Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 2:32
Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.
32. unto battle at Jahaz ] E, Num 21:23; went out to meet I. towards the wilderness, came to Yaha and fought Israel. See on edemoth, Deu 2:26. The Moabite stone (Deu 2:18-21) implies that Yaha was near Dbn; Jer 48:21 places it on the Mishr or Moab plateau (see Deu 3:10); and Isa 15:4 some distance S. of eshbon. In Eusebius’ day it was pointed out between Madaba 1 [112] and Dibon ( On. Sacr. ). Musil ( Moab, 107, 122) suggests Umm-el-Wald, ruins on a strong site S.E. of Mdab on the right bank of the W. el-Heri, undoubtedly a suitable place for Sn to meet Israel. But there are other ruined sites equally suitable on the probable line of Israel’s march and on the E. of the plateau.
[112] The various forms of this name are: Heb. Md e b; Moabite M e hd e b; Arab. Mdab; Greek , , !; Lat. Medaba.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then Sihon came out against us,…. Perceiving they were upon their march towards his land or into it, he gathered all his people and went out of Heshbon their capital city, where he resided:
he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz; a city which he had taken from the king of Moab, and which in later times, after the captivity of the ten tribes, came into their hands again, Isa 15:4,
[See comments on Nu 21:21].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
32. Jahaz In Jos 13:18, Jahaza is in the allotment of Reuben. In
1Ch 6:78, it is called Jahzah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The War With Sihon and the Amorites ( Deu 2:32-37 ).
As a result of Sihon’s refusal and show of force Israel retaliate and capture their cities and their land, and thus take possession of the land and a multitude of flocks and herds.
We can analyse the passage as follows:
a Sihon comes out against Israel, he and all his people, to battle (Deu 2:32).
b Yahweh delivers them up to Israel and they smite them and all their people (Deu 2:33).
c All their cities are taken and destroyed with all their inhabitants (Deu 2:34).
d The cattle and the spoils of the cities are kept as a prey for themselves (Deu 2:35).
c Over the whole land no city had sufficiently high walls to resist them (Deu 2:36 a)
b And Yahweh delivered them up before them (Deu 2:36 b).
a But they did not touch Ammon or the Ammonites. Their land was left untouched because Yahweh had forbidden them to touch it (Deu 2:37).
Note how in ‘a’ Sihon comes out against Israel to battle, but in the parallel Ammon remains untouched. Both were in accordance with Yahweh’s stated purpose. In ‘b’ and its parallel Yahweh delivers up the Amorites to them. In ‘c’ all their cities are destroyed and in the parallel no city could resist them. And central to it all they accumulated much spoil and cattle.
Deu 2:32-35
‘ Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. And Yahweh our God delivered him up before us, and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed (‘devoted’) every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left none remaining. Only the cattle did we take for a prey to ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken.’
Moses points out that Sihon came as described, with all his warriors, and there was a great battle at Jahaz at which Sihon and his forces were routed. And as far as Israel were concerned it was all Yahweh’s doing. This was then followed by a campaign in which each of the cities was subdued. All the cities were destroyed (‘devoted’) and every man, woman and child put to death, as Yahweh had commanded must be done with the Canaanites. Their corruption had gone so far that there was no other remedy. Only the cattle were spared, along with all the spoils taken. (Jahaz is mentioned in the Moabite Stone).
It should be noted that Sihon and his people had had two other options. The first was to accept the treaty offered, which would have done them no harm, indeed would have done them good, the other was to remain within their walled cities safe out of harms way. The treaty could be offered to them because strictly they were not in the promised land and so would not be a snare to Israel. But it is made clear that it was Yahweh’s purpose that His judgment should come on them.
We know now that the country was surrounded by fortified border posts. (It was one thing to capture the cities of a defeated army, another to capture those filled with armed men who have not suffered defeat). Thus Sihon brought his judgment on himself and his people by leaving his defenced cities and attacking Israel. It was also the law of warfare that if a city surrendered it would be spared. If it resisted its menfolk would be put to the sword (Deu 20:10-15). This went one step further because the Canaanites were under God’s sentence of judgment, and by choosing to take sides with them Sihon had put himself under the curse.
We understandably see this as very harsh. But before we presume to condemn God we must consider the situation.
1). Had the women been spared they would have led Israel into idolatry, as the women at Baal-peor had done (Num 25:1-3).
2). Had the children been spared they would have grown up with vengeance in their hearts against those who had destroyed their parents and their nation. And many of them would already have become submerged in idolatry. Furthermore this would have been repeated wherever they went in Canaan. They would have been sitting on a huge time bomb.
3). It was Yahweh’s purpose to destroy the Canaanites/Amorites as a judgment on them for centuries of evil and sin. He had withheld this judgment for over 400 years (Gen 15:16) and more, but things had only got worse, not better. As the righteous Judge He had the right to determine what should be done and how it should be done (so as also to teach Israel a lesson about the severity of sin). What would be wrong for us was not wrong for the Judge of all the world. He could have destroyed them by plague or wild beasts or earthquakes or thunderbolts. He chose to do it through Israel. The only question we should ask is how could a holy God allow any sinners to live? Why did He stop at the Canaanites? That is the unanswerable question, for that reveals the depths of sin as it is, until we find the answer in the coming of His Son to save us.
It should be noted that the corollary of this is that Yahweh was seen as having the right to do what He would with all nations. He was not limited to Israel. The whole world was seen as subject to His judgment, as Abraham had made clear long before (Gen 18:25).
