Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 2:26

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

26. And I sent messengers, etc.] E, Num 21:21, Israel sent messengers, etc.

the wilderness of Kedemoth ] So only here. A Levite city e demoth, belonging to R e ’uben, is given along with Yaha and Mepha‘ath, P, Jos 13:18; Jos 21:37; 1Ch 6:79 [64]. The name is a plur. = East parts; it must have lain N. of Arnon on the edge of the desert. Musil ( Moab, 110, 122) compares the ruins el-Meshreik, ‘The Orient,’ 7 miles N. of W. Sa‘ideh ( Deu 2:24) and looking towards the desert.

Sihon king of Heshbon ] E, Num 21:21: king of the Amorites; cp. Deu 2:26. Sn is transliterated Sn in the Ar. Pent. (ed. Lagarde) but the proper Ar. analogue is Shan, a man’s name, also that of the saint venerated by the ‘Ajlt tribe as the builder of the ri‘at Shhan, extensive ruins on the conspicuous Jebel Sh n, S. of W. el-Mjeb. See the present writer in PEFQ, 1904, 371 f.; Musil, Moab. 376, 382 with citations from Abu-l-fida and Yat, Ethnol. Bericht ( Ar. Petr. iii.) 110, 218.

Heshbon ] was his city. The mod. esbn, with ruins of the Byzantine age and a Greek inscription, near the W. edge of the Moab plateau, at the head of a glen descending to the W. esbn, and 600 ft below the town, the copious ‘Ain esban. A little S. of the latitude of Jericho, eshbn lay on the main road, almost half-way between Arnon and Jabbo, a suitable site for the Amorite capital. See PEF Mem. E. Palestine, 104 ff.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26 37. The Victory over Sn

From the desert N. of Arnon Moses sent to Sn asking leave to cross his land in peace, purchasing food and water (Deu 2:26-29). Sn refused, Jehovah hardening bis spirit that he might be delivered into Israel’s hands (Deu 2:30 f.). They met at Yaha and Sn was defeated (Deu 2:32 f.). Israel took his towns, put the population to the ban, but reserved cattle and spoil for themselves (Deu 2:34 f.), and occupied his land from the Arnon to Gile‘ad, and up to the Ammonite border on the Jabbo (Deu 2:36 f.).

The parallel JE, Num 21:21-32 (for the analysis of which into two narratives see the Comm. in this series), contains besides an old mashal or ode on the subject (Deu 2:27-30). E agrees in substance with D and there are verbal parallels, for which see below. As elsewhere D seems here based on E, with the usual variations of style and one or two details of fact.

On the relation of this section of Moses’ discourse to the preceding see introd. and notes to the latter. On the historicity of the story see the present writer’s HGHL, 662 ff.; and Early Poetry of Israel, 64 ff.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Kedemoth – literally, Easternmost parts; the name of a town afterward assigned to the Reubenites, and given out of that tribe to the Levites. Compare Jos 13:18; 1Ch 6:79.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Kedemoth; so called from a city of that name, Jos 13:18; and called Jeshimon, Num 21:20.

With words of peace; with offers of peace, which they refusing, their destruction was highly just and reasonable.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth,…. A city in the tribe of Reuben, and given by them to the Levites in later times, having been taken from the Amorites with others; near this lay a wilderness, which took its name from it, and seems to be the same with Jeshimon, Nu 21:20. Aben Ezra takes it to be the wilderness of Matthanah, which according to Jerom g was situated on Arnon, twelve miles to the east of Medeba; see

Nu 21:18 from hence messengers were sent by Moses,

unto Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace; in a peaceable and respectful manner, desiring to be at peace and in friendship with him, and a continuance of it, which was done to leave him inexcusable; as afterwards a like method was ordered to be taken, when they came to any city, to proclaim peace, and if an answer of peace was given, no hostilities were to be committed, De 20:10,

saying; as follows.

g De loc. Heb. fol. 93. C.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 26-37:

For a record of the campaign against Sihon, see Num 21:21-35. God’s purpose in dealing with Sihon was similar to that of Pharaoh, Exo 7:3; Exo 7:13, et. al. Jehovah hardened the spirit (heart) of Sihon, but only after Sihon had made the deliberate choice to resist the will of God. It was Sihon who initiated the conflict with Israel, and thus with the God of Israel.

Sihon came against Israel with the full weight of his armed might. The battle occurred at Jahaz, a city between Dibon and Medeba. God gave Israel the victory, and they exterminated the entire population of Sihon’s kingdom. They spoiled and then destroyed all the cities, but kept the livestock as the spoils of war. The victory was complete, from Aroer on the south to Gilead on the north, and from Jordan on the west to the border of Ammon on the east.

The severe measures against Sihon and his kingdom may appear cruel and unjust to some. But Sihon and his people were idolators, wilfully hostile toward God and His people. To allow any survivors would be to permit the seeds of rebellion to sprout and grow to become a stumbling block to Israel in the future.

Israel obeyed God’s directive, regarding the Ammonites, and left untouched all their territory. Jos 13:25 states that Gad received a portion of the territory of the Ammonites. But this portion was the. region between Jabbok and Amon, which the Amorites took from Ammon and which Israel took from the Amorites.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(26) Kedemoth.Mentioned as a city in the plain of Jordan, belonging to Heshbon (Jos. 13:18).

Words of peace.By this message Sihon was excepted from the catalogue of the doomed kings and nations, according to the distinction drawn in Deu. 20:10-11; Deu. 20:15-16. He therefore brought his fate upon himself. He was offered the privileges of the Moabites whom he had conquered, and refused to accept the position.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

26. Kedemoth After the conquest of the country this city was given to the tribe of Reuben. Jos 13:18. It became a Levitical place of residence. See Jos 21:37; 1Ch 6:64.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Yahweh’s Dealings With Sihon, King of the Amorites ( Deu 2:26-31 ).

