Deuteronomy 2:9

9 the LORD warned us, ‘Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”

Deuteronomy 2:9 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 2:9

And the Lord said unto me
When upon the borders of Moab:

distress not the Moabites, neither contend with than in battle;
besiege not any of their cities, nor draw them into a battle, or provoke them to fight:

for I will not give thee of their land for a possession;
at least not as yet, the measure of their sins not being fully up, and the time of their punishment not come; otherwise in David's time they were subdued, and became tributaries to him, and the Edomites also, ( 2 Samuel 8:2 2 Samuel 8:14 ) ,

because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession;
so the Moabites were, they sprung from Moab, a son of Lot by his firstborn daughter, ( Genesis 19:37 ) . Ar was the metropolis of Moab, called Ar of Moab, ( Isaiah 15:1 ) and is here put for the whole country of Moab; so Aben Ezra interprets it of Moab. Jarchi says it is the name of the province; in the Septuagint version it called Aroer.

Deuteronomy 2:9 In-Context

7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’

8 “So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber. “Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab,

9 the LORD warned us, ‘Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”

10 (A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants.

11 Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites.