Joshua 12:2

2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which [is] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, [from] the middle of the valley and half of Gilead, up to the {Jabbok River}, [which marks] the border of the {Ammonites};

Joshua 12:2 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 12:2

Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon
Which he took from the Moabites, and made his capital city, ( Numbers 21:26 ) ;

[and] ruled from Aroer, which [is] upon the bank of the river of Arnon;
a city of Moab, which never fell into the hands of Sihon, and therefore he is said to rule from it but not over it:

and from the middle of the river;
that is, the river Arnon, which being the boundary of the Moabites and Amorites, the king of the Amorites might be said to rule from the middle of it:

and from half Gilead even unto the river Jabbok, [which is] the border
of the children of Ammon;
so it is said to be, ( Deuteronomy 3:16 ) ; it should be rendered, not "from half Gilead", but "and half Gilead", as it is in the Hebrew text, and so in the Targum; for half Gilead belonged to the kingdom of Sihon, as the other half did to the kingdom of Og, as in ( Joshua 12:5 ) ; and so Jarchi remarks.

Joshua 12:2 In-Context

1 These [are] the kings of the land whom the {Israelites} defeated, and of whose land they took possession beyond the Jordon {to the east}, from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:

2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which [is] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, [from] the middle of the valley and half of Gilead, up to the {Jabbok River}, [which marks] the border of the {Ammonites};

3 and the Arabah up to the Kinnereth Sea to the east, and as far as the sea of Arabah, the Salt Sea to the east, {in the direction of} Beth Jeshimoth, and to [the area] southward, {at the foot of} the slopes of Pisgah;

4 the territory of Og king of Bashan, one of the last of the Rephaites, who lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei

5 and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and over all Bashan up to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and half of Gilead, as far as the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

Footnotes

• [a]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [b]. Literally "Jabbok the wadi"
• [c]. Literally "sons of Ammon" or "children of Ammon"