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Deuteronomy 2:36 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

36 From Aroer, H6177 which is by the brink H8193 of the river H5158 of Arnon, H769 and from the city H5892 that is by the river, H5158 even unto Gilead, H1568 there was not one city H7151 too strong H7682 for us: the LORD H3068 our God H430 delivered H5414 all unto us: H6440

Cross Reference

Joshua 13:9 STRONG

From Aroer, H6177 that is upon the bank H8193 of the river H5158 Arnon, H769 and the city H5892 that is in the midst H8432 of the river, H5158 and all the plain H4334 of Medeba H4311 unto Dibon; H1769

Deuteronomy 3:12 STRONG

And this land, H776 which we possessed H3423 at that time, H6256 from Aroer, H6177 which is by the river H5158 Arnon, H769 and half H2677 mount H2022 Gilead, H1568 and the cities H5892 thereof, gave H5414 I unto the Reubenites H7206 and to the Gadites. H1425

Deuteronomy 4:48 STRONG

From Aroer, H6177 which is by the bank H8193 of the river H5158 Arnon, H769 even unto mount H2022 Sion, H7865 which is Hermon, H2768

Psalms 44:3 STRONG

For they got H3423 not the land H776 in possession H3423 by their own sword, H2719 neither did their own arm H2220 save H3467 them: but thy right hand, H3225 and thine arm, H2220 and the light H216 of thy countenance, H6440 because thou hadst a favour H7521 unto them.

Joshua 1:5 STRONG

There shall not any man H376 be able to stand H3320 before H6440 thee all the days H3117 of thy life: H2416 as I was with Moses, H4872 so I will be with thee: I will not fail H7503 thee, nor forsake H5800 thee.

Joshua 12:2 STRONG

Sihon H5511 king H4428 of the Amorites, H567 who dwelt H3427 in Heshbon, H2809 and ruled H4910 from Aroer, H6177 which is upon the bank H8193 of the river H5158 Arnon, H769 and from the middle H8432 of the river, H5158 and from half H2677 Gilead, H1568 even unto the river H5158 Jabbok, H2999 which is the border H1366 of the children H1121 of Ammon; H5983

Joshua 13:16 STRONG

And their coast H1366 was from Aroer, H6177 that is on the bank H8193 of the river H5158 Arnon, H769 and the city H5892 that is in the midst H8432 of the river, H5158 and all the plain H4334 by Medeba; H4311

Isaiah 17:2 STRONG

The cities H5892 of Aroer H6177 are forsaken: H5800 they shall be for flocks, H5739 which shall lie down, H7257 and none shall make them afraid. H2729

Isaiah 41:15-16 STRONG

Behold, I will make H7760 thee a new H2319 sharp H2742 threshing H4173 instrument having H1167 teeth: H6374 thou shalt thresh H1758 the mountains, H2022 and beat them small, H1854 and shalt make H7760 the hills H1389 as chaff. H4671 Thou shalt fan H2219 them, and the wind H7307 shall carry them away, H5375 and the whirlwind H5591 shall scatter H6327 them: and thou shalt rejoice H1523 in the LORD, H3068 and shalt glory H1984 in the Holy One H6918 of Israel. H3478

Jeremiah 48:19 STRONG

O inhabitant H3427 of Aroer, H6177 stand H5975 by the way, H1870 and espy; H6822 ask H7592 him that fleeth, H5127 and her that escapeth, H4422 and say, H559 What is done? H1961

Romans 8:31 STRONG

What G5101 shall we G2046 then G3767 say G2046 to G4314 these things? G5023 If G1487 God G2316 be for G5228 us, G2257 who G5101 can be against G2596 us? G2257

Commentary on Deuteronomy 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 2

De 2:1-37. The Story Is Continued.

1. Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea—After their unsuccessful attack upon the Canaanites, the Israelites broke up their encampment at Kadesh, and journeying southward over the west desert of Tih as well as through the great valley of the Ghor and Arabah, they extended their removals as far as the gulf of Akaba.

we compassed mount Seir many days—In these few words Moses comprised the whole of that wandering nomadic life through which they passed during thirty-eight years, shifting from place to place, and regulating their stations by the prospect of pasturage and water. Within the interval they went northward a second time to Kadesh, but being refused a passage through Edom and opposed by the Canaanites and Amalekites, they again had no alternative but to traverse once more the great Arabah southwards to the Red Sea, where turning to the left and crossing the long, lofty mountain chain to the eastward of Ezion-geber (Nu 21:4, 5), they issued into the great and elevated plains, which are still traversed by the Syrian pilgrims in their way to Mecca. They appear to have followed northward nearly the same route, which is now taken by the Syrian hadji, along the western skirts of this great desert, near the mountains of Edom [Robinson]. It was on entering these plains they received the command, "Ye have compassed this mountain (this hilly tract, now Jebel Shera) long enough, turn ye northward" [De 2:3].

4. the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir … shall be afraid of you—The same people who had haughtily repelled the approach of the Israelites from the western frontier were alarmed now that they had come round upon the weak side of their country.

