Joshua 12:2

2 Seon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Esebon, ruling from Arnon, which is in the valley, on the side of the valley, and half of Galaad as far as Jaboc, the borders of the children of Ammon.

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 And these the kings of the land, whom the children of Israel slew, and inherited their land beyond Jordan from the east, from the valley of Arnon to the mount of Aermon, and all the land of Araba on the east.
2 Seon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Esebon, ruling from Arnon, which is in the valley, on the side of the valley, and half of Galaad as far as Jaboc, the borders of the children of Ammon.
3 And Araba as far as the sea of Chenereth eastward, and as far as the sea of Araba; the salt sea eastward the way to Asimoth, from Thaeman under Asedoth Phasga.
4 And Og king of Basan, who dwelt in Astaroth and in Edrain, was left of the giants
5 ruling from mount Aermon and from Secchai, and all the land of Basan to the borders of Gergesi, and Machi, and the half of Galaad of the borders of Seon king of Esebon.

Footnotes 1

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.