The KJV Holy Bible

 

Numbers Chapter Twenty One

 

1 And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

3 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

10 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.

11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.

12 From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.

13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,

15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.

16 And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:

18 The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:

19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:

20 And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.

21 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

22 Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders.

23 And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.

27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

28 For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

29 Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and og the king of bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at edrei.

34 And the Lord said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.

 

 

Esoteric Interpretation & Commentary

 

The Hermetic Blueprint of Numbers Chapter Twenty-One: The Serpent of Healing and the Triumph over the Wilderness 

"Numbers Chapter Twenty-One unveils one of the most profound Alchemical mysteries of the Great Work. It demonstrates that the very forces of lower Astral toxicity and Egoic poison, when confronted with absolute Spiritual awareness and elevated to the Higher Planes, become the very instrument of psychological healing and liberation."

 

 

Verses 1-3: The King of Arad and the First Victory of Faith - "And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel... And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities..." 

King Arad represents the aggressive, defensive resistance of the lower earthly plane trying to block the progress of the Microcosm. When the Conscious Mind completely surrenders its will to the Superconscious Source (vowing total destruction of these low-frequency attachments), the spiritual inertia is shattered. The destruction of these cities signifies the clearing of old psychological strongholds, paving the way for the Psyche to press deeper into the Great Work.

 

 

Verses 4-6: The Soul Discouraged and the Fiery Serpents - "And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses... And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died." 

Exhausted by the long, arduous journey through the Astral wilderness, the mundane Intellect falls into profound discouragement and begins to murmur against the Higher Self. In Hermetic symbolism, serpents represent vital, raw, unchannelled energy and the intense Kundalini frequencies of the lower centers. When the Psyche drops its spiritual discipline, this unmanaged energy turns destructive (fiery serpents), biting the internal Faculties and causing psychic death. The raw passions of the Ego, left uncontrolled, become a toxic internal poison.

 

 

Verses 7-9: The Brazen Serpent and the Alchemical Law of Transmutation - "And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it on a pole..." 

This is a supreme Hermetic mystery. The cure for the serpent's bite is not the destruction of the serpent, but its elevation and transfiguration. The serpent made of brass (representing refined, solidified earthly intent) placed upon a pole (the Universal Axis) is a direct Alchemical symbol of the mastery of lower forces. When the Conscious Mind deliberately looks upon its own base passions—not with fear or indulgence, but with detached, higher awareness—the poison is neutralized. Confronting the lower nature in the light of the Superconscious Source transforms the instrument of death into an instrument of eternal life.

 

 

Verses 16-18: The Well of Living Waters - "And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water... The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the law, with their staves..." 

After the psychological crisis is resolved, the Microcosm reaches Beer—the well of living water. The digging of the well by the princes and nobles using their staves (symbols of Magickal Authority) illustrates that spiritual refreshment is never an accident. It requires the coordinated, deliberate effort of the internal leadership to pierce the hard crust of the lower material mind, allowing the pure, life-giving waters of the Superconscious Source to flow freely through the Psyche once again.

 

 

Verses 21-35: The Slaying of Sihon and Og - "And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through thy land... And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border... And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land... And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them... And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand... So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land."

Sihon and Og represent the massive, entrenched psychological complexes that guard the very edge of the Higher Planes. They are the final, giant threshold guardians of the lower Astral plane—rigid intellectual defenses and deep-rooted Karmic strongholds. The Conscious Mind initially attempts to pass through peacefully, representing the desire for a frictionless transition. However, these dense Egoic structures violently refuse to allow the higher frequencies passage. The resulting Magickal warfare is mandatory. Slaying these kings with the "edge of the sword" (the single-pointed active Will) signifies the absolute, uncompromising destruction of the mind's oldest, most fortified illusions. By leaving "none left him alive", the Psyche permanently clears the energetic pathway, seizing the foundational territory required to cross into the Superconscious Source.