Joshua 13:21

21 So that land included all the towns on the plain and all the area that Sihon king of the Amorites had ruled from the town of Heshbon. Moses had defeated him along with the leaders of the Midianites, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. All these leaders fought together with Sihon and lived in that country.

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 in the valley,
20 Beth Peor, the hills of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth.
21 So that land included all the towns on the plain and all the area that Sihon king of the Amorites had ruled from the town of Heshbon. Moses had defeated him along with the leaders of the Midianites, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. All these leaders fought together with Sihon and lived in that country.
22 The Israelites killed many people during the fighting, including Balaam of Beor, who tried to use magic to tell the future.
23 The land given to Reuben stopped at the shore of the Jordan River. So the land given to the family groups of Reuben included all these towns and their villages that were listed.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.