Deu 2:36
‘ From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. Yahweh our God delivered up all before us.’
So of every city from south (on the banks of the Arnon) to north (the region of Gilead) not one city was too strong to prevent Israel from taking it. God delivered all of them up to Israel. The ruins of Aroer, a Moabite border city, do literally look down the huge ravine through which flows the Arnon.
“There was not a city too high for us.” Contrast Deu 1:28, where the complaint had been that ‘the cities are great and fenced up to heaven’. They now discovered that Yahweh did keep His promises and was able to deal with the worst possible situations, with cities great and ‘fenced up to heaven’, that is having high walls.
Deu 2:37
‘ Only to the land of the children of Ammon you (thou) did not come near. All the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill-country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us.’
But those whom Yahweh had declared untouchable were not in any way molested, just as Sihon and his people would not have been molested had they not acted belligerently. The children of Ammon were not touched in any way. Everything their side of the River Jabbok was left alone, including all the cities of their hill-country. Israel touched nothing in the region that Yahweh their covenant God had forbidden. The emphasis is on the fact that they were totally obedient. How different they now were from their fathers, and from what they would be like in a few decades time. The River Jabbok left the Jordan going eastward. Then it turned south and marked the boundaries of Sihon’s kingdom and Ammon.
It may reasonably be asked how far this justifies religious wars. The answer is that it does not. This was a unique occasion. Nowhere did Jesus ever suggest that men should fight for Christianity. What they were called on to do was humbly die for it (or should we say, for Him). Violence was forbidden. Christians were to love their enemies and do good to those who hated them. No exceptions were stated, whereas at this period there was one exception, the evil and degraded Canaanites. This does not prevent a nation from defending itself from attack, that is another matter. What it forbids is deliberately and belligerently going to war. God has not given us a land or a city to fight for. The land and city He has given to us is where no one can touch it.
For the use of the singular verb see on Deu 2:9.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The imagination can hardly conceive the feelings of Israel on this victory. They who had so long journeyed in the wilderness in want and poverty, and surrounded with fiery flying serpents, they at once to enter into the possession of lands and houses full of goods, and to so great an extent as from Arnon to Gilead! But, Reader, while contemplating the mighty change of Israel in these things, do not stop here, but look forward, and conceive if it be possible, what a surprise will burst in upon the soul of one newly escaped, from both the wilderness of this world, and the prison of the body, when through being washed in the blood of JESUS, and regenerated by the HOLY GHOST, the believer is introduced into the immediate presence and enjoyment of GOD and the LAMB! Well might the Apostle, under the sense of it, cry out, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which GOD hath prepared for them that love him. 1Co 2:9 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 2:32-37
32Then Sihon with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. 33The LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him with his sons and all his people. 34So we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, women and children of every city. We left no survivor. 35We took only the animals as our booty and the spoil of the cities which we had captured. 36From Aroer which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too high for us; the LORDour God delivered all over to us. 37Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the LORD our God had commanded us.
Deu 2:32 came out to meet us Sihon lost because he left his fortified cities and was defeated on the plains. This is a good example of where God used human pride to accomplish His purpose.
Jahaz The exact site is uncertain, but it is on the eastern side of Jordan in the kingdom of Sihon and probably south of the capital, Heshbon, because the Israelites were coming from the south.
Deu 2:33 God delivered him over to us As in Deu 2:31, God’s sovereignty (Deu 2:32 a, God delivered BDB 678, KB 733, Qal IMPERFECT) and human freedom (Deu 2:32 b, we defeated BDB 645, KB 697, Hiphil IMPERFECT) are both plainly asserted.
Deu 2:34 We left no survivor This was a tenet of holy war (herem, BDB 355 I, cf. Deu 3:6). All were killed because these people had been sinful for a long time (cf. Deu 7:16; Deu 20:14). Gen 15:16 says that the sin of the Amorite is not yet full and, therefore, God had waited a long time for them to respond to Him. They did not repent and judgment finally came. If they had not been destroyed, they would have corrupted the worship and theology given on Mt. Sinai. Holy War’ was a judgment and a protective hedge!
Deu 2:35 We took only the animals as our booty and the spoil of the cities Here is an example of a limited ban (e.g., Deu 3:6-7; Jos 8:2; Jos 8:27; Jos 11:14). They could take some spoils after they destroyed the people. This was a part of the OT concept of holy war. The battle belonged to YHWH and so, too, the spoils (e.g., Jericho, Joshua 7).
Deu 2:36
NASB the city which is in the valley
NKJV the city that is in the ravine
NRSV the town that is in the wadi itself
TEV the city in the middle of that Valley
NJB the town down in the valley
The variety in the English translations shows the possibilities. For me, a city would never have been built in a wadi because of the danger of flash floods, so valley seems best.
no city that was too high for us God’s people had balked because the cities were too well fortified, the inhabitants were too tall. Now the Jews are saying, Those people are big, but we will do it with God’s help (cf. Deu 1:28).
Deu 2:37 The area of conquest was very precise (by divine command, cf. Deu 2:5; Deu 2:9; Deu 2:19).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Follow the route of the conquest on a map.
2. Who were the giants?
3. How does one deal with Deu 2:34?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
came out. Sihon was the aggressor. Num 21:2, Num 21:3. Jdg 11:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Num 21:23-30, Jdg 11:20-23, Neh 9:22, Psa 120:7, Psa 135:11, Psa 136:19
Reciprocal: Exo 14:6 – people Num 21:1 – then Deu 2:12 – as Israel did Jos 24:8 – General Isa 15:4 – Jahaz