[An Elohiym Who fights for His people . . . what a God!
In reading about religions of the world, believers/worshippers of specific gods do not have this much assurance since their beliefs are based on man-made speculations on what their god is like. They probably never hear from that god, except in their imagination. In fact, from our readings, we find out that when warring tribes decide to fight it out, those whose god is the god of the plain would like to fight their battle on the plain while those whose god is of the mountain would like to fight on the mountain, thinking one has an edge over the other territorial god.
The God of Israel is the Creator of the universe so wherever and whenever He decides to back up His chosen people, against all odds, Israel has proven again and again, even in their modern battles, that there is a FORCE—that is, aside from their battle-preparedness and excellent war strategies—that assures them victory, particularly if they have been obedient to the God Who has chosen them and taught them to live His Way.
This chapter is not even exciting to read, since there is no suspense about who wins in the end. ‘The battle is the LORD’s’, so goes the lyrics of a Christian hymn. We have rewritten the lyrics, in case you know the music, sing along:
The battle is the LORD’s! Fear not, He leads the way, To conquer hearts and minds and souls, of all who stray. Our duty is to learn, and share all that we know,- Image from godsbreath.net
The commentary, as usual, is from Pentateuch and Haftorahs, ed. Dr. J.H.Hertz; translation is EF/Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses.—Admin1.]
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In the first portion of his Discourse, Moses dwelt on the abortive attempt to enter Canaan. He now recalls (II-III,29) the victories that marked the close of their wanderings, victories that presaged Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land. He thus points out that unbelief and rebellion brought shame and punishment; while repentant return to God and obedience to His will were crowned by blessing and triumph.
Deuteronomy/Davarim 2
II,1-8. ROUND MOUNT SEIR
After the repulse at Kadesh, the Israelites turned back towards the Red Sea, skirting Mt. Seir, until God commanded them to turn northward, and pass peacefully through Esau’s territory.
1 and we faced about and marched into the wilderness, by the Reed Sea route, as YHVH had spoken to me; we circled around the hills of Se’ir for many days-and-years.by the way to the Red Sea. i.e. in the direction of the north-eastern branch of the Red sea, the Gulf of Akabah.
we compassed mount Seir. Indicates the long and arduous journey in order to go round Edom; see Num. XXI,4.
many days. Thirty-eight years.
2 Now YHVH said to me, saying: 3 Enough for you, circling around these hills! Face about, northward!turn you northward. ‘The Israelites must be imagined by this time to have made their way along the south-western and southern border of Edom, as far as the south-east end of the Arabah, so that a turn northwards would at once lead them along the eastern border of Edom in the direction of Moab’ (Driver); Judges XI,18.
4 And as for the people, command (them), saying: You are (about) to cross the territory of your brothers, the Children of Esav, who are settled in Se’ir. Though they are afraid of you, take exceeding care!ye are to pass through. This is quite distinct from the earlier attempt to shorten the journey by passing through Edomite territory from Kadesh on the western frontier, permission for which was refused by the king of Edom; Num. XX.
the children of Esau. The eastern portion of Edom was inhabited by free Bedouins, kinsmen of the Israelites. These did not threaten them with war, as the Edomites in western part of the land had done, if they dared pass through their land (Rashbam, Luzzatto).
be afraid of you. The western border of Edom is a series of natural fortresses, making it easy to repel any invading host. Not so the eastern border.
5 Do not stir yourselves up against them, For I will not give you of their land so much as the sole of a foot can tread on, for as a possession to Esav I gave the hill-country of Se’ir.contend not. lit. ‘incite not.’ God is the ruler of the whole world. All the nations—not only Israel—were under God’s Providential rule, and have had their territories assigned to them. Israel therefore must respect these possessions and not become a mere conquering people. Israel must confine his ambitions to the one Land Divinely assigned to him at the very beginning of his being as a family (S.R. Hirsch).
as for the sole of the foot. They were not permitted even to pass through their land, without their permission.
unto Esau. David fought against the descendants of Esau and made them his ‘servants’ (II Sam. VIII,14), but he did not dispossess them of their land; and later, in the reign of Jehoram, they again became independent (II Kings VIII,20).
