Numbers 21:31

Summary

The verse reports that Israel settled in the territory belonging to the Amorites. It functions as a short narrative summary closing the account of the military victory over the Amorite king mentioned in the preceding verses.

Key words

• va-yeshev ("and it dwelt", H3427) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking sequential action in the story: "and then Israel dwelt/settled."
• Yisra'El ("Israel", H3478) — proper name, subject of the verb, referring to the people as a collective singular entity.
• 'Eretz ("land of", H0776G) — feminine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be linked to the following word ("land of ___").
• ha-'Emori ("the Amorite", H0567) — gentilic noun with definite article, naming the population group whose territory is in view.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is compact, built on a single main clause: subject (Yisra'El) + verb (va-yeshev) + prepositional phrase of location (be-'eretz ha-'Emori). The narrative vav attached to the verb signals continuation from the prior narrative — this is presented as the next event in sequence, following the defeat of the Amorite king described earlier in the chapter.

The construct chain 'eretz ha-'Emori ("land of the Amorite") links the noun "land" directly to the gentilic "the Amorite," producing a single compound expression meaning "the territory belonging to the Amorite people." The definite article on 'Emori marks this as a specific, known group rather than a generic reference to "some Amorites."

The verb yeshev (from H3427) denotes dwelling or settling, describing a state of residence rather than a momentary action. Combined with the narrative vav, it indicates that Israel's settling is presented as a direct, resulting event in the story sequence — the land occupation follows the preceding narrative action reported in the text.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint (LXXSWETE) renders the Hebrew phrase be-'eretz ha-'Emori ("in the land of the Amorite") as ἐν πάσαις ταῖς πόλεσιν τῶν Ἀμορραίων ("in all the cities of the Amorites"), introducing the word "cities" (πόλεσιν) and the quantifier "all" (πάσαις), which have no corresponding words in the Hebrew text given here. The Vulgate (VULCLEM), with in terra Amorrhaei ("in the land of the Amorite"), follows the Hebrew construct structure closely, as do the Spanish and English translations provided (RV1909, SBLIBRE, BSB), which all render "land" rather than "cities."