Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Numbers 21:2

וַיִּדַּ֨ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל נֶ֛דֶר לַֽיהוָ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אִם־נָתֹ֨ן תִּתֵּ֜ן אֶת־הָעָ֤ם הַזֶּה֙ בְּיָדִ֔י וְהַֽחֲרַמְתִּ֖י אֶת־עָרֵיהֶֽם׃

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.’

Rashi on Numbers

והחרמתי means I WILL DEDICATE their spoil (that of the cities) to the Most High.
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Or HaChaim on Numbers

אם נתן תתן, "If You will surely deliver, etc." The reason the Israelites repeated the words נתן תתן, is due to the fact that they were not certain which nation they were talking about. They said "if" i.e. if this nation is one of the seven Canaanite nations, all well and good. If not, Israel asked that G'd should nevertheless תתן, give that people into its hands, etc. There is a comment in the Midrash Lekach Tov according to which the first נתן refers to G'd handing back the prisoner the Amalekites had captured.
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Rashbam on Numbers

והחרמתי, all the portables shall be “holy unto G’d;” Israel vowed not to treat these objects as booty.
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Siftei Chakhamim

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Rav Hirsch on Torah

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