12 The Horims H2752 also dwelt H3427 in Seir H8165 beforetime; H6440 but the children H1121 of Esau H6215 succeeded H3423 them, when they had destroyed H8045 them from before H6440 them, and dwelt H3427 in their stead; as Israel H3478 did H6213 unto the land H776 of his possession, H3425 which the LORD H3068 gave H5414 unto them.
As he did H6213 to the children H1121 of Esau, H6215 which dwelt H3427 in Seir, H8165 when he destroyed H8045 the Horims H2752 from before H6440 them; and they succeeded H3423 them, and dwelt H3427 in their stead even unto this day: H3117
And the Horites H2752 in their mount H2042 Seir, H8165 unto Elparan, H364 which is by H5921 the wilderness. H4057
These are the sons H1121 of Seir H8165 the Horite, H2752 who inhabited H3427 the land; H776 Lotan, H3877 and Shobal, H7732 and Zibeon, H6649 and Anah, H6034 And Dishon, H1787 and Ezer, H687 and Dishan: H1789 these are the dukes H441 of the Horites, H2752 the children H1121 of Seir H8165 in the land H776 of Edom. H123 And the children H1121 of Lotan H3877 were Hori H2753 and Hemam; H1967 and Lotan's H3877 sister H269 was Timna. H8555 And the children H1121 of Shobal H7732 were these; Alvan, H5935 and Manahath, H4506 and Ebal, H5858 Shepho, H8195 and Onam. H208 And these are the children H1121 of Zibeon; H6649 both Ajah, H345 and Anah: H6034 this was that Anah H6034 that found H4672 the mules H3222 in the wilderness, H4057 as he fed H7462 the asses H2543 of Zibeon H6649 his father. H1 And the children H1121 of Anah H6034 were these; Dishon, H1787 and Aholibamah H173 the daughter H1323 of Anah. H6034 And these are the children H1121 of Dishon; H1787 Hemdan, H2533 and Eshban, H790 and Ithran, H3506 and Cheran. H3763 The children H1121 of Ezer H687 are these; Bilhan, H1092 and Zaavan, H2190 and Akan. H6130 The children H1121 of Dishan H1789 are these; Uz, H5780 and Aran. H765 These are the dukes H441 that came of the Horites; H2752 duke H441 Lotan, H3877 duke H441 Shobal, H7732 duke H441 Zibeon, H6649 duke H441 Anah, H6034 Duke H441 Dishon, H1787 duke H441 Ezer, H687 duke H441 Dishan: H1789 these are the dukes H441 that came of Hori, H2753 among their dukes H441 in the land H776 of Seir. H8165 And these are the kings H4428 that reigned H4427 in the land H776 of Edom, H123 before H6440 there reigned H4427 any king H4428 over the children H1121 of Israel. H3478 And Bela H1106 the son H1121 of Beor H1160 reigned H4427 in Edom: H123 and the name H8034 of his city H5892 was Dinhabah. H1838 And Bela H1106 died, H4191 and Jobab H3103 the son H1121 of Zerah H2226 of Bozrah H1224 reigned H4427 in his stead. And Jobab H3103 died, H4191 and Husham H2367 of the land H776 of Temani H8489 reigned H4427 in his stead. And Husham H2367 died, H4191 and Hadad H1908 the son H1121 of Bedad, H911 who smote H5221 Midian H4080 in the field H7704 of Moab, H4124 reigned H4427 in his stead: and the name H8034 of his city H5892 was Avith. H5762 And Hadad H1908 died, H4191 and Samlah H8072 of Masrekah H4957 reigned H4427 in his stead. And Samlah H8072 died, H4191 and Saul H7586 of Rehoboth H7344 by the river H5104 reigned H4427 in his stead. And Saul H7586 died, H4191 and Baalhanan H1177 the son H1121 of Achbor H5907 reigned H4427 in his stead. And Baalhanan H1177 the son H1121 of Achbor H5907 died, H4191 and Hadar H1924 reigned H4427 in his stead: and the name H8034 of his city H5892 was Pau; H6464 and his wife's H802 name H8034 was Mehetabel, H4105 the daughter H1323 of Matred, H4308 the daughter H1323 of Mezahab. H4314 And these are the names H8034 of the dukes H441 that came of Esau, H6215 according to their families, H4940 after their places, H4725 by their names; H8034 duke H441 Timnah, H8555 duke H441 Alvah, H5933 duke H441 Jetheth, H3509 Duke H441 Aholibamah, H173 duke H441 Elah, H425 duke H441 Pinon, H6373 Duke H441 Kenaz, H7073 duke H441 Teman, H8487 duke H441 Mibzar, H4014 Duke H441 Magdiel, H4025 duke H441 Iram: H5902 these be the dukes H441 of Edom, H123 according to their habitations H4186 in the land H776 of their possession: H272 he is Esau H6215 the father H1 of the Edomites. H123
