The Wilderness Years End and the March Begins

Deu 2:2-6 When they had gone through the Arabah to the southern extremity, the Lord commanded them to turn northwards, i. e. , to go round the southern end of Mount Seir, and proceed northwards on the eastern side of it (see at Num 21:10), without going to war with the Edomites (התגּרה, to stir oneself up against a person to conflict, מלחמה), as He would not give them a foot-breadth of their land; for He had given Esau (the Edomites) Mount Seir for a possession.

For this reason they were to buy victuals and water of them for money (כּרה, to dig, to dig water, i. e. , procure water, as it was often necessary to dig wells, and not merely to draw it, Gen 26:25. The verb כּרה does not signify to buy).

Deu 2:7 And this they were able to do, because the Lord had blessed them in all the work of their hand, i. e. , not merely in the rearing of flocks and herds, which they had carried on in the desert (Exo 19:13; Exo 34:3; Num 20:19; Num 32:1.) , but in all that they did for a living; whether, for example, when stopping for a long time in the same place of encampment, they sowed in suitable spots and reaped, or whether they sold the produce of their toil and skill to the Arabs of the desert.

“ He hath observed thy going through this great desert ” (ידע, to know, then to trouble oneself, Gen 39:6; to observe carefully, Pro 27:23; Psa 1:6); and He has not suffered thee to want anything for forty years, but as often as want has occurred, He has miraculously provided for every necessity.

Deu 2:8-10 In accordance with this divine command, they went past the Edomites by the side of their mountains, “ from the way of the Arabah, from Elath (see at Gen 14:6) and Eziongeber ” (see at Num 33:35), sc. , into the steppes of Moab, where they were encamped at that time. God commanded them to behave in the same manner towards the Moabites, when they approached their frontier (Deu 2:9).

They were not to touch their land, because the Lord had given Ar to the descendants of Lot for a possession. In Deu 2:9 the Moabites are mentioned, and in Deu 2:19 the Amorites also. The Moabites are designated as “sons of Lot,” for the same reason for which the Edomites are called “brethren of Israel” in Deu 2:4. The Israelites were to uphold the bond of blood-relationship with these tribes in the most sacred manner.

Ar , the capital of Moabitis (see at Num 21:15), is used here for the land itself, which was named after the capital, and governed by it.

Deu 2:8-10 In accordance with this divine command, they went past the Edomites by the side of their mountains, “ from the way of the Arabah, from Elath (see at Gen 14:6) and Eziongeber ” (see at Num 33:35), sc. , into the steppes of Moab, where they were encamped at that time. God commanded them to behave in the same manner towards the Moabites, when they approached their frontier (Deu 2:9).

They were not to touch their land, because the Lord had given Ar to the descendants of Lot for a possession. In Deu 2:9 the Moabites are mentioned, and in Deu 2:19 the Amorites also. The Moabites are designated as “sons of Lot,” for the same reason for which the Edomites are called “brethren of Israel” in Deu 2:4. The Israelites were to uphold the bond of blood-relationship with these tribes in the most sacred manner.

Ar , the capital of Moabitis (see at Num 21:15), is used here for the land itself, which was named after the capital, and governed by it.

Deu 2:8-10 In accordance with this divine command, they went past the Edomites by the side of their mountains, “ from the way of the Arabah, from Elath (see at Gen 14:6) and Eziongeber ” (see at Num 33:35), sc. , into the steppes of Moab, where they were encamped at that time. God commanded them to behave in the same manner towards the Moabites, when they approached their frontier (Deu 2:9).

They were not to touch their land, because the Lord had given Ar to the descendants of Lot for a possession. In Deu 2:9 the Moabites are mentioned, and in Deu 2:19 the Amorites also. The Moabites are designated as “sons of Lot,” for the same reason for which the Edomites are called “brethren of Israel” in Deu 2:4. The Israelites were to uphold the bond of blood-relationship with these tribes in the most sacred manner.

Ar , the capital of Moabitis (see at Num 21:15), is used here for the land itself, which was named after the capital, and governed by it.

Deu 2:11-12 To confirm the fact that the Moabites and also the Edomites had received from God the land which they inhabited as a possession, Moses interpolates into the words of Jehovah certain ethnographical notices concerning the earlier inhabitants of these lands, from which it is obvious that Edom and Moab had not destroyed them by their own power, but that Jehovah had destroyed them before them, as is expressly stated in Deu 2:21, Deu 2:22. “ The Emim dwelt formerly therein ,” sc.

, in Ar and its territory, in Moabitis, “ a high (i. e. , strong) and numerous people, of gigantic stature, which were also reckoned among the Rephaites, like the Enakites ( Anakim ). ” Emim , i. e. , frightful, terrible, was the name given to them by the Moabites. Whether this earlier or original population of Moabitis was of Hamitic or Semitic descent cannot be determined, any more than the connection between the Emim and the Rephaim can be ascertained.

On the Rephaim ; and on the Anakites, at Num 13:22.

Deu 2:11-12 To confirm the fact that the Moabites and also the Edomites had received from God the land which they inhabited as a possession, Moses interpolates into the words of Jehovah certain ethnographical notices concerning the earlier inhabitants of these lands, from which it is obvious that Edom and Moab had not destroyed them by their own power, but that Jehovah had destroyed them before them, as is expressly stated in Deu 2:21, Deu 2:22. “ The Emim dwelt formerly therein ,” sc.

, in Ar and its territory, in Moabitis, “ a high (i. e. , strong) and numerous people, of gigantic stature, which were also reckoned among the Rephaites, like the Enakites ( Anakim ). ” Emim , i. e. , frightful, terrible, was the name given to them by the Moabites. Whether this earlier or original population of Moabitis was of Hamitic or Semitic descent cannot be determined, any more than the connection between the Emim and the Rephaim can be ascertained.

On the Rephaim ; and on the Anakites, at Num 13:22.

Deu 2:13-15 For this reason Israel was to remove from the desert of Moab (i. e. , the desert which bounded Moabitis on the east), and to cross over the brook Zered , to advance against the country of the Amorites (see at Num 21:12-13). This occurred thirty-eight years after the condemnation of the people at Kadesh (Num 14:23, Num 14:29), when the generation rejected by God had entirely died out (תּמם, to be all gone, to disappear), so that not one of them saw the promised land.

They did not all die a natural death, however, but “ the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them ” (המם, lit. , to throw into confusion, then used with special reference to the terrors with which Jehovah destroyed His enemies; Exo 14:24; Exo 23:27, etc.) , sc. , by extraordinary judgments (as in Num 16:35; Num 18:1; Num 21:6; Num 25:9).

Deu 2:13-15 For this reason Israel was to remove from the desert of Moab (i. e. , the desert which bounded Moabitis on the east), and to cross over the brook Zered , to advance against the country of the Amorites (see at Num 21:12-13). This occurred thirty-eight years after the condemnation of the people at Kadesh (Num 14:23, Num 14:29), when the generation rejected by God had entirely died out (תּמם, to be all gone, to disappear), so that not one of them saw the promised land.

They did not all die a natural death, however, but “ the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them ” (המם, lit. , to throw into confusion, then used with special reference to the terrors with which Jehovah destroyed His enemies; Exo 14:24; Exo 23:27, etc.) , sc. , by extraordinary judgments (as in Num 16:35; Num 18:1; Num 21:6; Num 25:9).

Deu 2:13-15 For this reason Israel was to remove from the desert of Moab (i. e. , the desert which bounded Moabitis on the east), and to cross over the brook Zered , to advance against the country of the Amorites (see at Num 21:12-13). This occurred thirty-eight years after the condemnation of the people at Kadesh (Num 14:23, Num 14:29), when the generation rejected by God had entirely died out (תּמם, to be all gone, to disappear), so that not one of them saw the promised land.

They did not all die a natural death, however, but “ the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them ” (המם, lit. , to throw into confusion, then used with special reference to the terrors with which Jehovah destroyed His enemies; Exo 14:24; Exo 23:27, etc.) , sc. , by extraordinary judgments (as in Num 16:35; Num 18:1; Num 21:6; Num 25:9).

Deu 2:16-22 When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i. e. , the Arnon, Deu 2:24; see at Num 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deu 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i. e. , to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deu 2:19, as at Deu 2:5 and Deu 2:9).

- To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deu 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם, to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Gen 14:5.

This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deu 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day. ”

Deu 2:16-22 When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i. e. , the Arnon, Deu 2:24; see at Num 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deu 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i. e. , to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deu 2:19, as at Deu 2:5 and Deu 2:9).

- To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deu 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם, to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Gen 14:5.

This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deu 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day. ”

Deu 2:16-22 When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i. e. , the Arnon, Deu 2:24; see at Num 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deu 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i. e. , to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deu 2:19, as at Deu 2:5 and Deu 2:9).

- To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deu 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם, to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Gen 14:5.

This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deu 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day. ”

Deu 2:16-22 When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i. e. , the Arnon, Deu 2:24; see at Num 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deu 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i. e. , to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deu 2:19, as at Deu 2:5 and Deu 2:9).

- To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deu 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם, to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Gen 14:5.

This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deu 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day. ”

Deu 2:16-22 When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i. e. , the Arnon, Deu 2:24; see at Num 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deu 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i. e. , to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deu 2:19, as at Deu 2:5 and Deu 2:9).

- To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deu 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם, to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Gen 14:5.

This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deu 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day. ”

Deu 2:16-22 When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i. e. , the Arnon, Deu 2:24; see at Num 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deu 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i. e. , to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deu 2:19, as at Deu 2:5 and Deu 2:9).

- To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deu 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם, to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Gen 14:5.

This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deu 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day. ”

Deu 2:16-22 When this generation had quite died out, the Lord made known to Moses, and through him to the people, that they were to cross over the boundary of Moab (i. e. , the Arnon, Deu 2:24; see at Num 21:13), the land of Ar (see at Deu 2:9), “ to come nigh over against the children of Ammon ,” i. e. , to advance into the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, who lived to the east of Moab; but they were not to meddle with these descendants of Lot, because He would give them nothing of the land that was given them for a possession (Deu 2:19, as at Deu 2:5 and Deu 2:9).

- To confirm this, ethnographical notices are introduced again in Deu 2:20-22 into the words of God (as in Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11), concerning the earlier population of the country of the Ammonites. Ammonitis was also regarded as a land of the Rephaites, because Rephaites dwelt therein, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim . “ Zamzummim ,” from זמם, to hum, then to muse, equivalent to the humming or roaring people, probably the same people as the Zuzim mentioned in Gen 14:5.

This giant tribe Jehovah had destroyed before the Ammonites (Deu 2:22), just as He had done for the sons of Esau dwelling upon Mount Seir, namely, destroyed the Horites before them, so that the Edomites “dwelt in their stead, even unto this day. ”

Deu 2:23 As the Horites had been exterminated by the Edomites, so were the Avvaeans ( Avvim ), who dwelt in farms (villages) at the south-west corner of Canaan, as far as Gaza, driven out of their possessions and exterminated by the Caphtorites , who sprang from Caphtor (see at Gen 10:14), although, according to Jos 13:3, some remnants of them were to be found among the Philistines even at that time. This notice appears to be attached to the foregoing remarks simply on account of the substantial analogy between them, without there being any intention to imply that the Israelites were to assume the same attitude towards the Caphtorites, who afterwards rose up in the persons of the Philistines, as towards the descendants of Esau and Lot.

The Help of God in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Sihon. - Deu 2:24. Whereas the Israelites were not to make war upon the kindred tribes of Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, or drive them out of the possessions given to them by God; the Lord had given the Amorites, who had forced as way into Gilead and Bashan, into their hands.

Deu 2:24-25 While they were encamped on the Arnon, the border of the Amoritish king of Sihon, He directed them to cross this frontier and take possession of the land of Sihon, and promised that He would give this king with all his territory into their hands, and that henceforward (“ this day ,” the day on which Israel crossed the Arnon) He would put fear and terror of Israel upon all nations under the whole heaven, so that as soon as they heard the report of Israel they would tremble and writhe before them. רשׁ החל, “ begin, take, ” an oratorical expression for “begin to take” (רשׁ in pause for רשׁ, Deu 1:21).

The expression, “ all nations under the whole heaven ,” is hyperbolical; it is not to be restricted, however, to the Canaanites and other neighbouring tribes, but, according to what follows, to be understood as referring to all nations to whom the report of the great deeds of the Lord upon and on behalf of Israel should reach (cf. Deu 11:25 and Exo 23:27). אשׁר, so that (as in Gen 11:7; Gen 13:16; Gen 22:14).

וחלוּ, with the accent upon the last syllable, on account of the ו consec. ( Ewald , §234, a .) , from חוּל, to twist, or writhe with pain, here with anxiety.

Deu 2:24-25 While they were encamped on the Arnon, the border of the Amoritish king of Sihon, He directed them to cross this frontier and take possession of the land of Sihon, and promised that He would give this king with all his territory into their hands, and that henceforward (“ this day ,” the day on which Israel crossed the Arnon) He would put fear and terror of Israel upon all nations under the whole heaven, so that as soon as they heard the report of Israel they would tremble and writhe before them. רשׁ החל, “ begin, take, ” an oratorical expression for “begin to take” (רשׁ in pause for רשׁ, Deu 1:21).

The expression, “ all nations under the whole heaven ,” is hyperbolical; it is not to be restricted, however, to the Canaanites and other neighbouring tribes, but, according to what follows, to be understood as referring to all nations to whom the report of the great deeds of the Lord upon and on behalf of Israel should reach (cf. Deu 11:25 and Exo 23:27). אשׁר, so that (as in Gen 11:7; Gen 13:16; Gen 22:14).

וחלוּ, with the accent upon the last syllable, on account of the ו consec. ( Ewald , §234, a .) , from חוּל, to twist, or writhe with pain, here with anxiety.

Deu 2:26-30 If Moses, notwithstanding this, sent messengers to king Sihon with words of peace (Deu 2:26. ; cf. Num 21:21.) , this was done to show the king of the Amorites, that it was through his own fault that his kingdom and lands and life were lost. The wish to pass through his land in a peaceable manner was quite seriously expressed; although Moses foresaw, in consequence of the divine communication, that he would reject his proposal, and meet Israel with hostilities.

For Sihon’s kingdom did not form part of the land of Canaan, which God had promised to the patriarchs for their descendants; and the divine foreknowledge of the hardness of Sihon no more destroyed the freedom of his will to resolve, or the freedom of his actions, than the circumstance that in Deu 2:30 the unwillingness of Sihon is described as the effect of his being hardened by God Himself. The hardening was quite as much the production of human freedom and guilt, as the consequence of the divine decree; just as in the case of Pharaoh.

On Kedemoth , see Num 21:13. בּדּרך בּדּרך, equivalent to “upon the way, and always upon the way,” i. e. , upon the high road alone, as in Num 20:19. On the behaviour of the Edomites towards Israel, mentioned in Deu 2:29, see Num 21:10. In the same way the Moabites also supplied Israel with provisions for money. This statement is not at variance with the unbrotherly conduct for which the Moabites are blamed in Deu 23:4, viz.

, that they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water. For קדּם, to meet and anticipate, signifies a hospitable reception, and the offering of food and drink without reward, which is essentially different from selling for money. “ In Ar ” (Deu 2:29), as in Deu 2:18. The suffix in בּו (Deu 2:30) refers to the king, who is mentioned as the lord of the land, in the place of the land itself, just as in Num 20:18.

Deu 2:26-30 If Moses, notwithstanding this, sent messengers to king Sihon with words of peace (Deu 2:26. ; cf. Num 21:21.) , this was done to show the king of the Amorites, that it was through his own fault that his kingdom and lands and life were lost. The wish to pass through his land in a peaceable manner was quite seriously expressed; although Moses foresaw, in consequence of the divine communication, that he would reject his proposal, and meet Israel with hostilities.

For Sihon’s kingdom did not form part of the land of Canaan, which God had promised to the patriarchs for their descendants; and the divine foreknowledge of the hardness of Sihon no more destroyed the freedom of his will to resolve, or the freedom of his actions, than the circumstance that in Deu 2:30 the unwillingness of Sihon is described as the effect of his being hardened by God Himself. The hardening was quite as much the production of human freedom and guilt, as the consequence of the divine decree; just as in the case of Pharaoh.

On Kedemoth , see Num 21:13. בּדּרך בּדּרך, equivalent to “upon the way, and always upon the way,” i. e. , upon the high road alone, as in Num 20:19. On the behaviour of the Edomites towards Israel, mentioned in Deu 2:29, see Num 21:10. In the same way the Moabites also supplied Israel with provisions for money. This statement is not at variance with the unbrotherly conduct for which the Moabites are blamed in Deu 23:4, viz.

, that they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water. For קדּם, to meet and anticipate, signifies a hospitable reception, and the offering of food and drink without reward, which is essentially different from selling for money. “ In Ar ” (Deu 2:29), as in Deu 2:18. The suffix in בּו (Deu 2:30) refers to the king, who is mentioned as the lord of the land, in the place of the land itself, just as in Num 20:18.

Deu 2:26-30 If Moses, notwithstanding this, sent messengers to king Sihon with words of peace (Deu 2:26. ; cf. Num 21:21.) , this was done to show the king of the Amorites, that it was through his own fault that his kingdom and lands and life were lost. The wish to pass through his land in a peaceable manner was quite seriously expressed; although Moses foresaw, in consequence of the divine communication, that he would reject his proposal, and meet Israel with hostilities.

For Sihon’s kingdom did not form part of the land of Canaan, which God had promised to the patriarchs for their descendants; and the divine foreknowledge of the hardness of Sihon no more destroyed the freedom of his will to resolve, or the freedom of his actions, than the circumstance that in Deu 2:30 the unwillingness of Sihon is described as the effect of his being hardened by God Himself. The hardening was quite as much the production of human freedom and guilt, as the consequence of the divine decree; just as in the case of Pharaoh.

On Kedemoth , see Num 21:13. בּדּרך בּדּרך, equivalent to “upon the way, and always upon the way,” i. e. , upon the high road alone, as in Num 20:19. On the behaviour of the Edomites towards Israel, mentioned in Deu 2:29, see Num 21:10. In the same way the Moabites also supplied Israel with provisions for money. This statement is not at variance with the unbrotherly conduct for which the Moabites are blamed in Deu 23:4, viz.

, that they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water. For קדּם, to meet and anticipate, signifies a hospitable reception, and the offering of food and drink without reward, which is essentially different from selling for money. “ In Ar ” (Deu 2:29), as in Deu 2:18. The suffix in בּו (Deu 2:30) refers to the king, who is mentioned as the lord of the land, in the place of the land itself, just as in Num 20:18.

Deu 2:26-30 If Moses, notwithstanding this, sent messengers to king Sihon with words of peace (Deu 2:26. ; cf. Num 21:21.) , this was done to show the king of the Amorites, that it was through his own fault that his kingdom and lands and life were lost. The wish to pass through his land in a peaceable manner was quite seriously expressed; although Moses foresaw, in consequence of the divine communication, that he would reject his proposal, and meet Israel with hostilities.

For Sihon’s kingdom did not form part of the land of Canaan, which God had promised to the patriarchs for their descendants; and the divine foreknowledge of the hardness of Sihon no more destroyed the freedom of his will to resolve, or the freedom of his actions, than the circumstance that in Deu 2:30 the unwillingness of Sihon is described as the effect of his being hardened by God Himself. The hardening was quite as much the production of human freedom and guilt, as the consequence of the divine decree; just as in the case of Pharaoh.

On Kedemoth , see Num 21:13. בּדּרך בּדּרך, equivalent to “upon the way, and always upon the way,” i. e. , upon the high road alone, as in Num 20:19. On the behaviour of the Edomites towards Israel, mentioned in Deu 2:29, see Num 21:10. In the same way the Moabites also supplied Israel with provisions for money. This statement is not at variance with the unbrotherly conduct for which the Moabites are blamed in Deu 23:4, viz.

, that they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water. For קדּם, to meet and anticipate, signifies a hospitable reception, and the offering of food and drink without reward, which is essentially different from selling for money. “ In Ar ” (Deu 2:29), as in Deu 2:18. The suffix in בּו (Deu 2:30) refers to the king, who is mentioned as the lord of the land, in the place of the land itself, just as in Num 20:18.

Deu 2:26-30 If Moses, notwithstanding this, sent messengers to king Sihon with words of peace (Deu 2:26. ; cf. Num 21:21.) , this was done to show the king of the Amorites, that it was through his own fault that his kingdom and lands and life were lost. The wish to pass through his land in a peaceable manner was quite seriously expressed; although Moses foresaw, in consequence of the divine communication, that he would reject his proposal, and meet Israel with hostilities.

For Sihon’s kingdom did not form part of the land of Canaan, which God had promised to the patriarchs for their descendants; and the divine foreknowledge of the hardness of Sihon no more destroyed the freedom of his will to resolve, or the freedom of his actions, than the circumstance that in Deu 2:30 the unwillingness of Sihon is described as the effect of his being hardened by God Himself. The hardening was quite as much the production of human freedom and guilt, as the consequence of the divine decree; just as in the case of Pharaoh.

On Kedemoth , see Num 21:13. בּדּרך בּדּרך, equivalent to “upon the way, and always upon the way,” i. e. , upon the high road alone, as in Num 20:19. On the behaviour of the Edomites towards Israel, mentioned in Deu 2:29, see Num 21:10. In the same way the Moabites also supplied Israel with provisions for money. This statement is not at variance with the unbrotherly conduct for which the Moabites are blamed in Deu 23:4, viz.

, that they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water. For קדּם, to meet and anticipate, signifies a hospitable reception, and the offering of food and drink without reward, which is essentially different from selling for money. “ In Ar ” (Deu 2:29), as in Deu 2:18. The suffix in בּו (Deu 2:30) refers to the king, who is mentioned as the lord of the land, in the place of the land itself, just as in Num 20:18.

Deu 2:31 The refusal of Sihon was suspended over him by God as a judgment of hardening, which led to his destruction. “ As this day ,” an abbreviation of “as it has happened this day,” i.e., as experience has now shown (cf. Deu 4:20, etc.).

Deu 2:32-33 Defeat of Sihon, as already described in the main in Num 21:23-26. The war was a war of extermination, in which all the towns were laid under the ban (see Lev 27:29), i.e., the whole of the population of men, women, and children were put to death, and only the flocks and herds and material possessions were taken by the conquerors as prey.

Deu 2:32-33 Defeat of Sihon, as already described in the main in Num 21:23-26. The war was a war of extermination, in which all the towns were laid under the ban (see Lev 27:29), i.e., the whole of the population of men, women, and children were put to death, and only the flocks and herds and material possessions were taken by the conquerors as prey.

Deu 2:34-35 מתם עיר (city of men) is the town population of men.

Deu 2:34-35 מתם עיר (city of men) is the town population of men.

Deu 2:36 They proceeded this way with the whole of the kingdom of Sihon. “ From Aroër on the edge of the Arnon valley (see at Num 32:34), and , in fact, from the city which is in the valley ,” i. e. , Ar , or Areopolis (see at Num 21:15), - Aroër being mentioned as the inclusive terminus a quo of the land that was taken, and the Moabitish capital Ar as the exclusive terminus , as in Jos 13:9 and Jos 13:16; “ and as far as Gilead ,” which rises on the north, near the Jabbok (or Zerka, see at Deu 3:4), “ there was no town too high for us ,” i.

e. , so strong that we could not take it.

Deu 2:37 Only along the land of the Ammonites the Israelites did not come, namely, along the whole of the side of the brook Jabbok, or the country of the Ammonites, which was situated upon the eastern side of the upper Jabbok, and the towns of the mountain, i. e. , of the Ammonitish highlands, and “ to all that the Lord had commanded ,” sc. , commanded them not to remove.

The statement, in Jos 13:25, that the half of the country of the Ammonites was given to the tribe of Gad, is not at variance with this; for the allusion there is to that portion of the land of the Ammonites which was between the Arnon and the Jabbok, and which had already been taken from the Ammonites by the Amorites under Sihon (cf. Jdg 11:13.) Nevertheless the rejection of Israel and its dispersion among the heathen were not to be the close.

If the people should return to the Lord their God in their exile, He would turn His favour towards them again, and gather them again out of their dispersion, as had already been proclaimed in Deu 4:29. and Lev 26:40. , where it was also observed that the extremity of their distress would bring the people to reflection and induce them to return.

Deu 3:1-9 The Help of God in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Og of Bashan. - Deu 3:1. After the defeat of king Sihon and the conquest of his land, the Israelites were able to advance to the Jordan. But as the powerful Amoritish king Og still held the northern half of Gilead and all Bashan, they proceeded northwards at once and took the road to Bashan, that they might also defeat this king, whom the Lord had likewise given into their hand, and conquer his country (cf.

Num 21:33-34). They smote him at Edrei, the modern Draà , without leaving him even a remnant; and took all his towns, i. e. , as is here more fully stated in Deu 3:4. , “sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan . ” These three definitions refer to one and the same country. The whole region of Argob included the sixty towns which formed the kingdom of Og in Bashan, i.

e. , all the towns of the land of Bashan, viz. , (according to Deu 3:5) all the fortified towns, besides the unfortified and open country towns of Bashan. חבל, the chain for measuring, then the land or country measured with the chain. The name “ region of Argob ,” which is given to the country of Bashan here, and in Deu 3:4, Deu 3:13, Deu 3:14, and also in 1Ki 4:13, is probably derived from רגוב, stone-heaps, related to רגב, a clump or clod of earth (Job 21:33; Job 38:38).

The Targumists have rendered it correctly טרכונא ( Trachona ), from τραθών, a rough, uneven, stony district, so called from the basaltic hills of Hauran; just as the plain to the east of Jebel Hauran, which resembles Hauran itself, is sometimes called Tellul , from its tells or hills ( Burckhardt , Syr. p. 173). This district has also received the name of Bashan , from the character of its soil; for בּשׁן signifies a soft and level soil.

From the name given to it by the Arabic translators, the Greek name Βαταναία, Batanaea , and possibly also the modern name of the country on the north-eastern slope of Hauran at the back of Mount Hauran, viz. , Bethenije , are derived. The name Argob probably originated in the north-eastern part of the country of Bashan, viz. , the modern Leja , with its stony soil covered with heaps of large blocks of stone ( Burckhardt , p.

