:6They also took their livestock and the possessions they had accumulated in Canaan. Jacob and all his family arrived in Egypt.
- Acts 7:15So Jacob went to Egypt, and he and our ancestors died there.
- Genesis 15:13God said to Abram, “You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years.
- Exodus 12:40The Israelites had been living in Egypt for 430 years.
- Numbers 11:5Remember all the free fish we ate in Egypt and the cucumbers, watermelons, leeks, onions, and garlic we had?
- Numbers 16:13Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey only to kill us in the desert? Do you also have to order us around?
- Exodus 1:11So the Egyptians put slave drivers in charge of them in order to oppress them through forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.
- Exodus 5:14Pharaoh’s slave drivers had placed Israelite foremen in charge of the people. The slave drivers beat the foremen and said, “You didn’t finish all the bricks you were ordered to make yesterday or today. Why didn’t you make as many as you used to?”
- Deuteronomy 26:6So the Egyptians treated us cruelly, oppressed us, and made us do back-breaking work for them.
- Acts 7:19This king was shrewd in the way he took advantage of our people. He mistreated our ancestors. He made them abandon their newborn babies outdoors, where they would die.
Commentaries on Numbers 20:15
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 The nearest way to Canaan from the place where Israel encamped, was through the country of Edom. The ambassadors who were sent returned with a denial. The Edomites feared to receive damage by the Israelites. And had this numerous army been under any other discipline than that of the righteous God himself, there might have been cause for this jealousy. But Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing; and now the hatred revived, when the blessing…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-21The Israelites started their journey to the promised land here. They moved from Kadesh, leaving the Sinai peninsula. They entered the area east of the Jordan River, known as Transjordan. They approached the promised land from the east, taking a less direct route (see 14:25; compare Deuteronomy 2:2–6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1614-16. Moses sent messengers ... to the king of Edom--The encampment at Kadesh was on the confines of the Edomite territory, through which the Israelites would have had an easy passage across the Arabah by Wady-el-Ghuweir, so that they could have continued their course around Moab, and approached Palestine from the east [Roberts]. The Edomites, being the descendants of Esau and tracing their line of descent from Abraham as their common stock, were…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 20:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries