Judges 11:18

18 Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to {the east} side of the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond [the] Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because [the] Arnon [was] the border of Moab.

Judges 11:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 11:18

Then they went along the wilderness
The wilderness of Paran, which lay along the borders of Edom; they went, according to Jarchi, from the west to the east on the south border of Edom and Moab:

and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab;
all the south of the land of Edom, and all the south of the land of Moab; towards the sunrising, as in ( Numbers 21:11 )

and pitched on the other side of Arnon;
the river Arnon, which, according to Jarchi, was at the east end of the land of Moab, where began the country of Sihon and Og:

but came not within the border of Moab;
so far were they from attempting to take away any part of that land from the king of it, though ill treated by him:

for Arnon was the border of Moab;
which divided between Moab and the Amorites, ( Numbers 21:13 ) .

Judges 11:18 In-Context

16 because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the {Red Sea} and went to Kadesh.
17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let us cross through your land," but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent [messengers] to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18 Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to {the east} side of the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond [the] Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because [the] Arnon [was] the border of Moab.
19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, 'Please let us cross through your land {to our country}.'
20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to cross through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and then encamped at Jahaz; and he made war with Israel.

Footnotes 2

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.