Joshua 12:2

2 Sihon, king of the Amorite, who is dwelling in Heshbon, ruling from Aroer which [is] on the border of the brook Arnon, and the middle of the brook, and half of Gilead, and unto Jabok the brook, the border of the Bene-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 [are] kings of the land whom the sons of Israel have smitten, and possess their land, beyond the Jordan, at the sun-rising, from the brook Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain eastward.

2 Sihon, king of the Amorite, who is dwelling in Heshbon, ruling from Aroer which [is] on the border of the brook Arnon, and the middle of the brook, and half of Gilead, and unto Jabok the brook, the border of the Bene-Ammon;

3 And the plain unto the sea of Chinneroth eastward, and unto the sea of the plain (the salt sea) eastward, the way to Beth-Jeshimoth, and from the south under the springs of Pisgah.

4 And the border of Og king of Bashan (of the remnant of the Rephaim), who is dwelling in Ashtaroth and in Edrei,

5 and ruling in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurite, and the Maachathite, and the half of Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.