21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon , king of the Amorites , saying , 22 " Let me pass through your land . We will not turn off into field or vineyard ; we will not drink water from wells . We will go by the king's highway until e we have passed through your border ." 23 But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border . So Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness , and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel . 24 Then Israel struck him with the edge of the sword , and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok , as far as the sons of Ammon ; for the border of the sons of Ammon was Jazer . 25 Israel took all these cities and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites , in Heshbon , and in all her villages . 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon , king of the Amorites , who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand , as far as the Arnon . 27 Therefore e those who use proverbs say , "Come to Heshbon ! Let it be built ! So let the city of Sihon be established . 28 " For a fire went forth from Heshbon , A flame from the town of Sihon ; It devoured Ar of Moab , The dominant heights of the Arnon . 29 " Woe to you, O Moab ! You are ruined , O people of Chemosh ! He has given his sons as fugitives , And his daughters into captivity , To an Amorite king , Sihon . 30 "But we have cast them down , Heshbon is ruined as far as Dibon , Then we have laid waste even to Nophah , Which reaches to Medeba ."
31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites . 32 Moses sent to spy out Jazer , and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there . 33 Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan , and Og the king of Bashan went out with all his people , for battle at Edrei . 34 But the Lord said to Moses , " Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand , and all his people and his land ; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon , king of the Amorites , who lived at Heshbon ." 35 So they killed him and his sons and all his people , until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 21:21-35
Commentary on Numbers 21:21-35
(Read Numbers 21:21-35)
Sihon went with his forces against Israel, out of his own borders, without provocation, and so ran upon his own ruin. The enemies of God's church often perish by the counsels they think most wisely taken. Og, king of Bashan, instead of being warned by the fate of his neighbours, to make peace with Israel, makes war with them, which proves in like manner his destruction. Wicked men do their utmost to secure themselves and their possessions against the judgments of God; but all in vain, when the day comes on which they must fall. God gave Israel success, while Moses was with them, that he might see the beginning of the glorious work, though he must not live to see it finished. This was, in comparison, but as the day of small things, yet it was an earnest of great things. We must prepare for fresh conflicts and enemies. We must make no peace or truce with the powers of darkness, nor even treat with them; nor should we expect any pause in our contest. But, trusting in God, and obeying his commands, we shall be more than conquerors over every enemy.