1:26 You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. 8 1:27 You complained among yourselves privately 9 and said, “Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! 1:28 What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage 10 by describing people who are more numerous 11 and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven 12 itself! Moreover, they said they saw 13 Anakites 14 there.” 1:29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrified 15 of them! 1:30 The Lord your God is about to go 16 ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt 17 1:31 and in the desert, where you saw him 18 carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.” 1:32 However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, 1:33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.
1:34 When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: 19 1:35 “Not a single person 20 of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! 1:36 The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; 21 he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me.” 22 1:37 As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, “You also will not be able to go there. 1:38 However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, 23 will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. 24 1:39 Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, 25 and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, 26 will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. 1:40 But as for you, 27 turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea.” 28
1:41 Then you responded to me and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do.” So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. 1:42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’” 1:43 I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord 29 and recklessly went up to the hill country. 1:44 The Amorite inhabitants of that area 30 confronted 31 you and chased you like a swarm of bees, striking you down from Seir as far as Hormah. 32 1:45 Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but he 33 paid no attention to you whatsoever. 34 1:46 Therefore, you remained at Kadesh for a long time – indeed, for the full time. 35
2:1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Sea 36 just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time. 2:2 At this point the Lord said to me, 2:3 “You have circled around this mountain long enough; now turn north. 2:4 Instruct 37 these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives 38 the descendants of Esau, 39 who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. 2:5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir 40 as an inheritance for Esau. 2:6 You may purchase 41 food to eat and water to drink from them. 2:7 All along the way I, the Lord your God, 42 have blessed your every effort. 43 I have 44 been attentive to 45 your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have 46 been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”
2:8 So we turned away from our relatives 47 the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, 48 from Elat 49 and Ezion Geber, 50 and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands. 2:9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar 51 to the descendants of Lot 52 as their possession. 2:10 (The Emites 53 used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. 2:11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; 54 the Moabites call them Emites. 2:12 Previously the Horites 55 lived in Seir but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land the Lord gave them.) 56 2:13 Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered.” 57 So we did so. 58 2:14 Now the length of time it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to die, just as the Lord had vowed to them. 2:15 Indeed, it was the very hand of the Lord that eliminated them from within 59 the camp until they were all gone.
2:16 So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community, 60 2:17 the Lord said to me, 2:18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar. 61 2:19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants 62 as their possession.
2:20 (That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites. 63 The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 64 2:21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites 65 in advance of the Ammonites, 66 so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. 2:22 This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day. 2:23 As for the Avvites 67 who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites 68 who came from Crete 69 destroyed them and settled down in their place.)
2:24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, 70 and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! 2:25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth 71 with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.” 72
2:26 Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth 73 Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: 2:27 “Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway. 74 I will not turn aside to the right or the left. 2:28 Sell me food for cash 75 so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. 76 Just allow me to go through on foot, 2:29 just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.” 2:30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our 77 God had made him obstinate 78 and stubborn 79 so that he might deliver him over to you 80 this very day. 2:31 The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.” 2:32 When Sihon and all his troops 81 emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, 82 2:33 the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons 83 and everyone else. 84 2:34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them 85 under divine judgment, 86 including even the women and children; we left no survivors. 2:35 We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. 2:36 From Aroer, 87 which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), 88 all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us – the Lord our God gave them all to us. 2:37 However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, 89 the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God.
3:1 Next we set out on 90 the route to Bashan, 91 but King Og of Bashan and his whole army 92 came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 93 3:2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, 94 and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.” 3:3 So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left. 95 3:4 We captured all his cities at that time – there was not a town we did not take from them – sixty cities, all the region of Argob, 96 the dominion of Og in Bashan. 3:5 All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars; 97 in addition there were a great many open villages. 98 3:6 We put all of these under divine judgment 99 just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon – every occupied city, 100 including women and children. 3:7 But all the livestock and plunder from the cities we kept for ourselves. 3:8 So at that time we took the land of the two Amorite kings in the Transjordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon 101 3:9 (the Sidonians 102 call Hermon Sirion 103 and the Amorites call it Senir), 104 3:10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah 105 and Edrei, 106 cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 3:11 Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy 107 that his sarcophagus 108 was made of iron. 109 Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath 110 of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet 111 long and six feet 112 wide according to standard measure.) 113
1 tn The Hebrew participle has an imminent future sense here, although many English versions treat it as a present tense (“is giving us,” NAB, NIV, NRSV) or a predictive future (“will give us,” NCV).
2 tn Heb “the
3 tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “the thing was good in my eyes.”
5 tn Or “selected” (so NIV, NRSV, TEV); Heb “took.”
6 tn Or “the Wadi Eshcol” (so NAB).
7 tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.
8 tn Heb “the mouth of the
9 tn Heb “in your tents,” that is, privately.
10 tn Heb “have caused our hearts to melt.”
11 tn Heb “greater.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “stronger,” NAB, NIV, NRSV; “bigger,” NASB).
12 tn Or “as the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
13 tn Heb “we have seen.”
14 tn Heb “the sons of the Anakim.”
15 tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.
16 tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).
17 tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
18 tn Heb “the
19 tn Heb “and swore,” i.e., made an oath or vow.
20 tn Heb “Not a man among these men.”
21 sn Caleb had, with Joshua, brought back to Israel a minority report from Canaan urging a conquest of the land, for he was confident of the
22 tn Heb “the
23 tn Heb “the one who stands before you”; NAB “your aide”; TEV “your helper.”
24 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Heb “would be a prey.”
26 sn Do not know good from bad. This is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). Other examples are the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9), the boy who knows enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isa 7:16; 8:4), and those who “cannot tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). A young child is characterized by lack of knowledge.
27 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, as are the following verbs, indicating that Moses and the people are addressed (note v. 41).
28 tn Heb “the Reed Sea.” “Reed” is a better translation of the Hebrew סוּף (suf), traditionally rendered “red.” The name “Red Sea” is based on the LXX which referred to it as ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης (eruqra" qalassh", “red sea”). Nevertheless, because the body of water in question is known in modern times as the Red Sea, this term was used in the translation. The part of the Red Sea in view here is not the one crossed in the exodus but its eastern arm, now known as the Gulf of Eilat or Gulf of Aqaba.
29 tn Heb “the mouth of the
30 tn Heb “in that hill country,” repeating the end of v. 43.
31 tn Heb “came out to meet.”
32 sn Hormah is probably Khirbet el-Meshash, 5.5 mi (9 km) west of Arad and 7.5 mi (12 km) SE of Beer Sheba. Its name is a derivative of the verb חָרָם (kharam, “to ban; to exterminate”). See Num 21:3.
33 tn Heb “the
34 tn Heb “did not hear your voice and did not turn an ear to you.”
35 tn Heb “like the days which you lived.” This refers to the rest of the forty-year period in the desert before Israel arrived in Moab.
36 tn Heb “Reed Sea.” See note on the term “Red Sea” in Deut 1:40.
37 tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”
38 tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”
39 sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).
40 sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.
41 tn Heb includes “with silver.”
42 tn The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).
43 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
44 tn Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.
45 tn Heb “known” (so ASV, NASB); NAB “been concerned about.”
46 tn Heb “the
47 tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”
48 tn Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ASV); NASB, NIV “the Arabah road.”
49 sn Elat was a port city at the head of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, that is, the Gulf of Aqaba (or Gulf of Eilat). Solomon (1 Kgs 9:28), Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22), and Ahaz (2 Kgs 16:5-6) used it as a port but eventually it became permanently part of Edom. It may be what is known today as Tell el-Kheleifeh. Modern Eilat is located further west along the northern coast. See G. Pratico, “Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal,” BASOR 259 (1985): 1-32.
50 sn Ezion Geber. A place near the Gulf of Aqaba, Ezion-geber must be distinguished from Elat (cf. 1 Kgs 9:26-28; 2 Chr 8:17-18). It was, however, also a port city (1 Kgs 22:48-49). It may be the same as the modern site Gezirat al-Fauran, 15 mi (24 km) south-southwest from Tell el-Kheleifah.
51 sn Ar was a Moabite city on the Arnon River east of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned elsewhere in the “Book of the Wars of Yahweh” (Num 21:15; cf. 21:28; Isa 15:1). Here it is synonymous with the whole land of Moab.
52 sn The descendants of Lot. Following the destruction of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, as God’s judgment, Lot fathered two sons by his two daughters, namely, Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:30-38). Thus, these descendants of Lot in and around Ar were the Moabites.
53 sn Emites. These giant people, like the Anakites (Deut 1:28), were also known as Rephaites (v. 11). They appear elsewhere in the narrative of the invasion of the kings of the east where they are said to have lived around Shaveh Kiriathaim, perhaps 9 to 11 mi (15 to 18 km) east of the north end of the Dead Sea (Gen 14:5).
54 sn Rephaites. The earliest reference to this infamous giant race is, again, in the story of the invasion of the eastern kings (Gen 14:5). They lived around Ashteroth Karnaim, probably modern Tell Ashtarah (cf. Deut 1:4), in the Bashan plateau east of the Sea of Galilee. Og, king of Bashan, was a Rephaite (Deut 3:11; Josh 12:4; 13:12). Other texts speak of them or their kinfolk in both Transjordan (Deut 2:20; 3:13) and Canaan (Josh 11:21-22; 14:12, 15; 15:13-14; Judg 1:20; 1 Sam 17:4; 1 Chr 20:4-8). They also appear in extra-biblical literature, especially in connection with the city state of Ugarit. See C. L’Heureux, “Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim,” HTR 67 (1974): 265-74.
55 sn Horites. Most likely these are the same as the well-known people of ancient Near Eastern texts described as Hurrians. They were geographically widespread and probably non-Semitic. Genesis speaks of them as the indigenous peoples of Edom that Esau expelled (Gen 36:8-19, 31-43) and also as among those who confronted the kings of the east (Gen 14:6).
56 tn Most modern English versions, beginning with the ASV (1901), regard vv. 10-12 as parenthetical to the narrative.
57 sn Wadi Zered. Now known as Wadi el-H£esa, this valley marked the boundary between Moab to the north and Edom to the south.
58 tn Heb “we crossed the Wadi Zered.” This has been translated as “we did so” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
59 tn Heb “from the middle of.” Although many recent English versions leave this expression untranslated, the point seems to be that these soldiers did not die in battle but “within the camp.”
60 tn Heb “and it was when they were eliminated, all the men of war, to die from the midst of the people.”
61 sn Ar. See note on this word in Deut 2:9.
62 sn Lot’s descendants. See note on this phrase in Deut 2:9.
63 sn Rephaites. See note on this word in Deut 2:11.
64 sn Zamzummites. Just as the Moabites called Rephaites by the name Emites, the Ammonites called them Zamzummites (or Zazites; Gen 14:5).
65 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
66 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
67 sn Avvites. Otherwise unknown, these people were probably also Anakite (or Rephaite) giants who lived in the lower Mediterranean coastal plain until they were expelled by the Caphtorites.
68 sn Caphtorites. These peoples are familiar from both the OT (Gen 10:14; 1 Chr 1:12; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7) and ancient Near Eastern texts (Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:37-38; ANET 138). They originated in Crete (OT “Caphtor”) and are identified as the ancestors of the Philistines (Gen 10:14; Jer 47:4).
69 tn Heb “Caphtor”; the modern name of the island of Crete is used in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
70 sn Heshbon is the name of a prominent site (now Tell Hesba„n, about 7.5 mi [12 km] south southwest of Amman, Jordan). Sihon made it his capital after having driven Moab from the area and forced them south to the Arnon (Num 21:26-30). Heshbon is also mentioned in Deut 1:4.
71 tn Heb “under heaven” (so NIV, NRSV).
72 tn Heb “from before you.”
73 sn Kedemoth. This is probably Aleiyan, about 8 mi (13 km) north of the Arnon and between Dibon and Mattanah.
74 tn Heb “in the way in the way” (בַּדֶּרֶךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, baderekh baderekh). The repetition lays great stress on the idea of resolute determination to stick to the path. IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
75 tn Heb “silver.”
76 tn Heb “and water for silver give to me so that I may drink.”
77 tc The translation follows the LXX in reading the first person pronoun. The MT, followed by many English versions, has a second person masculine singular pronoun, “your.”
78 tn Heb “hardened his spirit” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “made his spirit stubborn.”
79 tn Heb “made his heart obstinate” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “made his heart defiant.”
80 tn Heb “into your hand.”
81 tn Heb “people.”
82 sn Jahaz. This is probably Khirbet el-Medeiyineh. See J. Dearman, “The Levitical Cities of Reuben and Moabite Toponymy,” BASOR 276 (1984): 55-57.
83 tc The translation follows the Qere or marginal reading; the Kethib (consonantal text) has the singular, “his son.”
84 tn Heb “all his people.”
85 tn Heb “every city of men.” This apparently identifies the cities as inhabited.
86 tn Heb “under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). The verb employed is חָרַם (kharam, usually in the Hiphil) and the associated noun is חֵרֶם (kherem). See J. Naudé, NIDOTTE, 2:276-77, and, for a more thorough discussion, Susan Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible, 28-77.
87 sn Aroer. Now known as àAraáir on the northern edge of the Arnon river, Aroer marked the southern limit of Moab and, later, of the allotment of the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:9, 16).
88 tn Heb “the city in the wadi.” This enigmatic reference may refer to Ar or, more likely, to Aroer itself. Epexegetically the text might read, “From Aroer…, that is, the city in the wadi.” See D. L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1–11 (WBC), 49.
89 sn Wadi Jabbok. Now known as the Zerqa River, this is a major tributary of the Jordan that normally served as a boundary between Ammon and Gad (Deut 3:16).
90 tn Heb “turned and went up.”
91 sn Bashan. This plateau country, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:13) and cattle (Deut 32:14; Amos 4:1), was north of Gilead along the Yarmuk River.
92 tn Heb “people.”
93 sn Edrei is probably modern Deràa, 60 mi (95 km) south of Damascus (see Num 21:33; Josh 12:4; 13:12, 31; also mentioned in Deut 1:4).
94 tn Heb “people.”
95 tn Heb “was left to him.” The final phrase “to him” is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.
96 sn Argob. This is a subdistrict of Bashan, perhaps north of the Yarmuk River. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 314.
97 tn Or “high walls and barred gates” (NLT); Heb “high walls, gates, and bars.” Since “bars” could be understood to mean “saloons,” the qualifying adjective “locking” has been supplied in the translation.
98 tn The Hebrew term פְּרָזִי (pÿraziy) refers to rural areas, at the most “unwalled villages” (KJV, NASB “unwalled towns”).
99 tn Heb “we put them under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). See note at 2:34.
100 tn Heb “city of men.”
101 sn Mount Hermon. This is the famous peak at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range known today as Jebel es-Sheik.
102 sn Sidonians were Phoenician inhabitants of the city of Sidon (now in Lebanon), about 47 mi (75 km) north of Mount Carmel.
103 sn Sirion. This name is attested in the Ugaritic texts as sryn. See UT 495.
104 sn Senir. Probably this was actually one of the peaks of Hermon and not the main mountain (Song of Songs 4:8; 1 Chr 5:23). It is mentioned in a royal inscription of Shalmaneser III of Assyria (saniru; see ANET 280).
105 sn Salecah. Today this is known as Salkhad, in Jordan, about 31 mi (50 km) east of the Jordan River in the Hauran Desert.
106 sn Edrei. See note on this term in 3:1.
107 tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
108 tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (’eres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”
109 tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.
110 sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.
111 tn Heb “nine cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.
112 tn Heb “four cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.
113 tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).