And Israel H3478 sent H7971 messengers H4397 unto Sihon H5511 king H4428 of the Amorites, H567 saying, H559 Let me pass H5674 through thy land: H776 we will not turn H5186 into the fields, H7704 or into the vineyards; H3754 we will not drink H8354 of the waters H4325 of the well: H875 but we will go along H3212 by the king's H4428 high way, H1870 until we be past H5674 thy borders. H1366 And Sihon H5511 would not suffer H5414 Israel H3478 to pass H5674 through his border: H1366 but Sihon H5511 gathered H622 all his people H5971 together, H622 and went out H3318 against H7125 Israel H3478 into the wilderness: H4057 and he came H935 to Jahaz, H3096 and fought H3898 against Israel. H3478 And Israel H3478 smote H5221 him with the edge H6310 of the sword, H2719 and possessed H3423 his land H776 from Arnon H769 unto Jabbok, H2999 even unto the children H1121 of Ammon: H5983 for the border H1366 of the children H1121 of Ammon H5983 was strong. H5794 And Israel H3478 took H3947 all these cities: H5892 and Israel H3478 dwelt H3427 in all the cities H5892 of the Amorites, H567 in Heshbon, H2809 and in all the villages H1323 thereof. For Heshbon H2809 was the city H5892 of Sihon H5511 the king H4428 of the Amorites, H567 who had fought H3898 against the former H7223 king H4428 of Moab, H4124 and taken H3947 all his land H776 out of his hand, H3027 even unto Arnon. H769 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs H4911 say, H559 Come H935 into Heshbon, H2809 let the city H5892 of Sihon H5511 be built H1129 and prepared: H3559 For there is a fire H784 gone out H3318 of Heshbon, H2809 a flame H3852 from the city H7151 of Sihon: H5511 it hath consumed H398 Ar H6144 of Moab, H4124 and the lords of the high places H1181 of Arnon. H769 Woe H188 to thee, Moab! H4124 thou art undone, H6 O people H5971 of Chemosh: H3645 he hath given H5414 his sons H1121 that escaped, H6412 and his daughters, H1323 into captivity H7622 unto Sihon H5511 king H4428 of the Amorites. H567 We have shot H3384 at them; Heshbon H2809 is perished H6 even unto Dibon, H1769 and we have laid them waste H8074 even unto Nophah, H5302 which reacheth unto Medeba. H4311 Thus Israel H3478 dwelt H3427 in the land H776 of the Amorites. H567 And Moses H4872 sent H7971 to spy out H7270 Jaazer, H3270 and they took H3920 the villages H1323 thereof, and drove out H3423 H3423 the Amorites H567 that were there. And they turned H6437 and went up H5927 by the way H1870 of Bashan: H1316 and Og H5747 the king H4428 of Bashan H1316 went out H3318 against H7125 them, he, and all his people, H5971 to the battle H4421 at Edrei. H154 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto Moses, H4872 Fear H3372 him not: for I have delivered H5414 him into thy hand, H3027 and all his people, H5971 and his land; H776 and thou shalt do H6213 to him as thou didst H6213 unto Sihon H5511 king H4428 of the Amorites, H567 which dwelt H3427 at Heshbon. H2809 So they smote H5221 him, and his sons, H1121 and all his people, H5971 until there was none H1115 left H7604 him alive: H8300 and they possessed H3423 his land. H776
