Chapter Two

The end of the forty-year wandering and the arrival at the southern borders of Canaan. — The skirting of the territories of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. — The beginning of the conquests: the subjugation of the Amorite king Sihon.

Deuteronomy 2:1. And we turned and set out into the wilderness toward the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and for a long time we went around Mount Seir. Deuteronomy 2:2. And the Lord said to me: Deuteronomy 2:3. you have gone around this mountain long enough; now turn northward; In brief words the entire 38-year wandering of the people through the wildernesses is encompassed.

Deuteronomy 2:4. and command the people: you are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, and they will be afraid of you; but be careful Deuteronomy 2:5. not to start a war with them, for I will not give you any of their land — not so much as a footstep — because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession; Deuteronomy 2:6. buy food from them for silver and eat; and water for drinking buy from them for silver and drink; Deuteronomy 2:7. for the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands, He has watched over you during your journey through this great and terrible wilderness; these forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. Deuteronomy 2:8. So we passed by our brothers, the sons of Esau who live in Seir, by the road of the Arabah — from Elath and Ezion-geber — and we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. Deuteronomy 2:9. And the Lord said to me: do not be hostile toward Moab and do not provoke them to war; for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar as a possession to the sons of Lot; Deuteronomy 2:10. the Emim had previously lived there — a great people, numerous and tall, like the sons of Anak, Deuteronomy 2:11. and they were reckoned among the Rephaim, as the sons of Anak were; but the Moabites called them Emim; Deuteronomy 2:12. while the Horites had previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place — just as Israel did to the land of his inheritance, which the Lord gave them; Deuteronomy 2:13. now rise up and cross the brook Zered. And we crossed the brook Zered. Deuteronomy 2:14. And the time from when we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation of the men of war had died from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them; Deuteronomy 2:15. for indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished. Deuteronomy 2:16. So when all the men of war had finally perished and died from among the people, Deuteronomy 2:17. the Lord said to me: Deuteronomy 2:18. you are passing today through the territory of Moab, through Ar, Deuteronomy 2:19. and you will come near to the Ammonites; do not be hostile to them and do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it as a possession to the sons of Lot; Deuteronomy 2:20. that land also was considered a land of the Rephaim; Rephaim had previously lived there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummim; Deuteronomy 2:21. a great people, numerous and tall, like the sons of Anak; and the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, Deuteronomy 2:22. just as He did for the sons of Esau who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place, and they live there to this day; Deuteronomy 2:23. and as for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza — the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place. Cf. Num 20:14-22. “Be careful not to start a war” with the kindred peoples of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Had the Hebrews fulfilled this counsel, their position in Canaan would have been very secure. Protected on the north by Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, with the easily defended Hamath pass; on the south by a rocky mountain chain with difficult ravines; on the east by the desert and the Dead Sea; on the west by the Mediterranean — they would at the same time have had three strong advance posts: the Edomites to the southeast of Canaan, the Moabites to the east of the Dead Sea, and the Ammonites to the east of the mouth of the Jordan. “And we passed by our brothers, the sons of Esau who live in Seir, by the road of the Arabah, from Elath and Ezion-geber” (v. 8). Cf. Num 21:4: “from Mount Hor they set out by the road of the Red Sea.” That is, the route of the Hebrews ran along the plain stretching from the northern tip of the Red Sea gulf of Aqaba (Elath, Ezion-geber) toward the northeast, parallel to the eastern slopes of the Idumean mountains — the same road that caravans traveling from Mecca to Damascus follow to this day. In verses 10–12 and 20–23, which represent an ethnographic insertion in the narrative, the Hebrew people are given interesting information regarding the history of the lands through which they are passing. Cook and other scholars classify the Rephaim, Emim, Zamzummim, and other original inhabitants of Canaan as belonging to the Semitic race. Caphtor is identified with the island of Crete, and the Caphtorim with its emigrants, the Philistines (Pelesheth), who settled in the southwestern corner of Canaan and gave their name (Palestine) to the whole land.

Deuteronomy 2:24. Rise up, set out, and cross the river Arnon; see, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle; Deuteronomy 2:25. from this day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples under all heaven; those who hear your name will tremble and be in anguish because of you. Deuteronomy 2:26. And I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, to say: Deuteronomy 2:27. let me pass through your land; I will travel only by the road, turning neither to the right nor to the left; Deuteronomy 2:28. sell me food for silver so that I may eat, and give me water to drink for silver; only let me pass through on foot — Deuteronomy 2:29. just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir, and the Moabites who live in Ar, did for me, until I cross the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us. Deuteronomy 2:30. But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us pass through his land, because the Lord your God had hardened his spirit and made his heart stubborn, in order to hand him over to you, as is now plain. Deuteronomy 2:31. And the Lord said to me: see, I have begun to hand over to you Sihon [king of Heshbon, the Amorite,] and his land; begin to take possession of his land. Deuteronomy 2:32. And Sihon [king of Heshbon] came out against us with all his people to do battle at Jahaz; Deuteronomy 2:33. and the Lord our God handed him over to us, and we struck him down along with his sons and all his people, Deuteronomy 2:34. and we captured all his cities at that time, and we devoted all the cities to destruction — men, women, and children — leaving no survivor; Deuteronomy 2:35. only the livestock we took as plunder for ourselves, along with the spoil of the cities we had captured. Deuteronomy 2:36. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the river Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too strong for us: the Lord our God handed over everything to us. Deuteronomy 2:37. Only to the land of the Ammonites you did not draw near, nor to any of the places along the river Jabbok, nor to the cities of the hill country, nor to anything that the Lord our God had forbidden us. Cf. Num 21:21-31.