196), or rather in the extensive volcanic region to the east of Hauran, which was first of all brought to distinct notice in Wetzstein's travels, and of which he says that the “southern portion, bearing the name Harra , is thickly covered with loose volcanic stones, with a few conical hills among them, that have been evidently caused by eruptions” ( Wetzstein , p. 6).

The central point of the whole is Safa , “a mountain nearly seven hours’ journey in length and about the same in breadth,” in which “the black mass streaming from the craters piled itself up wave upon wave, so that the centre attained to the height of a mountain, without acquiring the smoothness of form observable in mountains generally,” - “the black flood of lava being full of innumerable streams of stony waves, often of a bright red colour, bridged over with thin arches, which rolled down the slopes out of the craters and across the high plateau” ( Wetzstein , pp. 6 and 7).

At a later period this name was transferred to the whole of the district of Hauran (= Bashan), because not only is the Jebel Hauran entirely of volcanic formation, but the plain consists throughout of a reddish brown soil produced by the action of the weather upon volcanic stones, and even “the Leja plain has been poured out from the craters of the Hauran mountains” ( Wetzstein , p. 23).

Through this volcanic character of the soil, Hauran differs essentially from Balka, Jebel Ajlun , and the plain of Jaulan , which is situated between the Sea of Galilee and the upper Jordan on the one side, and the plain of Hauran on the other, and reaches up to the southern slope of the Hermon. In these districts the limestone and chalk formations prevail, which present the same contrast to the basaltic formation of the Hauran as white does to black (cf.

v. Raumer , Pal. pp. 75ff.) - The land of the limestone and chalk formation abounds in caves, which are not altogether wanting indeed in Hauran (as v. Raumer supposes), though they are only found in eastern and south-eastern Hauran, where most of the volcanic elevations have been perforated by troglodytes (see Wetzstein, pp. 92 and 44ff.) But the true land of caves on the east of the Jordan is northern Gilead, viz.

, Erbed and Suêt ( Wetzst . p. 92). Here the troglodyte dwellings predominate, whereas in Hauran you find for the most part towns and villages with houses of one or more stories built above the surface of the ground, although even on the eastern slope of the Hauran mountains there are hamlets to be seen, in which the style of building forms a transition from actual caves to dwellings built upon the ground.

An excavation is first of all made in the rocky plateau, of the breadth and depth of a room, and this is afterwards arched over with a solid stone roof. The dwellings made in this manner have all the appearance of cellars or tunnels. This style of building, such as Wetzstein found in Hibbike for example, belongs to the most remote antiquity. In some cases, hamlets of this kind were even surrounded by a wall.

Those villages of Hauran which are built above the surface of the ground, attract the eye and stimulate the imagination, when seen from a distance, in various ways. “In the first place, the black colour of the building materials present the greatest contrast to the green around them, and to the transparent atmosphere also. In the second place, the height of the walls and the compactness of the houses, which always form a connected whole, are very imposing.

In the third place, they are surmounted by strong towers. And in the fourth place, they are in such a good state of preservation, that you involuntarily yield to the delusion that they must of necessity be inhabited, and expect to see people going out and in” ( Wetzstein , p. 49). The larger towns are surrounded by walls; but the smaller ones as a rule have none: “the backs of the houses might serve as walls.

” The material of which the houses are built is a grey dolerite, impregnated with glittering particles of olivine. “The stones are rarely cemented, but the fine and for the most part large squares lie one upon another as if they were fused together. ” “Most of the doors of the houses which lead into the streets or open fields are so low, that it is impossible to enter them without stooping; but the large buildings and the ends of the streets have lofty gateways, which are always tastefully constructed, and often decorated with sculptures and Greek inscriptions.

” The “larger gates have either simple or (what are most common) double doors. They consist of a slab of dolerite. There are certainly no doors of any other kind. ” These stone doors turn upon pegs, deeply inserted into the threshold and lintel. “Even a man can only shut and open doors of this kind, by pressing with the back or feet against the wall, and pushing the door with both hands” ( Wetzstein , pp.

50ff. ; compare with this the testimony of Buckingham, Burckhardt, Seetzen , and others, in v. Raumer's Palestine, pp. 78ff.) Now, even if the existing ruins of Hauran date for the most part from a later period, and are probably of a Nabataean origin belonging to the times of Trajan and the Antonines, yet considering the stability of the East, and the peculiar nature of the soil of Hauran, they give a tolerably correct idea of the sixty towns of the kingdom of Og of Bashan, all of which were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, or, as it is stated in 1Ki 4:13, “with walls and brazen bars.

” The brazen bars were no doubt, like the gates themselves, of basalt or dolerite, which might easily be mistaken for brass. Besides the sixty fortified towns, the Israelites took a very large number of הפּרזי ערי, “ towns of the inhabitants of the flat country ,” i. e. , unfortified open hamlets and villages in Bashan, and put them under the ban, like the towns of king Sihon (Deu 3:6, Deu 3:7; cf.

Deu 2:34-35). The infinitive, החרם, is to be construed as a gerund (cf. Ges. §131, 2; Ewald , §280, a .) The expression, “kingdom of Og in Bashan,” implies that the kingdom of Og was not limited to the land of Bashan, but included the northern half of Gilead as well. In Deu 3:8-11, Moses takes a retrospective view of the whole of the land that had been taken on the other side of the Jordan; first of all (Deu 3:9) in its whole extent from the Arnon to Hermon, then (Deu 3:10) in its separate parts, to bring out in all its grandeur what the Lord had done for Israel.