And the sons H1121 of Seir; H8165 Lotan, H3877 and Shobal, H7732 and Zibeon, H6649 and Anah, H6034 and Dishon, H1787 and Ezer, H687 and Dishan. H1789 And the sons H1121 of Lotan; H3877 Hori, H2753 and Homam: H1950 and Timna H8555 was Lotan's H3877 sister. H269 The sons H1121 of Shobal; H7732 Alian, H5935 and Manahath, H4506 and Ebal, H5858 Shephi, H8195 and Onam. H208 And the sons H1121 of Zibeon; H6649 Aiah, H345 and Anah. H6034 The sons H1121 of Anah; H6034 Dishon. H1787 And the sons H1121 of Dishon; H1787 Amram, H2566 and Eshban, H790 and Ithran, H3506 and Cheran. H3763 The sons H1121 of Ezer; H687 Bilhan, H1092 and Zavan, H2190 and Jakan. H3292 The sons H1121 of Dishan; H1789 Uz, H5780 and Aran. H765 Now these are the kings H4428 that reigned H4427 in the land H776 of Edom H123 before H6440 any king H4428 reigned H4427 over the children H1121 of Israel; H3478 Bela H1106 the son H1121 of Beor: H1160 and the name H8034 of his city H5892 was Dinhabah. H1838 And when Bela H1106 was dead, H4191 Jobab H3103 the son H1121 of Zerah H2226 of Bozrah H1224 reigned H4427 in his stead. And when Jobab H3103 was dead, H4191 Husham H2367 of the land H776 of the Temanites H8489 reigned H4427 in his stead. And when Husham H2367 was dead, H4191 Hadad H1908 the son H1121 of Bedad, H911 which smote H5221 Midian H4080 in the field H7704 of Moab, H4124 reigned H4427 in his stead: and the name H8034 of his city H5892 was Avith. H5762 And when Hadad H1908 was dead, H4191 Samlah H8072 of Masrekah H4957 reigned H4427 in his stead. And when Samlah H8072 was dead, H4191 Shaul H7586 of Rehoboth H7344 by the river H5104 reigned H4427 in his stead. And when Shaul H7586 was dead, H4191 Baalhanan H1177 the son H1121 of Achbor H5907 reigned H4427 in his stead. And when Baalhanan H1177 was dead, H4191 Hadad H1908 reigned H4427 in his stead: and the name H8034 of his city H5892 was Pai; H6464 and his wife's H802 name H8034 was Mehetabel, H4105 the daughter H1323 of Matred, H4308 the daughter H1323 of Mezahab. H4314 Hadad H1908 died H4191 also. And the dukes H441 of Edom H123 were; duke H441 Timnah, H8555 duke H441 Aliah, H5933 duke H441 Jetheth, H3509 Duke H441 Aholibamah, H173 duke H441 Elah, H425 duke H441 Pinon, H6373 Duke H441 Kenaz, H7073 duke H441 Teman, H8487 duke H441 Mibzar, H4014 Duke H441 Magdiel, H4025 duke H441 Iram. H5902 These are the dukes H441 of Edom. H123
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 2
Commentary on Deuteronomy 2 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
March from Kadesh to the Frontier of the Amorites. - Deuteronomy 2:1. After a long stay in Kadesh, they commenced their return into the desert. The words, “ We departed...by the way to the Red Sea ,” point back to Numbers 14:25. This departure is expressly designated as an act of obedience to the divine command recorded there, by the expression “ as Jehovah spake to me .” Consequently Moses is not speaking here of the second departure of the congregation from Kadesh to go to Mount Hor (Numbers 20:22), but of the first departure after the condemnation of the generation that came out of Egypt. “ And we went round Mount Seir many days .” This going round Mount Seir includes the thirty-eight years' wanderings, though we are not therefore to picture it as “going backwards and forwards, and then entering the Arabah again” ( Schultz ). Just as Moses passed over the reassembling of the congregation at Kadesh (Numbers 20:1), so he also overlooked the going to and fro in the desert, and fixed his eye more closely upon the last journey from Kadesh to Mount Hor, that he might recall to the memory of the congregation how the Lord had led them to the end of all their wandering.
