The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

“I am thy shield … Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates” Genesis 15

Deuteronomy 1

¹ These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

— these be the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel, which is in great contrast to the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, where it was usual to read “And the Lord spoke unto Moses” and “And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord,”

— on this side of the Jordan; before the passage of the Israelites over it to the land of Canaan; for Moses never went in thither; when in the land of Canaan was known as “beyond Jordan”

² (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.) — Mount Seir, or Mount Edom, that is, the mountainous country of Seir, which was first possessed by the Horims, and afterwards by the Edomites, Deuternonmy 2:12.

³ And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them, — And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month; the “And” seems like the real beginning of Deuteronomy, and it connects the previous books.

⁴ after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei. — after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon; either Moses, speaking of himself in the third person, or rather the Lord, to whom Moses ascribes the victory; of this king, and his palace, and the slaughter of him, Numbers 21:24,

⁵ On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, — on this side of the Jordan; before the Israelites over it to the land of Canaan; began Moses to declare this law: to explain it, make it clear the whole system and body of laws, which had been before given him;

⁶ “The Lord our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: ’Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. — the Lord our God spoke unto us in Horeb; the same with Sinai; while the Israelites lay encamped near this mountain, the Lord spoke unto them.

⁷ Turn you and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills and in the vale, and in the South and by the seaside, to the land of the Canaanites and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the River Euphrates. — and go to the mount of the Amorites; where they and the Amalekites dwelt, in the south part of the land of Canaan, and which was the way the spies were sent, Numbers 13:17,

— and unto all the places nigh thereunto; nigh to the mountain; the Targum of Jonathan interprets them of Moab, Ammon, Gebal, or Mount Seir: “in the plains, in the mountain and valley” such was the country near this mountain, consisting of champaign land, hills, and valleys;

— and by the sea side: the Mediterranean sea, the western border of the land, explains of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Caesarea, into the land of the Canaanites; which was then possessed by them, the boundaries of which to the south and west are before given, and next follow those to the north and east;

— the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon; the Canaanites held the plain of Esdraelon and the fortresses in the north. From Lebanon, the conquest would extend ultimately to the north-east, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, Genesis 15:18

⁸ Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.’ — go in and possess the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and their seed after them: they had nothing more to do than to go and take possession of it.

⁹ “And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear you myself alone. — saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone; to rule and govern them, judge and determine matters between them;

— Jethro had suggested this to Moses, and he took the hint, and was conscious to himself that it was too much for him, and so declared it to the people, though it is not before recorded; Exodus 18:18.

¹⁰ The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. — ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude; the Israelites already far exceeded that multitude, being at the last census above six hundred thousand men fit for war, besides women and children, and those under age, which must make the number of them very large;

¹¹ (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as He hath promised you!) — and bless you, as he hath promised you: with all kind of blessings, as he had often promised their fathers.

¹² How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance and your burden and your strife? — Your cumbrance; the original word is found only here and in Isaiah 1:14 “They are a trouble unto me, I am weary to bear them.”

¹³ Take you wise men of understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.’ — take ye wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes; not only whose persons were well known, but their characters and qualifications, for their probity and integrity, for their wisdom and prudence in the management of affairs;

— and I, Moses, will make them rulers over you; the people were allowed to choose their own officers, whom they were to bring them before me, to be invested with their office.

¹⁴ And ye answered me and said, ‘The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.’ — the thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do; this they saw was for their own good and profit, as well as for the ease of Moses, and therefore readily agreed to it.

¹⁵ So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. — so Moses took the chief of their tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over them;

¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger who is with him. — and Moses gave charge and made them judges and rulers over them, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds;

¹⁷ Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. And the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me and I will hear it.’

— for the judgment is God’s; the Sanhedrin, judges stand in the place of God, are put into their office by him, and act under him, and for him, and are accountable to him; and therefore should be careful what judgment they make, or sentence they pass, lest they bring discredit to him, and destruction on themselves;

— there are two passages where the word Elohim is substituted for judges, indicating “judges” are acting on behalf or in the capacity of “God” as in (1)

Exodus 21:6 “then his master shall bring him unto the judges (Elohim). He shall also bring him to the door or unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.”

— and (2)

Exodus 22:8-9 “If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges (Elohim) to see whether he has put his hand unto his neighbor’s goods. “For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges (Elohim); and whom the judges (Elohim) shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.”

¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do. — “At that time,” that is, after your departure from Horeb; at Mount Sinai;

¹⁹ “And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.