6 Food you may market from them for silver, that you may eat; and also water you may purchase from them for silver, that you may drink. 7 For YHVH your God has blessed you in all the works of your hands- he has known your travels in this great wilderness! (For) forty years is YHVH your God with you; you have not lacked a thing!hath blessed thee. Gives the reason for Israel’s proud independence of Edom. The Israelites were well able to pay for their necessities.
He hath known. i.e. He hath cared for; the same usage of ‘know’ is found in Gen. XVIII,19.
8 So we crossed on by, away from our brothers, the Children of Esav, who are settled in Se’ir, (away) from the route of the Plain, from Eilat and from Etzion Gever, and we faced about and crossed the route of the Wilderness of Moav.way of the Arabah. The route from south of the Dead Sea to Hebron.
Elath. The modern Akabah.
Ezion-geber. Also mentioned in I Kings IX,26 as being ‘on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom’. A fleet which Jehoshaphat had built was wrecked there (I Kings XXII,49).
The word Ezlon-geber is followed by a Massoretic note, known as ‘a break int he middle of the verse’, which indicates that a new paragraph begins with the second half of the verse.
8-12. ON THE BORDER OF MOAB
Image from answers.com
wilderness. The Heb. does not always mean ‘a desert’. It often denotes ‘a place where cattle is driven to pasture’, uncultivated land, ‘Isael kept so far east, not only to avoid the fertile and settled districts of edom and Moab, but so as not to have to cross the lower stretches of the great canyon between Edom and Moab. These lower stretches are deep, the sides steep, and the roads over them difficult for caravans. The route of Hajj, apparently that of Israel, crosses the much shallower head of this wady and the desert border. Once over it, they were in the wilderness of east of Moab’ (G.A. Smith).]
9 YHVH said to me: Do not harass Moav, do not stir yourself up against them (in) war, for I will not give you (any) of their land as a possession, for to the Children of Lot I have given Ar as a possession.Ar. The capital of Moab, situated in the valley of Arnon, on the Moabite frontier; Num. XXI,15,28.
the children of Lot. Genesis XIX,37: Moab. The name is explained as though it were the equivalent of me-ab, ‘from a father.’
10-12. These three verses are a parenthetic note on the earlier inhabitants of Moab and Edom, and introduced by Moses probably on writing down his Discourse.
10 -The Emites/Frightful-ones were formerly settled there, a people great and many, and tall like the Anakites. 11 Like Refa’ites/Shades are they considered, as the Anakites (are), but the Moavites call them Emites.Emim. ‘The dreaded ones’l Gen. XIV,5: The peoples named in this verse—Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, Horites—are the aboriginal inhabitants of the region afterwards occupied by Edom, Moab and Ammon.
12 Now in Se’ir the Horites were formerly settled; but the Children of Esav dispossessed them, destroying them from before them and settling in their place, (just) as Israel did to the land of their possession, which YHVH gave to them.-Horites. The name has been translated ‘cave-dwellers.’ Macalister has discovered that at Gezer the remains of a pre-Semitic cave-dwelling race, using stone implements; and he identifies these with the Horites. A far different view is propounded by J.W. Jack, who regards them as being ‘one of the most important cultural races of Western Asia during the earlier part of the second millennium. Some time before the Semites arrived on the scene, they occupied the whole of northern Mesopotamia. It was to the Horites or Hurrians that the Hittites directly owed their civilization, including their religion and most of their literature. This ancient race, who were in the country of Seir as early as the time of Abraham, must have exerted a considerable influence on the Hebrews’.
succeeded them. Rashi notes that the verb is unexpectedly in the imperfect tense and implies ‘continued to dispossess them’.
as Israel did. Refers to the conquest of trans-Jordanic territory (Num. XXXII).
13-15. THE CROSSING OF ZERED
This was an important step; hence the mention of the time that had elapsed since Israel left Kadesh, and also that now the doom passed on the men of war because of their murmuring had exhausted itself. Since this doom was no longer resting on their efforts, the people could with every expectation of the Divine help go forward to the conquest of the new country (Welch).
13 Now, arise, cross you the Wadi Zered! So we crossed the Wadi Zered.brook. A toreent-valley — the hollow between hills that is usually dry in summer, but a fast-rushing torrent in the rainy season—wady.
14 And the days that we traveled from Kadesh Barne’a until we crossed the Wadi Zered (were): thirty-eight years, until had ended in all that generation, the men of war, from amid the camp, as YHVH had sworn to them. 15 Yes, the hand of YHVH was against them, to panic them from amid the camp, until they had ended.was greatest against them. The generation of murmurers did not perish entirely from natural causes. God hastened their annihilation, so as to enable their children to pass over the Jordan.
16-25. AMMONITES AND AMORITES
16 Now it was, when all the men of war had ended (their) dying from amid the people, 17 YHVH spoke to me, saying: 18 You are crossing today the territory of Moav, Ar. 19 When you come-near, opposite the Children of Ammon, do not harass them, do not stir yourself up against them, for I will not give (any) of the land of the Children of Ammon to you as a possession, for to the Children of Lot I have given it as a possession.children of Ammon. Inhabited the district between the Arnon and Jabbok, the tributaries of the Jordan.
20 It, too, is considered the land of the Refa’ites, Refa’ites were settled in it in former-times, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummites/BarbariansZamzummim. Nothing is known of them. Their name is held by some to be formed on the analogy of the Grek ‘barbaroi’, as a people whose speech sounded uncouth (G.A. Smith).
21 -a people great and many, tall like the Anakites, yet YHVH destroyed them from before them, and they dispossessed them, and settled in their place, 22 as he did to the Children of Esav who are settled in Se’ir, that he destroyed the Horites from before them, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, until this (very) day. 23 As for the Avvites who were settled in villages as far as Gaza, Kaftorites who came from Kaftor destroyed them and settled in their place.Avvim. Only mentioned again in Josh. XIII, as a Philistine people.
Caphtor. i.e. Crete; see Gen. X, 14.
24 Arise, march on and cross the Wadi Arnon! See, I have given into your hand Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land; Start! Take-possession! And stir yourself up against him (in) war!rise ye up. This verse is the continuation of v. 19. From Num. XXI,26 we learn that Heshbon and the surrounding territory had belonged to the Moabites, from whom it had been wrested by Sihon.
25 This (very) day I will start to put the terror of you and the awe of you upon the peoples (that are) under all the heavens, so that when they hear heard-rumors of you, they will shudder and writhe before you.Kedemoth. The precise site is unknown, but probably somewhere near the upper course of the Arnon. The name occurs later a that of a Levitical city in the territory of Reuben; Josh.XIII,18.
with words of peace. i.e. messengers with proposals for a peaceful passage through his land, and undertaking to pay for such provisions as would be required.
26 Now I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemot to Sihon, king of Heshbon, words of peace, saying:by the highway. The Heb. is, ‘by the way, by the way’; i.e. by the appointed road and nowhere else. In Num. XXI,22 the phrase is ‘by the king’s highway’.
27 Let me cross through your land; on the main-route, on the main-route I will go, I will not turn aside right or left. 28 As for food, for silver you may market (it) to me, that I may eat, as for water, for silver you may give (it) to me, that I may drink, only: let me cross on foot- 29 as the Children of Esav, who are settled in Se’ir, did for me, and the Moavites, who are settled in Ar, until I have crossed the Jordan into the land that YHVH our God is giving us.as the children of Esau . . . did unto me. As distinct from the kingdom of Edom.
30 But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through him, for YHVH your God hardened his spirit and stiffened his heart, in order to give him into your hand, as (is) this day.hardened his spirit. Similar to the phrase used of Pharaoh. ‘The meaning is, As God rules all, so to Him must be traced all that happens in the world. In some sense all acts, whether good or bad, all agencies, all beneficent or destructive, have their source and derive their power from Him. But nevertheless men have moral responsibility for their acts, and are fully and justly conscious of ill-desert. It is to be noted that God is never said to harden the heart of a good man. It is always those who are guilty of acts of evil-doing upon whom this works’ (Harper).
obstinate. Heb. ‘strong.’
as appeareth this day. As experience has now shown.
31 Now YHVH said to me: See, I have started to give before you Sihon and his land, start, take-possession, to possess his land!I have begun. Sihon’s refusal was the beginning of God’s move to give Israel his country.
32 And Sihon went out to meet us, he and all his people in war, at Yahatz, 33 but YHVH our God gave him before us, we struck him and his sons and all his people. 34 We conquered all his towns at that time, we devoted-to-destruction every town: menfolk, women, and little-ones; we left no remnant.utterly destroyed. Heb. ‘treated as ‘herem’; i.e. placed them under the ban of extermination. Such was the rule of warfare in the days of old, when war was a sacred act. The ruthlessness of those methods is as hideous to us today as war itself will–we hope and pray– be to the men and women of the future. And if it is the wholesale nature of the destruction that especially shocks our moral judgment, it is well for us to consider that in the next World War it is especially the defenceless population that will be exposed to annihilation.
35 Only the animals did we plunder for ourselves, and the booty of the towns that we conquered. 36 From Aro’er, that is on the bank of the Wadi Arnon, and the town that is in the Wadi, as far as Gil’ad, there was not a city that was too lofty for us, all (of them) YHVH our God gave before us.the city. The capital, Ar.
37 Only the land of the Children of Ammon you did not come-near, all the environs of the Wadi Yabbok, and the towns in the hill-country, and all about which YHVH our God commanded us.thou camest not near. In accordance with the warning in v. 19.
forbade us. The Heb. is ‘commanded us’; and the words ‘not to conquer’ are understood.
Deuteronomy/Davarim 3
FURTHER VICTORIES
The Israelite hosts, advancing northwards towards Bashan, encounter and defeat Og and conquer his cities.
1 We faced about and went up the route to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan came out to meet us, he and all his fighting-people in war, at Edre’i.and went up. This phrase denotes traveling northward, since there is an almost continuous ascent from South to North (Rashi).
Bashan. The fertile district north of Gilead.
2 And YHVH said to me: Do not be afraid of him, for into your hand I give him and all his fighting-people, and his land, you will do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, that sat-as-ruler in Heshbon.fear him not. Og was a more formidable opponent than Sihon, belonging as he did to the race of giants.
3 And YHVH our God gave into our hand Og king of Bashan as well, and all his fighting-people, we struck him until there was not left him any remnant.4 We conquered all his towns at that time, there was no city that we did not take from them, sixty towns, all the region of Argov, the kingdom of Og at Bashan.
region of Argob. Probably identical with the modern el-Leja, south of Damascus, and east of Lake Tiberias.
5 All these (were) fortified towns (with) a high wall, doubled-doored with a bar, aside from the towns of the open-country-dwellers, exceedingly many.gates. The Heb. is in the dual, ‘double gates,’ an indication of the strength of the doors to keep out the enemy.
and bars. The Heb. is in the singular; and there is no reason why it should not be so rendered. Each city had a double gate, with a bar across it when closed.
unwalled towns. Or, ‘country towns.’
6 We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, devoting-to-destruction every town: menfolk, women and little-ones,7 while every (head of) cattle, and the plunder of the towns, we took-as-plunder for ourselves.
8-17. ALLOTMENT OF THE CONQUERED LAND
8 And we took at that time the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites that were in (the country) across the Jordan, from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon;two kings of the Amorites. Sihon and Og.
9 -Sidonians call Hermon Siryon, but the Amorites call it Senir-Sirion . . . Senir. An archeological note. ‘The several names in the Text, as also that of Sion (Deut. IV,48), are all descriptive. Rising with its gray snow-capped cone to a eight of about 9,500 feet, it is visible from most parts of the Promised Land, and even from the depths of the Jordan Valley and the shores of the Dead Sea. Hence it was Sion, the up0raised; or Hermon, the lofty peak; o Senir, and Sirion, the glittering “breastplate” of ice; or above all Lebanon the “Mont Blanc” of Palestine, the “White Moujntain” of ancient times” (Stanley).