Deuteronomy 2:2-6
When they had gone through the Arabah to the southern extremity, the Lord commanded them to turn northwards, i.e., to go round the southern end of Mount Seir, and proceed northwards on the eastern side of it (see at Numbers 21:10), without going to war with the Edomites ( התגּרה , to stir oneself up against a person to conflict, מלחמה ), as He would not give them a foot-breadth of their land; for He had given Esau (the Edomites) Mount Seir for a possession. For this reason they were to buy victuals and water of them for money ( כּרה , to dig, to dig water, i.e., procure water, as it was often necessary to dig wells, and not merely to draw it, Genesis 26:25. The verb כּרה does not signify to buy).
Deuteronomy 2:7
And this they were able to do, because the Lord had blessed them in all the work of their hand, i.e., not merely in the rearing of flocks and herds, which they had carried on in the desert (Exodus 19:13; Exodus 34:3; Numbers 20:19; Numbers 32:1.), but in all that they did for a living; whether, for example, when stopping for a long time in the same place of encampment, they sowed in suitable spots and reaped, or whether they sold the produce of their toil and skill to the Arabs of the desert. “ He hath observed thy going through this great desert ” ( ידע , to know, then to trouble oneself, Genesis 39:6; to observe carefully, Proverbs 27:23; Psalms 1:6); and He has not suffered thee to want anything for forty years, but as often as want has occurred, He has miraculously provided for every necessity.
Deuteronomy 2:8-10
In accordance with this divine command, they went past the Edomites by the side of their mountains, “ from the way of the Arabah, from Elath (see at Genesis 14:6) and Eziongeber ” (see at Numbers 33:35), sc., into the steppes of Moab, where they were encamped at that time.
God commanded them to behave in the same manner towards the Moabites, when they approached their frontier (Deuteronomy 2:9). They were not to touch their land, because the Lord had given Ar to the descendants of Lot for a possession. In Deuteronomy 2:9 the Moabites are mentioned, and in Deuteronomy 2:19 the Amorites also. The Moabites are designated as “sons of Lot,” for the same reason for which the Edomites are called “brethren of Israel” in Deuteronomy 2:4. The Israelites were to uphold the bond of blood-relationship with these tribes in the most sacred manner. Ar , the capital of Moabitis (see at Numbers 21:15), is used here for the land itself, which was named after the capital, and governed by it.
Deuteronomy 2:11-12
To confirm the fact that the Moabites and also the Edomites had received from God the land which they inhabited as a possession, Moses interpolates into the words of Jehovah certain ethnographical notices concerning the earlier inhabitants of these lands, from which it is obvious that Edom and Moab had not destroyed them by their own power, but that Jehovah had destroyed them before them, as is expressly stated in Deuteronomy 2:21, Deuteronomy 2:22. “ The Emim dwelt formerly therein ,” sc., in Ar and its territory, in Moabitis, “ a high (i.e., strong) and numerous people, of gigantic stature, which were also reckoned among the Rephaites, like the Enakites ( Anakim ).” Emim , i.e., frightful, terrible, was the name given to them by the Moabites. Whether this earlier or original population of Moabitis was of Hamitic or Semitic descent cannot be determined, any more than the connection between the Emim and the Rephaim can be ascertained. On the Rephaim ; and on the Anakites, at Numbers 13:22.
Deuteronomy 2:12
The origin of the Horites (i.e., the dwellers in caves) of Mount Seir , who were driven out of their possessions by the descendants of Esau, and completely exterminated (see at Genesis 14:6, and Genesis 36:20), is altogether involved in obscurity. The words, “ as Israel has done to the land of his possession, which Jehovah has given them ,” do not presuppose the conquest of the land of Canaan or a post-Mosaic authorship; but “ the land of his possession ” is the land to the east of the Jordan (Gilead and Bashan), which was conquered by the Israelites under Moses, and divided among the two tribes and a half, and which is also described in Deuteronomy 3:20 as the “possession” which Jehovah had given to these tribes.
Deuteronomy 2:13-15
For this reason Israel was to remove from the desert of Moab (i.e., the desert which bounded Moabitis on the east), and to cross over the brook Zered , to advance against the country of the Amorites (see at Numbers 21:12-13). This occurred thirty-eight years after the condemnation of the people at Kadesh (Numbers 14:23, Numbers 14:29), when the generation rejected by God had entirely died out ( תּמם , to be all gone, to disappear), so that not one of them saw the promised land. They did not all die a natural death, however, but “ the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them ” ( המם , lit., to throw into confusion, then used with special reference to the terrors with which Jehovah destroyed His enemies; Exodus 14:24; Exodus 23:27, etc.), sc., by extraordinary judgments (as in Numbers 16:35; Numbers 18:1; Numbers 21:6; Numbers 25:9).
Deuteronomy 2:16-22
When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i.e., the Arnon, Deuteronomy 2:24; see at Numbers 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deuteronomy 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i.e., to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deuteronomy 2:19, as at Deuteronomy 2:5 and Deuteronomy 2:9). - To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deuteronomy 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deuteronomy 2:10, Deuteronomy 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם , to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Genesis 14:5. This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deuteronomy 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day.”
Deuteronomy 2:23
As the Horites had been exterminated by the Edomites, so were the Avvaeans ( Avvim ), who dwelt in farms (villages) at the south-west corner of Canaan, as far as Gaza, driven out of their possessions and exterminated by the Caphtorites , who sprang from Caphtor (see at Genesis 10:14), although, according to Joshua 13:3, some remnants of them were to be found among the Philistines even at that time. This notice appears to be attached to the foregoing remarks simply on account of the substantial analogy between them, without there being any intention to imply that the Israelites were to assume the same attitude towards the Caphtorites, who afterwards rose up in the persons of the Philistines, as towards the descendants of Esau and Lot.
The Help of God in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Sihon. - Deuteronomy 2:24. Whereas the Israelites were not to make war upon the kindred tribes of Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, or drive them out of the possessions given to them by God; the Lord had given the Amorites, who had forced as way into Gilead and Bashan, into their hands.
Deuteronomy 2:24-25
While they were encamped on the Arnon, the border of the Amoritish king of Sihon, He directed them to cross this frontier and take possession of the land of Sihon, and promised that He would give this king with all his territory into their hands, and that henceforward (“ this day ,” the day on which Israel crossed the Arnon) He would put fear and terror of Israel upon all nations under the whole heaven, so that as soon as they heard the report of Israel they would tremble and writhe before them. רשׁ החל , “ begin, take, ” an oratorical expression for “ begin to take” ( רשׁ in pause for רשׁ , Deuteronomy 1:21). The expression, “ all nations under the whole heaven ,” is hyperbolical; it is not to be restricted, however, to the Canaanites and other neighbouring tribes, but, according to what follows, to be understood as referring to all nations to whom the report of the great deeds of the Lord upon and on behalf of Israel should reach (cf. Deuteronomy 11:25 and Exodus 23:27). אשׁר , so that (as in Genesis 11:7; Genesis 13:16; Genesis 22:14). וחלוּ , with the accent upon the last syllable, on account of the ו consec. ( Ewald , §234, a .), from חוּל , to twist, or writhe with pain, here with anxiety.