²⁰ And I said unto you, ‘Ye have come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. — which the Lord our God doth give unto us; not the mountain only, but the whole country of that people, and even all the land of Canaan.

²¹ Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee. Go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.’ — “I am thy shield!” (Genesis 15) “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates;”

²² “And ye came near unto me, every one of you, and said, ‘We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land and bring us word again by what way we must go up and into what cities we shall come.’ — and ye came near unto me everyone of you; not every individual of them, but the heads of their tribes, that represented them;

— behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee; the land of Canaan, go up; the mountain, by that way of it which was the way the spies went, and they not complying with the call of God;

²³ And the saying pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one from a tribe. — and I took twelve men of you out of a tribe; whose names are given in Numbers 13:4.

²⁴ And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the Valley of Eshcol and searched it out. — and they turned and went up into the mountain; as were ordered and directed by Moses, Numbers 13:17.

²⁵ And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us.’ — It is a good land; in Numbers 13:27 they all say, “Surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it.” In Numbers 14:7 Joshua and Caleb describe it as an “exceeding good land.”

²⁶ “Notwithstanding, ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God; — Israel defied the command to go up (Deuteronomy 1:26),

— murmuring that God had brought them from Egypt, to be destroyed by the Amorite (Deuteronomy 1:27). quoting the spies that the people of the land were taller with fenced cities, and the ‘Anakim were there (Deuteronomy 1:28).

²⁷ and ye murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. — because the Lord hated us; a most astounding commentary on the events of the Exodus up to that date. It is a stronger expression than any recorded, even in Numbers 14:3.

²⁸ Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven, and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’ — and, moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakims there; the giants so called from Anak, the son of Arba, the father of them; their names are given, Numbers 13:22.

²⁹ Then I said unto you, ‘Dread not, neither be afraid of them. — the attempt made by Moses to inspire the despondent people with courage;

³⁰ The Lord your God who goeth before you, He shall fight for you according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, — again, reminded of “I am thy shield! Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates” Genesis 15;

³¹ and in the wilderness where thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place.’

³² Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God, — yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God; that they might go up and possess the land at once, and that God would fight for them,

³³ who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. — in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go; which otherwise they could not have found in dark nights, in which they sometimes travelled, and in, a wilderness where there were no tracks, no beaten path, no common way;

— and in a cloud by day; to shelter them from the scorching sun, where there were no trees nor hedges to shade them, only rocky crags and hills.

³⁴ “And the Lord heard the voice of your words and was wroth, and swore, saying,

³⁵ ‘Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I swore to give unto your fathers,

³⁶ save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord.’ — save Caleb; Caleb is here placed as the one exception; Joshua, as Moses’ substitute, the exception among the recognised leaders, is named separately.

³⁷ Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Thou also shalt not go in thither. — also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes; indicating that Moses was condemned to share the fate of the people;

³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. — encourage him; with the promise of the divine Presence with him, and of success in subduing the Canaanites, and settling the people of Israel in their land; and so we read that Moses did encourage him, Deuteronomy 31:7.

³⁹ Moreover your little ones, who ye said should be a prey, and your children, who in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither; and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. — and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil; not being at years of understanding;

⁴⁰ But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.’ — but as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way (in the direction) of the Red Sea; in Numbers 14:32 the parallel sentence is, “As for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.”

⁴¹ “Then ye answered and said unto me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.’ And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up onto the hill. — and when ye had girded on every man his weapon; his sword upon his thigh; a large number of them, for all of them were not so disposed, though many were;

⁴² And the Lord said unto me, ‘Say unto them: Go not up, neither fight, for I am not among you, lest ye be smitten before your enemies.’ — say unto them, go not up, neither fight; neither go up the hill, and if they did, contrary to this order, lest ye be smitten before your enemies; for I am not among you;

⁴³ So I spoke unto you, and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up onto the hill. — So I spoke unto you; these words, the orders Moses received from the Lord to deliver to them;

⁴⁴ And the Amorites, who dwelt in that mountain, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. — as bees do; this should be observed as illustrating what is said of the hornet in Exodus 23:28-30, Deuteronomy 7:20; and in Joshua 24:12

— the Amorites; “came out against you and chased you as bees do” was also one of the ten tribes prophecised to be wiped out in Genesis 15;

⁴⁵ And ye returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. — the Amorites; perhaps in addition to the “the Amalekites and the Canaanites” in Numbers 14:45, who are said to have overwhelmed them.

