Charles Ellicott Commentary Numbers 14:25

"Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: to-morrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea." — Numbers 14:25 (ASV)

Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. — There is considerable difficulty regarding the meaning and connection of these words. They may be attached to the words that precede: “And his seed shall possess it, and the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelling in the valley”—that is, shall possess the land occupied by them.

There are strong objections, however, to this rendering, as well as to the rendering adopted by the Authorized Version, if the latter is understood as an historical statement concerning the geographical position of the Amalekites and Canaanites, of which Moses can hardly be supposed to have been ignorant, and which may be assigned with greater probability to the “hill” than to the “valley.” (Compare Numbers 14:45 and Note; also Deuteronomy 1:44, where one or both of these races are spoken of under the name of Amorites or mountaineers.)

The word that is translated “dwelt” is often used in reference to a temporary sojourn, for example, in Joshua 8:9 of the ambuscade sent by Joshua, which “abode” between Bethel and Ai, and in 1 Samuel 25:13 of a portion of David’s men who “abode by the stuff.” It is also used in Numbers 14:45 of this chapter regarding the position of the Amalekites and Canaanites, whether temporary or permanent, in the “hill,” which appears to be used in contrast with the “valley.”

The passage may be rendered as follows: “Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are abiding in the valley,” that is, are lying in ambuscade in the valley, and waiting for an opportunity to attack the Israelites . If this interpretation of the words, which is that of Ibn Ezra, is adopted, it affords a strong reason for the command that follows:—“To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea”—that is, do not fall into the snare that is laid for you, but turn and go in a contrary direction.