Deuteronomy 2:26-30
If Moses, notwithstanding this, sent messengers to king Sihon with words of peace (Deuteronomy 2:26.; cf. Numbers 21:21.), this was done to show the king of the Amorites, that it was through his own fault that his kingdom and lands and life were lost. The wish to pass through his land in a peaceable manner was quite seriously expressed; although Moses foresaw, in consequence of the divine communication, that he would reject his proposal, and meet Israel with hostilities. For Sihon's kingdom did not form part of the land of Canaan, which God had promised to the patriarchs for their descendants; and the divine foreknowledge of the hardness of Sihon no more destroyed the freedom of his will to resolve, or the freedom of his actions, than the circumstance that in Deuteronomy 2:30 the unwillingness of Sihon is described as the effect of his being hardened by God Himself. The hardening was quite as much the production of human freedom and guilt, as the consequence of the divine decree; just as in the case of Pharaoh. On Kedemoth , see Numbers 21:13. בּדּרך בּדּרך , equivalent to “upon the way, and always upon the way,” i.e., upon the high road alone, as in Numbers 20:19. On the behaviour of the Edomites towards Israel, mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:29, see Numbers 21:10. In the same way the Moabites also supplied Israel with provisions for money. This statement is not at variance with the unbrotherly conduct for which the Moabites are blamed in Deuteronomy 23:4, viz., that they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water. For קדּם , to meet and anticipate, signifies a hospitable reception, and the offering of food and drink without reward, which is essentially different from selling for money. “ In Ar ” (Deuteronomy 2:29), as in Deuteronomy 2:18. The suffix in בּו (Deuteronomy 2:30) refers to the king, who is mentioned as the lord of the land, in the place of the land itself, just as in Numbers 20:18.
Deuteronomy 2:31
The refusal of Sihon was suspended over him by God as a judgment of hardening, which led to his destruction. “ As this day ,” an abbreviation of “as it has happened this day,” i.e., as experience has now shown (cf. Deuteronomy 4:20, etc.).
Deuteronomy 2:32-33
Defeat of Sihon, as already described in the main in Numbers 21:23-26. The war was a war of extermination, in which all the towns were laid under the ban (see Leviticus 27:29), i.e., the whole of the population of men, women, and children were put to death, and only the flocks and herds and material possessions were taken by the conquerors as prey.
Deuteronomy 2:34-35
מתם עיר (city of men) is the town population of men.
Deuteronomy 2:36
They proceeded this way with the whole of the kingdom of Sihon. “ From Aroër on the edge of the Arnon valley (see at Numbers 32:34), and , in fact, from the city which is in the valley ,” i.e., Ar , or Areopolis (see at Numbers 21:15), - Aroër being mentioned as the inclusive terminus a quo of the land that was taken, and the Moabitish capital Ar as the exclusive terminus , as in Joshua 13:9 and Joshua 13:16; “ and as far as Gilead ,” which rises on the north, near the Jabbok (or Zerka, see at Deuteronomy 3:4), “ there was no town too high for us ,” i.e., so strong that we could not take it.
Deuteronomy 2:37
Only along the land of the Ammonites the Israelites did not come, namely, along the whole of the side of the brook Jabbok, or the country of the Ammonites, which was situated upon the eastern side of the upper Jabbok, and the towns of the mountain, i.e., of the Ammonitish highlands, and “ to all that the Lord had commanded ,” sc., commanded them not to remove. The statement, in Joshua 13:25, that the half of the country of the Ammonites was given to the tribe of Gad, is not at variance with this; for the allusion there is to that portion of the land of the Ammonites which was between the Arnon and the Jabbok, and which had already been taken from the Ammonites by the Amorites under Sihon (cf. Judges 11:13.).