Victory Over the Canaanites of Arad

(Book of Numbers 21:1 - 21:3)
When the Canaanite king of Arad, in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on a caravan route, he attacked them and succeeded in carrying off some spoils.  Subsequently the Israelites made this vow to Jehovah, "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will destroy all their towns in your name."  Jehovah heard their plea and gave Israel victory in battle over the Canaanites.  The Israelites destroyed their towns as an offering to Jehovah, and so the place was named Hormah [meaning destruction].

Notes
1. The Israelites, who have no confidence that they can excel in battle without a little divine help, call upon Jehovah to give them an edge with the Canaanites of Arad who have attacked them.  If victorious, they promise to destroy all their towns as a dedication to Jehovah.  Considering how much Jehovah loves death and destruction, this was no doubt an attractive offer to him.  It is interesting how most offerings to Jehovah involve destruction, slaughtering, killing, burning.  Most ancient peoples and, later, Christians and Muslims would make constructive dedications to their gods -- temples and shrines, mosques and cathedrals.  These seem to be less common among the early Israelites, who, after all, have had little capacity to build anything, except for the Tabernacle, which is merely a fancy, mobile tent.

2. Denied entry into the Promised Land, the wandering Israelites enter a period in which they make war upon any people they happen to encounter.  Their indiscriminate warfare meets with Jehovah's approval and he lends them continuing aid.

3. Arad in the northern Negev was located about 20 miles west of the Dead Sea ( 5 miles west of modern Arad and just south of the border of the modern West Bank).  A very ancient Canaanite settlement, it dates back to 4000 BC, but was abandoned about 2650 BC.  It was still deserted during the period of the Exodus and not reoccupied until the 11th Century BC.  Its inclusion in the narrative is, therefore,  indisputably anachronistic. The location of Hormah (or Zephath) is unknown.