10 all the towns of the plateau and all of Gil’ad, and all of Bashan, as far as Salkha and Edre’i, towns of the kingdom of Og at Bashan.11 For only Og king of Bashan was left of the rest of the Refa’ites -here, his couch was a couch of iron, is it not (still) in Rabba of the Children of Ammon, nine cubits its length, four cubits its width, by the cubit of a man?-
for only Og. This explains why the Israelites were able to enter into possession of the territory. With the death of Og, the formidable race of Rephaim came to an end.
bedstead. This is the meaning which the word has in the Bible. In Aramaic the word signifies ‘coffin’; hence there are some who suppose that what is here meant is the king’s sarcophagus. Some sites in Eastern Palestine are strewn with stone-coffins. The bedstead is mentioned in order to indicate the huge size of Og; and it is not improbable that his bed would have been preserved as a curiosity.
Rabbah. Situated 25 miles north-east of the Dead Sea.
the cubit of a man. An ordinary cubit, the length of which was about 18 inches. This does not necessarily mean that the height of Og was nine cubits, as the bed is always longer than the man who occupies it.
12 Now this land we possessed at that time, from Aro’er which is by the Wadi Arnon; half of the hill-country of Gil’ad and its towns I gave to the Re’uvenites and to the Gadites.this land. From the valley of Arnon unto Mount Hermon.
13 And the rest of Gil’ad and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half of the tribe of Menashe, all the region of Argov, including all of Bashan, -it is called the Land of the Refa’ites.the rest of Gilead. i.e. the part north of Jabbok.
14 Ya’ir son of Menashe took all of the region of Argov as far as the territory of the Geshurites and the Maakathites, and called them by his name, (the) Bashan (towns): Havvot Ya’ir/Tent-villages of Ya’ir, until this (very) day.son. Here used, as frequently in the Bible, in the sense of ‘descendant’. In I Chron. II,21, he is said to be the great-grandson of Manasseh’s son Machir.
Geshurites and the Maacathites. Two Aramean tribes.
Havvoth-jair. Tent-villages, each being the homestead of a clan.
unto this day. Until now.
15 Now to Makhir I gave Gil’ad,Gilead. From the context it is clear that the northern half of Gilead is meant.
Machir. The name seems to be used here to denote the half-tribe of Manasseh that had its habitation beyond the Jordan.’
16 and to the Re’uvenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gil’ad, as far as Wadi Arnon, the middle of the Wadi as the boundary, as far as Yabbok the Wadi, the boundary of the Children of Ammon;unto the Reubenittes. This and the following v. are a repetition of v. 12 with greater detail of definition.
for a border. i.e. the stream passing through the valley being the boundary.
river Jabbok. The upper part of this river is the western boundary of the territory of the Ammonites.
17 and the Plain and Jordan as (its) boundary from the Kinneret as far as the Sea of the Plain, the Sea of Salt, beneath the slopes of the Pisga (Range), toward sunrise.Chinnereth. The city named after the Lake of Kinnereth, known today as Lake Tiberias.
the Salt Sea. The Dead Sea.
slopes. Or, ‘springs.’
18 And I commanded you at that time, saying: YHVH your God has given you this land to possess; you specially-drafted (men) are to cross over before their brothers, the Children of Israel, all those of caliber.19 Only your wives, your little-ones, and your livestock -I know that you have many (head of) livestock- are to settle in your towns that I am giving you,
20 until YHVH gives-rest to your brothers as yourselves, and they take-possession, they as well, of the land that YHVH your God is giving you, in (the country) across the Jordan. Then shall each-man return to his possession that I give you.
beyond the Jordan. Unlike the same phrase in I,1; here it denotes the western side of the river.
21 Now Yehoshua I commanded at that time, saying: Your eyes (it was) that have seen all that YHVH your God did to these two kings; thus will YHVH do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing!I commanded Joshua. This is not mentioned in Num. XXXII, as not being relevant to the incident which that chapter relates.
22 You are not to be afraid of them, for YHVH your God, he is the one who wages-war for you! [This is not the end of Chapter 3, verses 23-29 are included in the next post.–Admin1.]