Deuteronomy 2:23-33

23 Also men of Cappadocia putted out Avims, that dwelled in Hazerim, till to Gaza; which went out from Cappadocia, and did away Avims, and dwelled there for them. (And the men of Caphtor put out the Avims, who lived in Hazerim, unto Gaza; yea, they went out from Caphtor, and did away the Avims, and lived there in their place.)

24 Rise ye, and pass ye the strand of Arnon; lo! I have betaken in(to) thine hand Sihon, king of Heshbon, of Amorites; and his land begin thou to wield, and smite thou battle against him. (So rise ye up, and cross ye over the Arnon River; lo! I have delivered Sihon, the king of Heshbon, of the Amorites, and his land, into thy hands; now begin thou to possess it, and make thou battle against him.)

25 Today I shall begin to send thy dread, and thy fear into the peoples that dwell under all heaven (Today I shall begin to put the dread and the fear of thee into all the peoples who live under heaven), (so) that when thy name is heard, they dread, and tremble, by the manner of women travailing of child, and be holden with sorrow.

26 Therefore I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon; and I said with peaceable words (and I said with these words of peace),

27 We shall pass through thy land, we shall go in the common way; we shall not bow neither to the right side, nor to the left side. (We desire to pass through thy land, and we shall go by the common way; we shall not turn to the right, nor to the left.)

28 Sell thou us meats for price, that we eat; give thou us water for money, and so we shall drink. Only it is that we ask of thee that thou grant passage to us, (Sell thou food to us for money, so that we can eat; and sell thou water to us for money, so that we can drink. All that we ask of thee is that thou grant passage to us,)

29 as the sons of Esau did, that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites, that dwell in Ar, till we come to (the) Jordan, and pass to the land which our Lord God shall give to us. (as the sons of Esau did, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, until we come to the Jordan River, and then cross over to the land which the Lord our God shall give to us.)

30 And Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not give passage to us; for thy Lord God made hard his spirit, and made firm in evil the heart of him, that he should be betaken into thine hands, as thou seest now. (But Sihon, the king of Heshbon, would not grant us passage; for the Lord thy God made his spirit hard, and his heart firm in evil, so that he would be delivered into thy hands, as thou now seest that he is.)

31 And the Lord said to me, Lo, I have begun to betake to thee Sihon, and his land; begin thou to wield it. (And the Lord said to me, Lo! I have now begun to deliver unto thee Sihon, and his land; begin thou to possess it.)

32 And Sihon went out against us with all his people, to battle in Jahaz (to do battle at Jahaz).

33 And our Lord God betook him to us, and we have smitten him (and we struck him down), with his sons, and all his people.

Deuteronomy 2:23-33 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.