Numbers 10:31

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

²⁹Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses' father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, "We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel." ³⁰"I will not go," Hobab replied. "Instead, I am going back to my own land and my own people." ³¹"Please do not leave us," Moses said, "since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes.³²If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us." ³³So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them. ³⁴And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp. ³⁵Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, "Rise up, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered; may those who hate You flee before You." ³⁶And when it came to rest, he would say: "Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

forasmuch: As the Israelites were under the immediate direction of God himself, and were guided by the pillar of cloud and fire, it might be supposed that they had no need of Hobab. But it should be remembered, that the cloud directed only their general journeys, not their particular excursions. Parties took several journeys while the grand army lay still - Numbers 13:1, Numbers 20:1, Numbers 31:1, Numbers 32:1.

instead of eyes: Job 29:15, Psalms 32:8, 1 Corinthians 12:14-21, Galatians 6:2

Reciprocal: 1 Corinthians 12:21 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 10:5
From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.

Genesis 10:20
These are the sons of Ham according to their clans, languages, lands, and nations.

Acts 17:26
From one man He made every nation of men, to inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said,.... That is, Moses, he replied to Hobab, unwilling to take him at his word and go without him:

leave us not, I pray thee; or "not now"; as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; at this present time, under our present difficulties, while we are in the wilderness; though Jarchi says the particle נא signifies beseeching or supplication:

forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness; that this will be our case, that we shall be obliged, before we get to the promised land, to pitch our tents in the wilderness, in our passage through it; and thou knowest which are the best and most convenient places for that purpose, and therefore must entreat thee to go with us:

and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes; not to show the way, as Aben Ezra notes, or guide and direct them in the road through the wilderness; for the cloud by day and the fire by night were of that use to them, as well as when it rested, it directed them when and where to pitch their tents; rather to assist with his advice in difficult matters, when they should be in pressing circumstances: the Targum of Jonathan is,

"thou hast been dear unto us, as the apple of our eyes, and therefore we cannot part with thee.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou mayest be to us instead of eyes - A proverbial expression still in use in the East. Hobab would indicate the spots where water, fuel, and pasture might be found, or warn them of the dangers from hurricanes, and point out localities infested by robbers.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 10:31. Thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. — But what need had they of Hobab, when they had the pillar and fire continually to point out their way? Answer: The cloud directed their general journeys, but not their particular excursions. Parties took several journeys while the grand army lay still. (See Numbers 13:0, Numbers 20:0, Numbers 31:0, Numbers 32:0, c.) They therefore needed such a person as Hobab, who was well acquainted with the desert, to direct these particular excursions to point them out watering places, and places where they might meet with fuel, c., c. What man cannot, under the direction of God's providence, do for himself, God will do in the way of especial mercy. He could have directed them to the fountains and to the places of fuel, but Hobab can do this, therefore let Hobab be employed and let Hobab know for his encouragement that, while he is serving others in the way of God's providence, he is securing his own best interests. On these grounds Hobab should be invited, and for this reason Hobab should go. Man cannot do God's work and God will not do the work which he has qualified and commanded man to perform. Thus then the Lord is ever seen, even while he is helping man by man. See some valuable observations on this subject in Harmer, vol. ii., 286. Instead of, And thou mayest be to us instead of eyes, the Septuagint translate the passage thus: Και εσῃ εν ἡμιν πρεσβυτης, And thou shalt be an elder among us. But Moses probably refers to Hobab's accurate knowledge of the wilderness, and to the assistance he could give them as a guide.