Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 12:2
Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, [and] ruled from Aroer, which [is] upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, [which is] the border of the children of Ammon;
2. Sihon king of the Amorites ] See Num 21:24; Deu 2:33; Deu 3:6; Deu 3:16.
who dwelt in Heshbon ] On the western border of the high plain ( Mishor, Jos 13:17), and on the boundary line between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. “The ruins of Hesbn, 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the parallel of the northern end of the Dead Sea, mark the site, as they bear the name, of the ancient Heshbon.” “There is little, of a place once famed in olden story, for the traveller to see. A large piece of walling at the west end of the bold isolated hill, on which the old fortress stood; with a square block house, and a pointed archway adjoining; a temple on the crest of the hill, with the pavement unbroken and the bases of four columns still in situ; on the east, in the plain, just at the base of the hill, a great cistern, called by some ‘the fish-pools of Hesbon,’ but more probably only the reservoir for the supply of the city these are all that remain.” Tristram’s Land of Moab, pp. 338, 339.
from Aroer ] “which is set on the brenke of the stronde of Arnon,” Wyclif. Aroer lay partly on and partly in the Arnon, i. e. on an island, now ’Arir. It was allotted to Reuben (Jos 13:16), but later came into the possession of Moab (Jer 48:19). Bochardt found ruins with the name ’Arir on the old Roman road, upon the very edge of the precipitous north bank of the Wady Mojeb.
half Gilead ] Properly Gilead denotes (i) a mountain on the south bank of the Jabbok (Gen 31:21-48) with a city of the same name; (ii) the immediate neighbourhood of this mountain (Num 32:1; Deu 2:36-37); (iii) the whole mountain district between the Arnon and the Jabbok, now called Belka (see Deu 34:1; 1Ki 4:19).
the river Jabbok ] “The streem of Jabuch,” Wyclif, = “the gushing-brook,” now the Wady Zurka.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 2. From Aroer] Aroer was situated on the western side of the river Arnon, in the middle of the valley through which this river takes its course. The kingdom of Sihon extended from the river Arnon and the city of Aroer on the south to the river Jabbok on the north.
And from half Gilead ] The mountains of Gilead extended from north to south from Mount Hermon towards the source of the river Arnon, which was about the midst of the extent of the kingdom of Sihon: thus Sihon is said to have possessed the half of Gilead, that is, the half of the mountains and of the country which bore the name of Gilead on the east of his territories.
River Jabbok] This river has its source in the mountains of Gilead; and, running from east to west, falls into Jordan. It bounds the territories of Sihon on the north, and those of the Ammonites on the south.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From the middle of the river: it is not unusual, even amongst us, for a river to be divided between two lords, and for their territories or jurisdictions to meet in the middle of the river; and besides, here is a very particular reason for this expression, because the city Ar, which was no part of Sihons dominions, but belonged to the Moabites, Deu 2:9,18, was in the middle of the river Arnon, Deu 2:36 Deu 3:16; and therefore the middle of the river is most fitly and properly here mentioned, as the bound of Sihons dominion on that side.
And from half Gilead, Heb. and the half Gilead, i.e. half of the country of Gilead: the particle from is not in the original, and this doth not seem to denote the term or bound from which his dominion begun, as our version implies, for so indeed it was not; but the place or country in and over which his dominion was, which, as is here said, began at Arnon, and took in half Gilead, and ended at Jabbok, beyond which was the other half of Gilead, which belonged to Og, as is expressly said, Jos 12:5, where the words being wholly the same that are here, it is most reasonable to understand and translate them in the same manner.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon,…. Which he took from the Moabites, and made his capital city, Nu 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, De 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
Jos 12:5; and so Jarchi remarks.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. Aroer See on Jos 13:16.
The middle of the river The midst of the valley of the Arnon. This is “a more exact definition of the previous clause, since the Arnon, which flowed through the middle of the valley, formed the actual boundary; whereas Aroer stood not upon the river itself, but on the northern slope of the valley.” Keil. Compare chap. Jos 13:16, note.
And from half Gilead The word from should be omitted both here and in the next verse. Sihon ruled over the southern half of Gilead, Og over the northern half. Jos 12:5. Gilead is the name of the great mountain region of limestone on the east of the Jordan, stretching from Mount Lebanon nearly to the territory of Moab. Jabbok is now the Wady Zurka, which intersects the mountain range of Gilead, and falls into the Jordan about half way between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. See on Num 21:24. Ammon was a son of Lot, born of incestuous intercourse. Gen 19:30-38. The Ammonites at one time possessed the whole country between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok, from the Jordan on the west to the wilderness on the east. They were driven out of it by Sihon, king of the Amorites, and he was in turn expelled by the Israelites. Yet long subsequent to these events the country was popularly called the land of the Ammonites, and was even claimed by them. Jdg 11:12-22. For this reason the Jabbok is still called the border of the children of Ammon.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jos 12:2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, [and] ruled from Aroer, which [is] upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, [which is] the border of the children of Ammon;
Ver. 2. And from half Gilead. ] For the other half was held by Og. Jos 12:5
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Sihon. Compare Num 21:23, Num 21:24. Deu 3:6
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Sihon: Num 21:23-30, Deu 2:24-37, Deu 3:6-17, Neh 9:22, Psa 135:11, Psa 136:19, Psa 136:20
Jabbok: Gen 32:22, Jdg 11:13, Jdg 11:22
Reciprocal: Deu 1:4 – General Deu 2:37 – Jabbok Deu 3:8 – the land Deu 3:12 – from Aroer Deu 3:16 – river Jabbok Jos 13:9 – Aroer Jos 13:11 – General Jos 13:16 – General Jdg 11:26 – Heshbon