24 Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land: begin, take possession, and engage with him in battle. 25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples under the whole heaven; who will hear report of thee, and will tremble, and quake because of thee.
26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon the king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, 27 Let me pass through thy land: by the highway alone will I go; I will neither turn to the right hand nor to the left. 28 Thou shalt sell me food for money that I may eat; and thou shalt give me water for money that I may drink; I will only pass through on my feet, 29 —as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me,—until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God giveth us. 30 But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obdurate, that he might give him into thy hand, as it is this day. 31 And Jehovah said to me, Behold, I begin to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin, take possession, that thou mayest possess his land. 32 And Sihon came out against us for battle, he and all his people, to Jahaz. 33 But Jehovah our God gave him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and his whole people. 34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every city, men, and women, and little ones: we let none escape. 35 Only the cattle we took as booty for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. 36 From Aroer, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the ravine even to Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: Jehovah our God delivered all before us. 37 Only thou didst not approach the land of the children of Ammon, the whole border of the river Jabbok, nor the cities of the mountain, nor to whatsoever Jehovah our God had forbidden us.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 2:24-37
Commentary on Deuteronomy 2:24-37
(Read Deuteronomy 2:24-37)
God tried his people, by forbidding them to meddle with the rich countries of Moab and Ammon. He gives them possession of the country of the Amorites. If we keep from what God forbids, we shall not lose by our obedience. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; and he gives it to whom he pleases; but when there is no express direction, none can plead his grant for such proceedings. Though God assured the Israelites that the land should be their own, yet they must contend with the enemy. What God gives we must endeavour to get. What a new world did Israel now come into! Much more joyful will the change be, which holy souls will experience, when they remove out of the wilderness of this world to the better country, that is, the heavenly, to the city that has foundations. Let us, by reflecting upon God's dealings with his people Israel, be led to meditate upon our years spent in vanity, through our transgressions. But happy are those whom Jesus has delivered from the wrath to come. To whom he hath given the earnest of his Spirit in their hearts. Their inheritance cannot be affected by revolutions of kingdoms, or changes in earthly possessions.