Yehoshua 12:2

2 Sichon Melech HaEmori, who reigned in Cheshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the rim of the Arnon Valley, and from the middle of the valley, and from half Gil‘ad, even unto the River Yabbok, which is the border of the Bnei Ammon;

Yehoshua 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.

Yehoshua 12:2 In-Context

1 2 Now these are the melachim HaAretz, which the Bnei Yisroel conquered, and possessed their land beyond the Yarden toward the rising of the shemesh, from the Arnon Valley unto Mt Chermon, and kol HaAravah on the east;

2 Sichon Melech HaEmori, who reigned in Cheshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the rim of the Arnon Valley, and from the middle of the valley, and from half Gil‘ad, even unto the River Yabbok, which is the border of the Bnei Ammon;

3 And from the Aravah to the Yam Kinnerot on the east, and unto the Yam HaAravah, even the Yam HaMelach [i.e., Dead Sea] on the east, derech to Beit-HaYeshimot; and from the south, below Ashdot-HaPisgah;

4 And the territory of Og Melech HaBashan, from the last of the Repha’im, that reigned at Ashtarot and at Edre’i,

5 And reigned in Mt Chermon, and in Salkhah, and in kol HaBashan, unto the border of the Geshuri and the Maachati, and half Gil‘ad, the border of Sichon Melech Cheshbon.