There is no suggestion that Yahweh had given the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites to him. Sihon had rather taken it by force of arms from Moab and had no divine right to it, especially as he was an Amorite, and the Amorites were under sentence. It was Yahweh’s intention that Sihon and the Amorites should be destroyed and their land give to Israel as a possession. However, in spite of that, they were at first given the opportunity to prove their worthiness. They could have shown compassion to Israel. But in their response they simply indicated that they were ‘Canaanites’ to the core. The importance of this time comes out in that Israel were now to take their first possession of the land, and establish their reputation for the future.

Behind the treatment of the Amorites lies the concept of holiness. Israel were a holy nation (Exo 19:6), and the land promised to Abraham was a holy land (Exo 15:17; Zec 2:12), the land of Yahweh’s inheritance (Exo 15:17), belonging to Yahweh. Thus nothing unholy could be allowed to remain in it. That was why the unbelieving Israel had been refused residence in the land (Deu 1:28). That was why the Canaanites must be utterly destroyed from it. They had defiled the land. That is why once the land has been taken in holy war by God’s holy nation, all the inhabitants, men, women and children, must be ‘devoted’ to Yahweh in death in order to purge the land. The stain of the sinfulness of the Canaanites must be removed by the shedding of blood. That is Yahweh’s sentence. And that is why if His people depart from holiness they too must be driven from the land. It is a holy land for a holy people.

This passage may be analysed as follows:

a Moses send messages out of the plains to Sihon, the king of the Amorites offering peace (Deu 2:26).

b His request is that Israel might pass through, and he promises that they will stick to the King’s Highway and not trespass from it either to right or left (Deu 2:27).

c He desires that the Amorites will sell them food and water. All they want to do is march past (Deu 2:28).

c He points out that the Edomites and Moabites had done precisely this for them, and it would simply be until they crossed the Jordan into the land which Yahweh their God was giving them (Deu 2:29).

b But Sihon would not let them pass because Yahweh had hardened his spirit and made his heart ‘strong’ so that He might deliver Sihon into Israel’s hand at this very time (Deu 2:30).

a And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you.” They are to begin to possess and inherit his land (Deu 2:31).

Note that in ‘a’ Moses offers Sihon peace, but in the parallel Yahweh makes known His purpose that Sihon will be delivered into the hands of Israel. In ‘b’ Moses requests that they might pass through the land and in the parallel Sihon refuses to let them pass through. In ‘c’ he requests that the Amorites might behave in the same way as in the parallel Edom and Moab had done.

Deu 2:26-28

‘ And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, “Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway. I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on my feet, as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.”

Emissaries were sent to Sihon with the reasonable request that they be allowed to pass along the highway, paying their way, and the promise was given that they would not stray from the highway. They would pay for all provisions required. The children of Esau and the Moabites had to a certain extent allowed their passage, for they had not attacked them, and they had suffered no harm. Would they not do the same? Their aim, Moses explained, was simply to reach the Jordan where they could pass over it and enter the land which Yahweh had promised to give them.

Note the kingly use of ‘I’ to include his nation. As far as the nations were concerned Moses was Israel’s king.

Deu 2:30

‘ But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him, for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as at this day.”

But Moses makes it clear that it was never Yahweh’s intention for Sihon to agree. Yahweh all along knew Sihon’s innermost thoughts. And He had assessed him correctly. By this approach Yahweh hardened Sihon’s spirit, and made his heart obstinate. But this was not an independent act. It was because of what Sihon was. He could not blame God. Had he been amenable it would not have hardened his heart. (Compare Num 21:23 where the blame is laid squarely on him). He may well have been angry at the thought that this people were intending to invade Canaan where many of his brother Amorites were. He was also no doubt suspicious of what would happen when such a large contingent suddenly arrived in the middle of his land. They could then fan out and attack, taking the Amorites by surprise. And he knew that neither Edom nor Moab had been quite as accommodating as Moses had made it sound. Thus he refused, demonstrating His refusal to respond to Yahweh’s request.

The ‘hardening of the spirit and the making obstinate of the heart’ paralleled the behaviour of Pharaoh in Egypt. It brought down total judgment.

Deu 2:31

‘ And Yahweh said to me, See, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you. Begin possessing to possess, that you may inherit his land.’

Then God told Moses that if he would look he would see that the beginning of Sihon’s delivering up was taking place. He would see the army of Sihon coming to make war and prevent their access. They could now go forward and begin to possess the land.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Ver. 26. Kedemoth This was a city in that tract situated on the north side of the river Arnon, which fell to the lot of the Reubenites, Jos 13:18. It gave name to the wilderness here mentioned.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Some have thought, and perhaps not improperly, that the offers and proposals made to Sihon, are not unsimilar to the proclamation of peace in the gospel of JESUS. When men are brought under the preached word, and see the privileges and enjoyments of the LORD’S people, are there not evidences sufficient to show the most carnal, that there must be somewhat very interesting in the joyful sound. Eze 2:7 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Deu 2:26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

Ver. 26. With words of peace. ] So the Romans, by their heralds, sent to those that opposed or wronged them, caduceum et hastam, a proffer of peace first: For if we princes, said our Henry VII, should take every occasion that is offered, the world should never be quiet, but wearied with continual wars.

“ Cuncta prius tentanda, etc.

Truncatur et artus, –

Ut liceat reliquis securum vivere membris. ”

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)