⁴⁶ So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there. — so they abode in Kadesh many, even close to forty years.

Deuteronomy 2

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¹ “Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke unto me; and we compassed Mount Seir many days.

— and we compassed Mount Seir many days; many think by Mount Seir is meant the whole mountainous country of Edom, about which they travelled to and fro in the wilderness that lay near it for the space of thirty eight years, which they suppose are meant by many days;that is, until near the close of the thirty-ninth year of the Exodus.

² And the Lord spoke unto me, saying,

³ ‘Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turn you northward. — it was from this encampment at Mount Seir that Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom asking permission to pass through his territory.

⁴ And command thou the people, saying, “Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you. Take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore.

— saying, ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children or Esau: not through the midst of their country, for that the king of Edom would not admit of, but by or along its eastern frontier;

⁵ Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth, because I have given Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. — meddle not with them; that is, those “which dwell in Seir” verse 4 above;

— for there was another branch of Esau’s posterity, namely, the Amalekites, who were to be fought against and be destroyed (Genesis 36:12; Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 25:17); but the people of Edom were not to be injured, either in persons or their property;

— but the posterity of Esau or the Edomites later moved to Spain, and many then spread over to Mexico and South America where they are today; for more, see:

For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah

For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!

For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

⁶ Ye shall buy meat from them with money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water from them with money, that ye may drink. — that is, if they would; for they had manna daily;

— yet if they would they might buy other food when they had an opportunity, as they would now have of Edom; but then they were not to take it by force or stealth, but pay for it, which they were able to do.

⁷ For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.”’

— these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee: not only to protect and defend them, but to provide all things necessary for them; thou hast lacked nothing: and since they had wherewith to pay for their food and drink, they are directed to do it, and not take anything from the Edomites in an unjust way;

⁸ And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the Wilderness of Moab.

— from Elath and Eziongeber; the two ports on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom; it was from the latter they came to Kadesh; Numbers 33:35. Elath was ten miles from Petra, the metropolis of Edom, to the east of it;

⁹ “And the Lord said unto me, ‘Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.’ — because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession; so the Moabites were, they sprung from Moab, a son of Lot by his firstborn daughter, Genesis 19:37.

¹⁰ (The Emim dwelt therein in times past, a people great and many and tall as the Anakim, — a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; who were very numerous, of a very bulky size of body, and of high stature, like the giants the spies had seen at Hebron, the sons of Anak, a noted giant there, Numbers 13:22;

¹¹ who also were accounted giants, as the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. — their territory comprised principally the fine country on the south; who were troglodytes, or dwellers in caves; and among rocks;

¹² The Horim also dwelt in Seir aforetime, but the children of Esau succeeded them when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead, as Israel did unto the land of his possession which the Lord gave unto them.)

— but the children of Esau succeeded them; Esau and his sons marrying among them, made way for getting the country into their possession, as appears from Genesis 36:2 and in which they afterwards settled themselves by the dint of the sword;

— when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; even in Seir where they had dwelt, afterwards called Edom, from one of the names of Esau, Genesis 36:8

— as Israel did in the land of his possession, which the Lord gave unto them; because this is said before the Canaanites were drove out of their land, and it was possessed by the Israelites;

— and the above instances by the children of Esau as well as this may be observed, to encourage the people of Israel that they should succeed in dispossessing the Canaanites, and settling in their land, in like manner as the Edomites did, taking dispossessions of this kind had already been shown before.

¹³ ‘Now rise up,’ said I, ‘and get you over the Brook Zered.’ And we went over the Brook Zered. — over the brook Zered; it is called the valley of Zered, Numbers 21:12, the word used signifying both a valley and a brook; and it is very probable there were both a valley and a brook of the same name;

¹⁴ And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea until we had come over the Brook Zered was thirty and eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were wasted from among the host, as the Lord swore unto them. — until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host; all that were twenty years old and upwards, had died; excepting two, Caleb and Joshua;

¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them from among the host until they were consumed.

