Deuteronomio 2:24-37

3. The conquest of the kingdom of Sihon 2:24-37

This narrative closely parallels the one in Numbers 21:21-32. In this account Moses emphasized for the people God’s faithfulness to them. Note especially Deuteronomy 2:25; Deuteronomy 2:29-31; Deuteronomy 2:33; Deuteronomy 2:36.

"’All the nations under heaven’ (Deuteronomy 2:25) is an idiomatic hyperbole signifying all the nations in the vicinity; that is, at least from horizon to horizon (under heaven)." [Note: Kalland, p. 32.]

"The process of Sihon’s fall was much the same as that of the fall of . . . the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Each was approached with a request to favor the Israelites (Deuteronomy 2:26-29), which he refused, because ’the Lord . . . hardened his spirit’ (Deuteronomy 2:30). Each made a hostile advance against Israel (Deuteronomy 2:32) and suffered defeat, as the Lord fought for His people (Deuteronomy 2:31; Deuteronomy 2:33 ff.)." [Note: Kline, "Deuteronomy," p. 159.]

As God had promised His people, "No city was too high" for them (Deuteronomy 2:36). Moses gave God all the credit for this victory.

"Apart from the Lord’s intention to provide a home and land for God’s people, there are two criteria for the destruction of inhabitants of the land: (1) those who oppose God’s purpose and promise to Israel-that is, Sihon and Og; and (2) those who seem to pose in a special way the problem of religious contamination and syncretism-that is, the Canaanites and Amorites." [Note: Miller, p. 40.]

". . . the divine hardening described here [Deuteronomy 2:30] was part of Yahweh’s sovereign judgment on a morally corrupt culture." [Note: Robert B. Chisholm Jr., "Divine Hardening in the Old Testament," Bibliotheca Sacra 153:612 (October-December 1996):430.]