The notices of the different names of Hermon (Deu 3:9), and of the bed of king Og (Deu 3:11), are also subservient to this end. Hermon is the southernmost spur of Antilibanus, the present Jebel es Sheikh , or Jebel et Telj . The Hebrew name is not connected with חרם, anathema , as Hengstenberg supposes (Diss. pp. 197-8); nor was it first given by the Israelites to this mountain, which formed part of the northern boundary of the land which they had taken; but it is to be traced to an Arabic word signifying prominens montis vertex , and was a name which had long been current at that time, for which the Israelites used the Hebrew name שׂיאן ( Sion = נשׂיאן, the high, eminent: Deu 4:48), though this name did not supplant the traditional name of Hermon .

The Sidonians called it Siron , a modified form of שׁריון (1Sa 17:5), or נשׂיון (Jer 46:4), a “coat of mail;” the Amorites called it Senir , probably a word with the same meaning. In Psa 29:6, Sirion is used poetically for Hermon ; and Ezekiel (Eze 27:4) uses Senir , in a mournful dirge over Tyre, as synonymous with Lebanon ; whilst Senir is mentioned in 1Ch 5:23, and Shenir in Sol 4:8, in connection with Hermon, as a part of Antilibanus, as it might very naturally happen that the Amoritish name continued attached to one or other of the peaks of the mountain, just as we find that even Arabian geographers, such as Abulfeda and Maraszid , call that portion of Antilibanus which stretches from Baalbek to Emesa (Homs, Heliopolis) by the name of Sanir .

Deu 3:1-9 The Help of God in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Og of Bashan. - Deu 3:1. After the defeat of king Sihon and the conquest of his land, the Israelites were able to advance to the Jordan. But as the powerful Amoritish king Og still held the northern half of Gilead and all Bashan, they proceeded northwards at once and took the road to Bashan, that they might also defeat this king, whom the Lord had likewise given into their hand, and conquer his country (cf.

Num 21:33-34). They smote him at Edrei, the modern Draà , without leaving him even a remnant; and took all his towns, i. e. , as is here more fully stated in Deu 3:4. , “sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan . ” These three definitions refer to one and the same country. The whole region of Argob included the sixty towns which formed the kingdom of Og in Bashan, i.

e. , all the towns of the land of Bashan, viz. , (according to Deu 3:5) all the fortified towns, besides the unfortified and open country towns of Bashan. חבל, the chain for measuring, then the land or country measured with the chain. The name “ region of Argob ,” which is given to the country of Bashan here, and in Deu 3:4, Deu 3:13, Deu 3:14, and also in 1Ki 4:13, is probably derived from רגוב, stone-heaps, related to רגב, a clump or clod of earth (Job 21:33; Job 38:38).

The Targumists have rendered it correctly טרכונא ( Trachona ), from τραθών, a rough, uneven, stony district, so called from the basaltic hills of Hauran; just as the plain to the east of Jebel Hauran, which resembles Hauran itself, is sometimes called Tellul , from its tells or hills ( Burckhardt , Syr. p. 173). This district has also received the name of Bashan , from the character of its soil; for בּשׁן signifies a soft and level soil.

From the name given to it by the Arabic translators, the Greek name Βαταναία, Batanaea , and possibly also the modern name of the country on the north-eastern slope of Hauran at the back of Mount Hauran, viz. , Bethenije , are derived. The name Argob probably originated in the north-eastern part of the country of Bashan, viz. , the modern Leja , with its stony soil covered with heaps of large blocks of stone ( Burckhardt , p.

196), or rather in the extensive volcanic region to the east of Hauran, which was first of all brought to distinct notice in Wetzstein's travels, and of which he says that the “southern portion, bearing the name Harra , is thickly covered with loose volcanic stones, with a few conical hills among them, that have been evidently caused by eruptions” ( Wetzstein , p. 6).

The central point of the whole is Safa , “a mountain nearly seven hours’ journey in length and about the same in breadth,” in which “the black mass streaming from the craters piled itself up wave upon wave, so that the centre attained to the height of a mountain, without acquiring the smoothness of form observable in mountains generally,” - “the black flood of lava being full of innumerable streams of stony waves, often of a bright red colour, bridged over with thin arches, which rolled down the slopes out of the craters and across the high plateau” ( Wetzstein , pp. 6 and 7).

At a later period this name was transferred to the whole of the district of Hauran (= Bashan), because not only is the Jebel Hauran entirely of volcanic formation, but the plain consists throughout of a reddish brown soil produced by the action of the weather upon volcanic stones, and even “the Leja plain has been poured out from the craters of the Hauran mountains” ( Wetzstein , p. 23).

Through this volcanic character of the soil, Hauran differs essentially from Balka, Jebel Ajlun , and the plain of Jaulan , which is situated between the Sea of Galilee and the upper Jordan on the one side, and the plain of Hauran on the other, and reaches up to the southern slope of the Hermon. In these districts the limestone and chalk formations prevail, which present the same contrast to the basaltic formation of the Hauran as white does to black (cf.

v. Raumer , Pal. pp. 75ff.) - The land of the limestone and chalk formation abounds in caves, which are not altogether wanting indeed in Hauran (as v. Raumer supposes), though they are only found in eastern and south-eastern Hauran, where most of the volcanic elevations have been perforated by troglodytes (see Wetzstein, pp. 92 and 44ff.) But the true land of caves on the east of the Jordan is northern Gilead, viz.