¹⁶ “So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,

¹⁷ that the Lord spoke unto me, saying,

¹⁸ ‘Thou art to pass over through Ar, the border of Moab, this day. — thou art to pass over through Ar; that is, over the river Arnon, by the city Ar of Moab, which was situated by it; Deuteronomy 2:9 and so Moses and the people of Israel were to pass along the territory of Moab;

¹⁹ And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not nor meddle with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession, because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.’ — most experts identify the children of Ammon of Lot by his second daughter, as Jordan;

²⁰ (That also was accounted a land of giants. Giants dwelt therein in olden times; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, — before the Ammonites, the land was occupied by a gigantic race, called by them, Zamzummim;

²¹ a people great and many and tall, as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them and dwelt in their stead,

— the Lord destroyed them before them; it is noticeable that the conquest of Canaan is here brought with the conquests of gigantic races accomplished by Edom, Moab, and Ammon, children related to Abraham; and if they been able to dispossess these gigantic races, how much more would Israel be able to dispossess the Canaanites under the personal guidance of God?

²² as He did to the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horim from before them; and they succeeded them and dwelt in their stead even unto this day. — the Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites; they drove the giants out; these are recorded to encourage the children of Israel to take possession of the land of Canaan;

²³ And the Avim who dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their stead.) — and the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim; this is another instance of God’s disposal of countries unto what people he pleases;

— by producing these instances of God’s displacing one people, and settling another in their stead, Moses designed to strengthen the faith of the Israelites in the divine promise of giving them the victory over all their enemies, and settling them in the land of Canaan;

— and dwelt in their stead; though it seems as if they were not utterly destroyed, but some escaped into Assyria, and settled there, where was a place called Ava from them; and from whence they were sent by the king of Assyria to repopulate the cities of Samaria, after the captivity of the ten tribes;

²⁴ ‘Rise ye up, take your journey and pass over the River Arnon. Behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. — behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; that is, he had determined to give it to the Israelites;

²⁵ This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of thee.’ — the fear of thee; compare to Exodus 15:15-16 : “All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away, fear and dread shall fall upon them.”

²⁶ “And I sent messengers out of the Wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

²⁷ ‘Let me pass through thy land. I will go along by the high way; I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.

²⁸ Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. I will pass through only on my feet, — given that Moses 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.

²⁹ as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did unto me, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us.’ — as the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me; which respects, not the affair of passing through their land requested, for neither of them granted that

— but buying food and drink; for though the Edomites at first seem not to have granted that, yet afterwards they did. The mountain of Seir, and the city Ar, are put for the whole countries of Edom and Moab;

— until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us; this is observed to remove any suspicion or jealousy of their seizing his country, and taking possession of it, and dwelling in it; since they only proposed to pass through it on their journey to the land of Canaan;

³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. — but Sihon king of Heshbon, the chief city of the Amorite king, would not let us pass by him;

— for the Lord had hardened his spirit, Sihon king of Heshbon, of the Amorites, and made his heart obstinate; as he did Pharaoh’s, for whom he will he hardens; whose land and cities were eventually given to the children of Reuben and unto half the tribe of Manasseh Numbers 32:33;

— the Amorites were one of ten tribes to be wiped out; prophecised earlier in Genesis 15

“I am thy shield … Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates:

the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites,

and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim,

and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” Genesis 15

³¹ And the Lord said unto me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.’ — behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee; by hardening his heart, which was a sure token of his ruin, and a leading step to the delivery of him into the hands of Israel: the children of Reuben and unto half the tribe of Manasseh;

³² Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. — the wicked Sihon initiated hostilities by coming out with all his host to fight against Moses and the Israelites;

³³ And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons and all his people. — and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones; and we smote him and his sons, and all his people; with the edge of the sword; slew them all: we left none to remain;

— the war was one of extermination, in which all the people of Sihon, the Amorites, were destroyed, from one cad of his dominion to the other; all his cities were devoted irredeemably; only the cattle and the material property were preserved as booty by the conquerors.

³⁴ And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men and the women and the little ones of every city; we left none to remain. — the Amorites be utterly destroyed; by God’s command, these being a part of those people who were devoted by the Lord of life and death even the “women and the little ones” to utter destruction for their abominable wickedness.

³⁵ Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. — 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 earlier been seized by the Amorites, who, being one of the nations doomed to destruction, were utterly exterminated;

³⁶ From Aroer, which is by the brink of the River of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the Lord our God delivered all unto us. — there was not one city too strong for us; that could hold out against them, when attacked and besieged by them, but presently surrendered;

— the Lord our God delivered all unto us; Moses ascribes all the victories and success they had unto the Lord, not to their own might and power, but to the power of God with them, and his blessing on them.

³⁷ Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the River Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbade us.

— only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not; which God allowed to be in their possession; nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbad us: whether in Edom, Moab, or Ammon, particularly the latter, of which he is more especially and peculiarly speaking.

~ by Japheth on April 10, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses