Numbers 21:25-30

21:25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. ¹  21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, ²  as far as the Arnon. 21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs ³  say,

“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.

Let the city of Sihon be established! ⁴ 

21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has consumed Ar of Moab

and the lords ⁵  of the high places of Arnon.

21:29 Woe to you, Moab.

You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! ⁶ 

He has made his sons fugitives,

and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.

21:30 We have overpowered them; ⁷ 

Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.

We have shattered them as far as Nophah,

which ⁸  reaches to Medeba.”

Deuteronomy 2:24

2:24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, ⁹  and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war!

Deuteronomy 3:2

3:2 The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, ¹⁰  and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.”

Deuteronomy 3:6

3:6 We put all of these under divine judgment ¹¹  just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon – every occupied city, ¹²  including women and children.

Joshua 12:2

12:2 King Sihon of the Amorites who lived ¹³  in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) – including the city in the middle of the valley ¹⁴  and half of Gilead – all the way to the Jabbok Valley bordering Ammonite territory.

Joshua 12:5

12:5 and ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half of Gilead as far as the border of King Sihon of Heshbon.

Joshua 13:10

13:10 and all the cities of King Sihon of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon, and ended at the Ammonite border.

[21:25]  ¹ tn Heb “its daughters.”

[21:26]  ² sn There is a justice, always, in the divine plan for the conquest of the land. Modern students of the Bible often think that the conquest passages are crude and unjust. But an understanding of the ancient Near East is critical here. This Sihon was not a part of the original population of the land. He himself invaded the territory and destroyed the population of Moab that was indigenous there and established his own kingdom. The ancient history is filled with such events; it is the way of life they chose – conquer or be conquered. For Israel to defeat them was in part a turning of their own devices back on their heads – “those that live by the sword will die by the sword.” Sihon knew this, and he did not wait, but took the war to Israel. Israel wanted to pass through, not fight. But now they would either fight or be pushed into the gorge. So God used Israel to defeat Sihon, who had no claim to the land, as part of divine judgment.

[21:27]  ³ sn Proverbs of antiquity could include pithy sayings or longer songs, riddles, or poems composed to catch the significance or the irony of an event. This is a brief poem to remember the event, like an Egyptian victory song. It may have originated as an Amorite war taunt song; it was sung to commemorate this victory. It was cited later by Jeremiah (48:45-46). The composer invites his victorious people to rebuild the conquered city as a new capital for Sihon. He then turns to address the other cities which his God(s) has/have given to him. See P. D. Hanson, “The Song of Heshbon and David’s Nir,” HTR 61 (1968): 301.

[21:27]  ⁴ tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”

[21:28]  ⁵ tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (ba’aley, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.

[21:29]  ⁶ sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.

[21:30]  ⁷ tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).

[21:30]  ⁸ tc The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ’asher) posed a problem for the ancient scribes here, as indicated by the so-called extraordinary point (punta extraordinaria) over the letter ר (resh) of אֲשֶׁר. Smr and the LXX have “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) here (cf. NAB, NJB, RSV, NRSV). Some modern scholars emend the word to שֹׁאָה (sho’ah, “devastation”).

[2:24]  ⁹ 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.

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “people.”

[3:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “we put them under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). See note at 2:34.

[3:6]  ¹² tn Heb “city of men.”

[12:2]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “reigned.”

[12:2]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads here, “and the middle of the valley,” but the reading “the city in the middle of valley” can be reconstructed on the basis of Josh 13:9, 16.