The Second Battle of Hormah

EA Baker
Nov 13, 2025
6 min read

Wars of the Bible

In the previous blog, the Israelites had acted in disobedience, attempting to take the Promised Land after God had already declared judgment on their unbelief. The result was disastrous: they were driven back and defeated in what I called The First Battle of Hormah. Now, several chapters later, we find them in a similar situation—but this time, their hearts and faith have changed. Let’s turn to the passage itself.

Arad Destroyed

21 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.” 3 And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.

Numbers 21:1–3

What Do We Know About Arad?

The King of Arad ruled over a Canaanite city-state located in the Negeb, the arid southern frontier of ancient Canaan, roughly corresponding to the northern Negev region of modern Israel. Archaeological excavations have identified the site of ancient Arad as Tel Arad.

Tel Arad stood at a crossroads between Egypt, Edom, and the Canaanite highlands, a critical outpost on the caravan routes linking the southern deserts to Jerusalem and Hebron. Its position made it a formidable stronghold and a natural first line of defense against any advancing host from the wilderness. Layers of excavation at the site reveal multiple periods of occupation, including an Early Bronze Age Canaanite city and, later, an Israelite fortress complex, suggesting its continued military and cultural importance across the centuries.

Topographic map showing locations in a green-to-yellow gradient landscape with marked cities like Arad. Inset map highlights region in red. — Geographic location of Arad and the surrounding area.

The biblical Arad is mentioned both in Numbers 21 and Judges 1, each time associated with Israelite campaigns in the southern hill country. The city’s ruler, the unnamed King of Arad, was likely a local chieftain of a Canaanite tribal polity, controlling surrounding settlements and trade networks in the Negeb. When word reached him that Israel was advancing “by the way of Atharim,” his alarm was understandable: this was the same southern corridor through which the Israelites had previously approached the land and where their earlier rebellion had ended in defeat at Hormah (Numbers 14).

Rabbi Ben Herman, in his commentary The Canaanite King of Arad, observes that the King’s preemptive strike was not merely an act of territorial defense but one of calculated aggression, an attempt to crush Israel before they could gain a foothold. His success in taking captives may have been intended to demoralize the Israelites and assert Canaanite dominance over this crucial frontier. Yet, unlike in the earlier episode, Israel did not panic or rush headlong into battle on their own terms.

Ancient stone ruins under a clear blue sky, set on a rocky, grassy terrain. The scene is calm and historic, with a sense of abandonment. — Reconstructed Judahite fort at Tel Arad.

This time, they turned to the Lord first. In a moment of collective humility and faith, Israel made a vow: “If You will indeed give this people into our hand, then we will devote their cities to destruction.” The Hebrew term used here, ḥerem, means, biblically, the complete conquest, with no survivors and all property consecrated to God. As part of God’s promise, the Israelites were instructed to destroy the seven nations whose land Israel would inherit (we’ll discuss this more later).

And Scripture tells us, “the Lord heeded the voice of Israel.” The Canaanites were delivered into their hand, and their cities were devoted to destruction. In remembrance of this divine victory, the place was named Hormah, a word meaning “devotion” or “destruction,” echoing both the site of Israel’s earlier defeat and now, their redeemed triumph.

Dealing with the Canaanite Destruction

As believers, we are faced with explaining and defending our faith in God to many who would cite such events as what we see here. How could God be good if he orders the destruction of entire peoples?

Johnathon Noyes has a great explanation to address this problem. A former atheist now Christian, Noyes is a speaker and contributing writer for Stand to Reason, an organization that" trains Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square."

In his article on this very topic, he highlights four key points that I will share here:

God’s Patience

The article argues that God did not issue a hasty command to this destruction. The Canaanites had experienced roughly 400 years of grace since God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:13-16) and had long been aware of God’s power and presence (Joshua 2:10-11; 9:9), yet they had not repented.

God’s Judgment

The Canaanites are depicted as a society steeped in extreme moral evil: incest, bestiality, child sacrifice (e.g., to the deity Molech), and idol worship (Leviticus 18; Leviticus 18:24-25). Noyes argues that God’s command thus functions as a form of capital punishment on a people whose societal sin was profound and had defiled the land itself.

God’s Protection

Noyes asserts that part of the reason for the command was to protect the Israelites from being corrupted by the Canaanite practices. The command in Leviticus 18 includes a warning to Israel: “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things … the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it.” Furthermore, in Deuteronomy 20:18, the reason given for the command is “so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things … so that you would sin against the Lord your God.”

God’s Goodness

Finally, Noyes presents the view that judgment of the Canaanites is not inconsistent with God’s goodness; rather, it reminds us that all have sinned and fall short of God’s standard. If the worst sins of the Canaanites deserved judgment, then every human does. However, because of His mercy, God offers rescue through Jesus Christ. Even in executing judgment, God is still good.

Noyes contends that the biblical narrative of God commanding the destruction of the Canaanites is best understood not as an arbitrary act of violence, but as an extension of His long-suffering patience, righteous judgment of egregious evil, protective concern for His people, and ultimately consistent with His character of goodness and mercy.

A Spiritual Contrast to Numbers 14

This passage stands as a mirror image of the events in Numbers 14. In that earlier story, the Israelites, shaken by the fearful report of the twelve spies, lost heart. They doubted God’s promise, refused to enter the land, and when they later tried to correct their disobedience on their own terms, they were routed.

Here, the circumstances echo that earlier test, but the people’s response is transformed.

Where before there was fear, now there is faith.
Where there was rebellion, now there is obedience.
Where there was presumption, now there is submission to God’s will.

Their vow and subsequent victory at Hormah represent the fruit of a people who have learned to rely on divine power rather than their own. This battle was not just a military turnaround—it was a spiritual restoration.

My Spiritual Takeaways

We all have moments when our faith falters, when fear wins, and when we fall short. But God, in His mercy, allows us to ask for forgiveness and learn from these mistakes. The Second Battle of Hormah teaches that defeat is not the end of the story. When we repent and reorient our hearts toward God, He can redeem us despite our past failures.

Thus, here are my spiritual takeaways from the Second Battle of Hormah:

Fear loses its power when faith takes its place.

Fear is part of being human. But the difference is that we should not let fear drive us or become our idol, for it will inevitably lead us astray from God.

The Lord hears our prayers And Answers Them.

The power of prayer is on full display here. Submitting themselves to God’s plan and power, they humbly came to the Lord to ask him to give them victory. And by coming before him in faithful obedience, the Lord granted their request. When we surrender our pride and place our confidence in Him, even the “kings of Arad” in our lives —the fears, sins, or circumstances that once conquered us —can be utterly destroyed.

In the next entry in this series, we’ll move on to the Battle of Jahaz, where Israel faces King Sihon of the Amorites, a conflict that would mark the beginning of their conquest of the eastern lands.