Deuteronomy 2:26-37

Listen to Deuteronomy 2:26-37
26 So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,
27 “Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.
28 You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,
29 just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”
30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
31 Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”
32 So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.
33 And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.
34 At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction [a] the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.
35 We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.
36 From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
37 But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.

Deuteronomy 2:26-37 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 2

In this chapter Moses goes on with his account of the affairs of the people of Israel, and what befell them, how they turned into the wilderness again; but passes over in silence their travels there, till they came to Mount Self, where having been some time they were bid to depart, De 2:1-3, and were directed not to meddle with the Edomites, or take anything from them, but pay them for what they should have of them, since they lacked not, De 2:4-8, nor to distress the Moabites, of whose country, as formerly inhabited, and also of Edom, some account is given, De 2:9-12, when they were bid to go over the brook Zered, to which from their coming from Kadeshbarnea was the space of thirty eight years, in which time the former generation was consumed, De 2:13-16 and now passing along the borders of Moab, they were ordered not to meddle with nor distress the children of Ammon, of whose land also, and the former inhabitants of it, an account is given, De 2:17-23, then passing over the river Arnon, they are bid to fight with Sihon king of the Amorites, and possess his land, De 2:24,25 to whom they sent messengers, desiring leave to pass through his land, and to furnish them with provisions for their money, as the Edomites and Moabites had done, De 2:26-29 but he refusing, this gave them an opportunity to attack him, in which they succeeded, slew him and his people, and took possession of his country, De 2:30-37.

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Footnotes 1

  • [a] Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially placed into the public domain