Numbers 21:23

23 But Sihon did not allow Israel to go through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people and went out to meet Israel; he came [to] the desert, to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.

Numbers 21:23 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:23

And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border,
&c.] Because he could not trust them, and confide in the promises they made, and thought it not safe to let such a body of people into any part of his dominions, ( Judges 11:20 ) and chiefly because his heart was hardened by the Lord, that he might be delivered into the hands of Israel, as was determined, ( Deuteronomy 2:30 ) :

but Sihon gathered all his people together;
all that were able to bear arms out of his cities, and which made no doubt a very numerous and powerful army; but then these being defeated, as they were, it became more easy to the Israelites to take their cities, where there were none left but women and children:

and went out against Israel into the wilderness;
the wilderness of Kedemoth; not content to reject a peaceable message, he went out in an hostile manner against Israel, even out of his own dominions; so that he was the aggressor and unprovoked, which made his ruin appear the more just, and the children of Israel to have a better claim to his country conquered by them:

and he came to Jahaz;
a frontier town in the land of Moab, see ( Isaiah 15:4 ) ( Jeremiah 48:34 ) and which, according to Bunting ^F16, was sixteen miles from Abarim:

and fought against Israel;
at the above place, where they had a pitched battle.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Travels of the Patriarchs, p. 83.

Numbers 21:23 In-Context

21 Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, saying,

22 "Let us go through your land; we will not turn aside into a field or vineyard; we will not drink well water along the way of the king until we have gone through your territory."

23 But Sihon did not allow Israel to go through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people and went out to meet Israel; he came [to] the desert, to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.

24 But Israel struck him with [the] edge of [the] sword, and they took possession of his land from Arnon to Jabbok, until the {Ammonites}, because the boundary of the {Ammonites} [was] strong.

25 Israel took all these cities, and Israel inhabited all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its environs.