24 `Rise ye, journey and pass over the brook Arnon; see, I have given into thy hand Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land; begin to possess, and stir up thyself against him `in' battle.
25 This day I begin to put thy dread and thy fear on the face of the peoples under the whole heavens, who hear thy fame, and have trembled and been pained because of thee.
26 `And I send messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth, unto Sihon king of Heshbon, -- words of peace -- saying,
27 Let me pass over through thy land; in the several ways I go; I turn not aside -- right or left --
28 food for money thou dost sell me, and I have eaten; and water for money thou dost give to me, and I have drunk; only, let me pass over on my feet, --
29 as the sons of Esau who are dwelling in Seir, and the Moabites who are dwelling in Ar, have done to me -- till that I pass over the Jordan, unto the land which Jehovah our God is giving to us.
30 `And Sihon king of Heshbon hath not been willing to let us pass over by him, for Jehovah thy God hath hardened his spirit, and strengthened his heart, so as to give him into thy hand as at this day.
31 `And Jehovah saith unto me, See, I have begun to give before thee Sihon and his land; begin to possess -- to possess his land.
32 `And Sihon cometh out to meet us, he and all his people, to battle to Jahaz;
33 and Jehovah our God giveth him before us, and we smite him, and his sons, and all his people;
34 and we capture all his cities at that time, and devote the whole city, men, and the women, and the infants -- we have not left a remnant;
35 only, the cattle we have spoiled for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we have captured.
36 `From Aroer, which `is' by the edge of the brook Arnon, and the city which `is' by the brook, even unto Gilead there hath not been a city which `is' too high for us; the whole hath Jehovah our God given before us.
37 `Only, unto the land of the sons of Ammon thou hast not drawn near, any part of the brook Jabbok, and cities of the hill-country, and anything which Jehovah our God hath `not' commanded.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 2
Commentary on Deuteronomy 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
Moses, in this chapter, proceeds in the rehearsal of God's providences concerning Israel in their way to Canaan, yet preserves not the record of any thing that happened during their tedious march back to the Red Sea, in which they wore out almost thirty-eight years, but passes that over in silence as a dark time, and makes his narrative to begin again when they faced about towards Canaan (v. 1-3), and drew towards the countries that were inhabited, concerning which God here gives them direction,
Deu 2:1-7
Here is,
Deu 2:8-23
It is observable here that Moses, speaking of the Edomites (v. 8), calls them, "our brethren, the children of Esau.' Though they had been unkind to Israel, in refusing them a peaceable passage through their country, yet he calls them brethren. For, though our relations fail in their duty to us, we must retain a sense of the relation, and not be wanting in our duty to them, as there is occasion. Now in these verses we have,
Deu 2:24-37
God having tried the self-denial of his people in forbidding them to meddle with the Moabites and Ammonites, and they having quietly passed by those rich countries, and, though superior in number, not made any attack upon them, here he recompenses them for their obedience by giving them possession of the country of Sihon king of the Amorites. If we forbear what God forbids, we shall receive what he promises, and shall be no losers at last by our obedience, though it may seem for the present to be to our loss. Wrong not others, and God shall right thee.