5-7. Meddle not with them—that is, "which dwell in Seir" (De 2:4)—for there was another branch of Esau's posterity, namely, the Amalekites, who were to be fought against and destroyed (Ge 36:12; Ex 17:14; De 25:17). But the people of Edom were not to be injured, either in their persons or property. And although the approach of so vast a nomadic horde as the Israelites naturally created apprehension, they were to take no advantage of the prevailing terror to compel the Edomites to accept whatever terms they imposed. They were merely to pass "through" or along their border, and to buy meat and water of them for money (De 2:6). The people, kinder than their king, did sell them bread, meat, fruits, and water in their passage along their border (De 2:29), in the same manner as the Syrian caravan of Mecca is now supplied by the people of the same mountains, who meet the pilgrims as at a fair or market on the hadji route [Robinson]. Although the Israelites still enjoyed a daily supply of the manna, there was no prohibition against their eating other food when opportunity afforded. Only they were not to cherish an inordinate desire for it. Water is a scarce commodity and is often paid for by travellers in those parts. It was the more incumbent on the Israelites to do so, as, by the blessing of God, they possessed plenty of means to purchase, and the long-continued experience of the extraordinary goodness of God to them, should inspire such confidence in Him as would suppress the smallest thought of resorting to fraud or violence in supplying their wants.

8-18. we passed … through the way of the plain—the Arabah or great valley, from Elath ("trees") (the Ailah of the Greeks and Romans). The site of it is marked by extensive mounds of rubbish.

Ezion-geber—now Akaba, both were within the territory of Edom; and after making a circuit of its southeastern boundary, the Israelites reached the border of Moab on the southeast of the Salt Sea. They had been forbidden by divine command to molest the Moabites in any way; and this special honor was conferred on that people not on their own account, for they were very wicked, but in virtue of their descent from Lot. (See on De 23:3). Their territory comprised the fine country on the south, and partly on the north of the Arnon. They had won it by their arms from the original inhabitants, the Emims, a race, terrible, as their name imports, for physical power and stature (Ge 14:5), in like manner as the Edomites had obtained their settlement by the overthrow of the original occupiers of Seir, the Horims (Ge 14:6), who were troglodytes, or dwellers in caves. Moses alluded to these circumstances to encourage his countrymen to believe that God would much more enable them to expel the wicked and accursed Canaanites. At that time, however, the Moabites, having lost the greater part of their possessions through the usurpations of Sihon, were reduced to the small but fertile region between the Zered and the Arnon.

13. Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered—The southern border of Moab, Zered ("woody"), now Wady Ahsy, separates the modern district of Kerak from Jebal, and, indeed, forms a natural division of the country between the north and south. Ar, called in later times Rabbah, was the capital of Moab and situated twenty-five miles south of the Arnon on the banks of a small but shady stream, the Beni Hamed. It is here mentioned as representative of the country dependent on it, a rich and well-cultivated country, as appears from the numerous ruins of cities, as well as from the traces of tillage still visible on the fields.

16. all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people—The outbreak at Kadesh on the false report of the spies had been the occasion of the fatal decree by which God doomed the whole grown-up population to die in the wilderness [Nu 14:29]; but that outbreak only filled up the measure of their iniquities. For that generation, though not universally abandoned to heathenish and idolatrous practices, yet had all along displayed a fearful amount of ungodliness in the desert, which this history only hints at obscurely, but which is expressly asserted elsewhere (Eze 20:25, 26; Am 5:25, 27; Ac 7:42, 43).

19-37. when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them—The Ammonites, being kindred to the Moabites, were, from regard to the memory of their common ancestor, to remain undisturbed by the Israelites. The territory of this people had been directly north from that of Moab. It extended as far as the Jabbok, having been taken by them from a number of small Canaanitish tribes, namely, the Zamzummins, a bullying, presumptuous band of giants, as their name indicates; and the Avims, the aborigines of the district extending from Hazerim or Hazeroth (El Hudhera) even unto Azzah (Gaza), but of which they had been dispossessed by the Caphtorim (Philistines), who came out of Caphtor (Lower Egypt) and settled in the western coast of Palestine. The limits of the Ammonites were now compressed; but they still possessed the mountainous region beyond the Jabbok (Jos 11:2). What a strange insight does this parenthesis of four verses give into the early history of Palestine! How many successive wars of conquest had swept over its early state—what changes of dynasty among the Canaanitish tribes had taken place long prior to the transactions recorded in this history!

24-36. Rise ye up … and pass over the river Arnon—At its mouth, this stream is eighty-two feet wide and four deep. It flows in a channel banked by perpendicular cliffs of sandstone. At the date of the Israelitish migration to the east of the Jordan, the whole of the fine country lying between the Arnon and the Jabbok including the mountainous tract of Gilead, had been seized by the Amorites, who, being one of the nations doomed to destruction (see De 7:2; 20:16), were utterly exterminated. Their country fell by right of conquest into the hands of the Israelites. Moses, however, considering this doom as referring solely to the Amorite possessions west of Jordan, sent a pacific message to Sihon, requesting permission to go through his territories, which lay on the east of that river. It is always customary to send messengers before to prepare the way; but the rejection of Moses' request by Sihon and his opposition to the advance of the Israelites (Nu 21:23; Jud 11:26) drew down on himself and his Amorite subjects the predicted doom on the first pitched battlefield with the Canaanites. It secured to Israel not only the possession of a fine and pastoral country, but, what was of more importance to them, a free access to the Jordan on the east.