Joshua 13:21

21 The land of Reuben also included all the towns of the plain and the entire kingdom of Sihon. Sihon was the Amorite king who had reigned in Heshbon and was killed by Moses along with the leaders of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—princes living in the region who were allied with Sihon.

Joshua 13:21 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 13:21

And all the cities of the plain
In the champaign country, as well as those in the mountainous part:

and all the kingdom of Sihon;
or, as Masius renders the words, "which all had been the kingdom of Sihon"; for the whole kingdom of Sihon was not given to Reuben, only a part of it, and the rest to Gad, as in ( Joshua 13:27 ) ;

king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon;
as in ( Joshua 13:10 ) ;

whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur,
and Hur, and Reba;
not at the same time that Sihon was smitten by him, but afterwards in a war with Midian, ( Numbers 31:8 ) ; where their names are given as here; and there they are called kings of Midian, petty kings, and, as it seems by what follows, were subject to Sihon, and therefore are here mentioned:

[which were] dukes of Sihon dwelling in the country;
for Midian, as Kimchi supposes, and not without reason, was under the government of Sihon, and these were his nobles, though they dwelt in the land of Midian.

Joshua 13:21 In-Context

19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill above the valley,
20 Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth.
21 The land of Reuben also included all the towns of the plain and the entire kingdom of Sihon. Sihon was the Amorite king who had reigned in Heshbon and was killed by Moses along with the leaders of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—princes living in the region who were allied with Sihon.
22 The Israelites had also killed Balaam son of Beor, who used magic to tell the future.
23 The Jordan River marked the western boundary for the tribe of Reuben. The towns and their surrounding villages in this area were given as a homeland to the clans of the tribe of Reuben.
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