Chukas 21:30 · unit 1 — Cheshbon’s fall as the world’s account undone
Parashas Chukas · Passuk 21:30
The Complete Passuk
וַנִּירָ֛ם אָבַ֥ד חֶשְׁבּ֖וֹן עַד־דִּיבֹ֑ן וַנַּשִּׁ֣ים עַד־נֹ֔פַח אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַד־מֵֽידְבָֽא׃
And we have laid them waste; Cheshbon has perished as far as Divon, and we have desolated as far as Nophach, which reaches to Medeva.
Chabad.org — 21:30
Source Citation
Torah Temimah: TT midrashic
Sefaria — TT Numbers 21:30
Core Text of Chazal
Core Text
מַהוּ וַנִּירָם – אֲשֶׁר רָשָׁע אֵין רָם, אָבַד חֶשְׁבּוֹן – אָבַד חֶשְׁבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם.
English: What is “vaniram”? The wicked is no longer exalted; “Cheshbon has perished” — the account of the world has perished.
Type of Learning
Wordplay on Cheshbon as accounting.
What Is Learned
The fall of Cheshbon figures the collapse of the wicked’s accounting of the world.