1Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea,†as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.
2At this time the LORD said to me, 3“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north 4and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful. 5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seirto Esauas his possession. 6You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”
7Indeed, the LORDyour Godhas blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORDyour God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.
8So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elathand Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab. 9Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot astheir possession.”
10(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. 11Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites. 12The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esaudrove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)
13“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.
14The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORDhad sworn to them. 15Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.
16Now when all the fighting men among the people had died, 17the LORD said to me, 18“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab atAr. 19But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lotas their possession.”
ⓘThe Zamzummites are probably the same as the...
The Zamzummites are probably the same as the Zuzites (Gen 14:5). The Lord had removed them from the land in the past so that the Ammonites could occupy their lands. The God of Israel is also the God of all the earth; he is mindful of all nations and has a place and purpose for each.
20(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 21They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place, 22just as He had done 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. 23And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor†and settled in their place.)
24“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon theAmorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. 25This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
26So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying, 27“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left. 28You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot, 29just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seirand the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD ourGod is giving us.”
30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORDyour God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
31Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”
32So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz. 33And the LORDour God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.
34At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction†the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors. 35We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.
36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORDour God gave us all of them. 37But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORDour God had forbidden.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:1
Mount Seir was a mountainous territory north of the Gulf of Aqaba, east of the Arabah (see study note on 1:1) and the Dead Sea. It was originally settled by the Horites (Gen 14:6), now identified by many scholars as the Hurrians. The Hurrians are described in many ancient texts as wandering tradesmen and adventurers who found a home in many parts of the ancient Near East. In time, the Horites of Mount Seir were supplanted by the descendants of Esau (Deut 2:22), and the region was called Edom (“red”), perhaps because of the rose-red stone typical of the area.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:5
I have given them: God’s gift of a promised land was not limited to Israel. He also distributed lands to Edom, Moab (2:9), Ammon (2:19), and the Caphtorites (2:22–23). Although God had chosen Israel as a special nation (1:31; see also 7:6; 14:2; Exod 19:5), he is also the God of all nations and has a place and purpose for each (Deut 32:8; Acts 17:26)—even for those that do not recognize his sovereignty (Rom 1:16–23).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:8
our relatives: Isaac had two sons, Esau, the firstborn, and Jacob, who obtained Esau’s birthright and blessing as the firstborn (Gen 25:27–34; 27:1–36). The result was intense hostility between Esau and Jacob and between their descendants. Israel still recognized and honored the kinship, however; out of fraternal good faith, if not affection, Israel bypassed Edom and did not engage the Edomites in battle (see Num 20:14–21).
Elath and Ezion-geber were twin port cities on the Red Sea. They later harbored the merchant ships of Solomon (1 Kgs 9:26), Jehoshaphat (1 Kgs 22:48), and Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:9
Following the destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain, Lot (Abraham’s nephew and Isaac’s cousin) and his two unmarried daughters sheltered in a cave east of the Dead Sea (see Gen 19:30–38), where Lot’s daughters plied their father with drink until he had sexual relations with them. Their descendants became the nations of Moab and Ammon. Because of their kinship with Israel, the Moabites were to be left undisturbed. David’s great-grandmother Ruth descended from Moab (Ruth 1:4), and David sent his own family to the land of Moab for protection when he was pursued by Saul (1 Sam 22:3–5).
Ar was probably the capital of Moab.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:10
The Emites were also located at Shaveh-kiriathaim (Gen 14:5), perhaps ten miles east of the Dead Sea’s north end.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:11
The Rephaites lived near Ashteroth-karnaim (Gen 14:5; perhaps modern Tell Ashtarah), due east of the Sea of Galilee (see Deut 1:4).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:12
just as Israel drove out: The Hebrew does not include the phrase the people of Canaan. This passage is often cited as a later addition to Deuteronomy because it seems to presuppose the conquest under Joshua. However, it refers in part to the defeat of peoples east of the Jordan, such as the Amorites under King Sihon and King Og (3:12–17).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:13
The ravine of Zered Brook marked the boundary between Moab and Edom. Rising in the highlands of Mount Seir, this waterway empties into the southeast bend of the Dead Sea.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:19
Like the Moabites, the Ammonites were descendants of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters (see study note on 2:9). Throughout most of their history, the Ammonites lived south and east of the Jabbok River. The nation’s capital was Rabbath Ammon (modern Amman, Jordan). David arranged for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, to be slain in the siege of this city (2 Sam 11:1, 14–21).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:23
The Caphtorites were descendants of Ham and were originally from Crete, a large island south of the Greek peninsula. The Caphtorites are usually identified with the Philistines (see Gen 10:6–14; 1 Chr 1:8–12). The Philistine presence in Canaan resulted from two separate movements, one in the time of the Hebrew patriarchs (see study note on Gen 21:32) and another that began about 1200 BC (see study notes on Josh 13:2; Judg 3:3). This passage apparently refers to the earlier settlement.
The Avvites were indigenous inhabitants of the lower Mediterranean coastal plain; they were supplanted in Gaza by the early wave of Philistines (cp. Josh 13:2–4).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:24
The Arnon Gorge is the deep canyon formed by the Arnon River; it sometimes marked the border between Moab and Edom (see Num 21:13). It rises deep in the Arabian Desert and empties into the Dead Sea midway along its eastern shore.
Sihon the Amorite controlled the area east of the Jordan, north of the Arnon, and south of the Ammonite territories (see Num 21:21–35). He is not known outside of the Bible. His capital, Heshbon, was probably about fifteen miles southwest of Rabbath Ammon and is usually identified with the impressive ruins at Tell Hesban.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:26
The wilderness of Kedemoth might refer to the area north of the Arnon Gorge between Dibon and Mattanah (Josh 13:18; 21:37).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:30
made Sihon stubborn and defiant (literally had hardened his spirit and strengthened his heart): Like Pharaoh (see Exod 7:13), Sihon was incorrigibly unrepentant and thus experienced God’s wrath. God knew that any further extension of grace to these rulers would be useless. Mystery surrounds the relationship between statements that people harden their own hearts (e.g., Exod 7:13, 22; 8:15) and statements that God hardens people’s hearts (e.g., Exod 4:21; 7:3; 9:12). What is clear is that God appeals for repentance and is ready to forgive, but when people continually ignore or reject his appeals, they can become incapable of hearing and obeying God (see “Hardened Hearts” Theme Note; Rom 1:21–28; 9:17–24).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:34
completely destroyed (Hebrew kharam): The Hebrew term refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. The underlying rationale was to maintain the Lord’s holiness in the face of pagan idolatry and moral corruption (see also Lev 27:28–29).
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:36
Aroer, on the north rim of the Arnon Gorge three miles from Dibon, marked the southernmost extent of the Amorite kingdom (3:12; 4:48; Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16, 25).
The identity of the town in the gorge is uncertain.
Gilead, famous for its balm and other aromatic spices (Jer 8:22; 46:11), lay north of the Jabbok River, the northernmost border of the Amorites under Sihon.
Commentary
Deuteronomy 2:37
Like the Moabites, the Ammonites were related to Israel and were thus to be left undisturbed (cp. 2:9).
The Jabbok River, a great tributary of the Jordan River, marked the border between Gilead to the north and the Amorite kingdom of Sihon to the south. The Ammonites lived east and south of the Jabbok (2:19). It was somewhere at the Jabbok that Jacob wrestled with the stranger at night (Gen 32:22–32).
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