CHAPTER 2: 1. The story is continued, that they were not to meddle with the Edomites, 9. nor with the Moabites, 17. nor with the Ammonites, 24. but Sihon the Amorite was subdued by them.
Deu 2:1 Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the LORD had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.
Deu 2:2 Then the LORD said to me,
Deu 2:3 “You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.
Long enough. Thirty-nine years had passed since the Israelites’ departure from Egypt; they spent about 38 years in wandering. Northward. That is, from Ezion-geber toward Moab and Canaan.
Deu 2:5 Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.
5. Unto Esau. See Joshua 24:4. God deals faithfully even with those outside the covenant relationship. God had promised certain temporal blessings to the descendants of Esau, and would fulfill His word.
Deu 2:7 The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. 4Thy walking. The care of God applies even to the details of the journey of life (Ps. 1:6). Forty years. A round number. From the Passover in Egypt to the first Passover in Canaan, at Gilgal (Joshua 4:19; 5:10), was exactly 40 years (see p
Deu 2:8 So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.
8. Elath. Their direction from Seir had been southward to Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Aqaba and Elath, which probably lay close to Ezion-geber on the coast. Then skirting the territory of Edom as they turned and traveled northward, they reached the territory of Moab.
Deu 2:9 Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.” 9. Given Ar. The descendants of Lot, like those of Ishmael and Esau, had their inheritance confirmed to them before the seed of Abraham occupied what had been assigned to them. Ar was apparently the chief city of that territory, and gave its name to the entire region (Num. 21:15, 28).
Deu 2:10 (The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. 10. Emims. For mention of the people and their city, Shaveh Kiriathaim, see Gen. 14:5 and Joshua 13:19.
Deu 2:11 Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.
Deu 2:12 Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the LORD gave them as their possession.)
12. Horims. The ancient inhabitants of Mt. Seir (Gen. 14:6; 36:20), the Hurrians, whose history, language, and religion have but recently come to light (see p. 138).
Deu 2:13 And the LORD said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley. 13. The brook Zered. Compare Num. 21:12. The modern Wâdi el–Hesa, at the southeastern corner of the Dead Sea.
Deu 2:14 Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
14. The men of war. An expression used to designate men 20 years of age and over (Num. 1:3). Wasted out. Not one remained
Deu 2:18 “Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.18. Pass over. That is, to skirt the border, but without crossing it.
Deu 2:19 When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.” 19. Children of Ammon. They were not to trespass upon the territory of the children of Ammon, but to pass through the territory of Sihon the king in Heshbon (see Num.
21:13, 24).
Deu 2:20 (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 20. Zamzummins. See Gen. 14:5. Beyond the fact that these people were a race of giant stature, and were driven out of their country by the Ammonites, we have no information concerning them.
Deu 2:21 They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.
21. Destroyed them. The Ammonites were used by the Lord to discipline the people.
Deu 2:22 The LORD had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.
22. The Horims. See v. 12.
Deu 2:23 And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.) 23. Avims. See Joshua 13:3, 4. The original inhabitants of southwest Palestine,
dispossessed by the Philistines.
Caphtorims. See on Gen. 10:14; also Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7.
Deu 2:24 “Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. 24. Rise ye up. See Num. 21:13. The command to cross the Arnon and invade the territory adjacent to the Jordan inhabited by the Amorites.
Sihon the Amorite. Sihon had taken this territory from the Moabites, who in turn withdrew to the south of the Arnon.
Deu 2:25 This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.” 25. The dread. Compare the promise to Moses (Ex. 15:15, 16), and the experience of Joshua with the Amorites at Gibeon (Joshua 10:11).
Deu 2:26 From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, 26. Kedemoth. See Joshua 13:18; 21:37; 1 Chron. 6:79, where a city of that name is mentioned in the plain of Jordan.
Deu 2:27 “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. 27. High way. A royal highway maintained for the expeditious travel of officials and
troops (Num. 20:17; 21:22). Traces of this ancient highway remain today, from the Gulf of Aqaba northward through Transjordan.
Deu 2:28 Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot— 28. Thou shalt sell. The Israelites offered every inducement for the granting of a peaceful passage.
Deu 2:29 as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us.” 29. Pass over Jordan. An assurance to Sihon that they had no intention of settling in his land, since their inheritance lay beyond the Jordan.
Deu 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.
30. Not let us pass by. He was suspicious of their sincerity and questioned the reasonableness of their request (see Num. 21:23).
The Lord would not interfere with the natural operation of Sihon’s heart and intents, but would confirm him in it (see on Ex. 4:21).
One may use the God-given strength of mind and heart to continue in the wrong or to turn to the right. The Lord does not force a man to the one or to the other, but ever stands ready to cooperate by His Spirit with the man who chooses the good.
The same word is translated in Joshua 1:6 as “be … of a good courage.”
Deu 2:31 The LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”
Deu 2:32 When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz,
Deu 2:33 the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army.
Deu 2:34 At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them—men, women and children. We left no survivors. 34. Utterly destroyed. Literally, “placed under a ban,” “set apart.” Such an act might
be performed only at God’s command. The same was done with respect to Jericho.
Deu 2:35 But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves.
Deu 2:36 From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
36. Aroer. An Amorite city on the right bank of the river Arnon, about 13 mi. from
the Dead Sea (see Joshua 12:2; 13:16; 2 Kings 10:33). Its modern name is ‘Arâ ‘ir.
Deu 2:37 But in accordance with the command of the LORD our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.
37. Jabbok. See Num. 21:24; Judges 11:22.