, Erbed and Suêt ( Wetzst . p. 92). Here the troglodyte dwellings predominate, whereas in Hauran you find for the most part towns and villages with houses of one or more stories built above the surface of the ground, although even on the eastern slope of the Hauran mountains there are hamlets to be seen, in which the style of building forms a transition from actual caves to dwellings built upon the ground.

An excavation is first of all made in the rocky plateau, of the breadth and depth of a room, and this is afterwards arched over with a solid stone roof. The dwellings made in this manner have all the appearance of cellars or tunnels. This style of building, such as Wetzstein found in Hibbike for example, belongs to the most remote antiquity. In some cases, hamlets of this kind were even surrounded by a wall.

Those villages of Hauran which are built above the surface of the ground, attract the eye and stimulate the imagination, when seen from a distance, in various ways. “In the first place, the black colour of the building materials present the greatest contrast to the green around them, and to the transparent atmosphere also. In the second place, the height of the walls and the compactness of the houses, which always form a connected whole, are very imposing.

In the third place, they are surmounted by strong towers. And in the fourth place, they are in such a good state of preservation, that you involuntarily yield to the delusion that they must of necessity be inhabited, and expect to see people going out and in” ( Wetzstein , p. 49). The larger towns are surrounded by walls; but the smaller ones as a rule have none: “the backs of the houses might serve as walls.

” The material of which the houses are built is a grey dolerite, impregnated with glittering particles of olivine. “The stones are rarely cemented, but the fine and for the most part large squares lie one upon another as if they were fused together. ” “Most of the doors of the houses which lead into the streets or open fields are so low, that it is impossible to enter them without stooping; but the large buildings and the ends of the streets have lofty gateways, which are always tastefully constructed, and often decorated with sculptures and Greek inscriptions.

” The “larger gates have either simple or (what are most common) double doors. They consist of a slab of dolerite. There are certainly no doors of any other kind. ” These stone doors turn upon pegs, deeply inserted into the threshold and lintel. “Even a man can only shut and open doors of this kind, by pressing with the back or feet against the wall, and pushing the door with both hands” ( Wetzstein , pp.

50ff. ; compare with this the testimony of Buckingham, Burckhardt, Seetzen , and others, in v. Raumer's Palestine, pp. 78ff.) Now, even if the existing ruins of Hauran date for the most part from a later period, and are probably of a Nabataean origin belonging to the times of Trajan and the Antonines, yet considering the stability of the East, and the peculiar nature of the soil of Hauran, they give a tolerably correct idea of the sixty towns of the kingdom of Og of Bashan, all of which were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, or, as it is stated in 1Ki 4:13, “with walls and brazen bars.

” The brazen bars were no doubt, like the gates themselves, of basalt or dolerite, which might easily be mistaken for brass. Besides the sixty fortified towns, the Israelites took a very large number of הפּרזי ערי, “ towns of the inhabitants of the flat country ,” i. e. , unfortified open hamlets and villages in Bashan, and put them under the ban, like the towns of king Sihon (Deu 3:6, Deu 3:7; cf.

Deu 2:34-35). The infinitive, החרם, is to be construed as a gerund (cf. Ges. §131, 2; Ewald , §280, a .) The expression, “kingdom of Og in Bashan,” implies that the kingdom of Og was not limited to the land of Bashan, but included the northern half of Gilead as well. In Deu 3:8-11, Moses takes a retrospective view of the whole of the land that had been taken on the other side of the Jordan; first of all (Deu 3:9) in its whole extent from the Arnon to Hermon, then (Deu 3:10) in its separate parts, to bring out in all its grandeur what the Lord had done for Israel.

The notices of the different names of Hermon (Deu 3:9), and of the bed of king Og (Deu 3:11), are also subservient to this end. Hermon is the southernmost spur of Antilibanus, the present Jebel es Sheikh , or Jebel et Telj . The Hebrew name is not connected with חרם, anathema , as Hengstenberg supposes (Diss. pp. 197-8); nor was it first given by the Israelites to this mountain, which formed part of the northern boundary of the land which they had taken; but it is to be traced to an Arabic word signifying prominens montis vertex , and was a name which had long been current at that time, for which the Israelites used the Hebrew name שׂיאן ( Sion = נשׂיאן, the high, eminent: Deu 4:48), though this name did not supplant the traditional name of Hermon .

The Sidonians called it Siron , a modified form of שׁריון (1Sa 17:5), or נשׂיון (Jer 46:4), a “coat of mail;” the Amorites called it Senir , probably a word with the same meaning. In Psa 29:6, Sirion is used poetically for Hermon ; and Ezekiel (Eze 27:4) uses Senir , in a mournful dirge over Tyre, as synonymous with Lebanon ; whilst Senir is mentioned in 1Ch 5:23, and Shenir in Sol 4:8, in connection with Hermon, as a part of Antilibanus, as it might very naturally happen that the Amoritish name continued attached to one or other of the peaks of the mountain, just as we find that even Arabian geographers, such as Abulfeda and Maraszid , call that portion of Antilibanus which stretches from Baalbek to Emesa (Homs, Heliopolis) by the name of Sanir .

Deu 3:1-9 The Help of God in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Og of Bashan. - Deu 3:1. After the defeat of king Sihon and the conquest of his land, the Israelites were able to advance to the Jordan. But as the powerful Amoritish king Og still held the northern half of Gilead and all Bashan, they proceeded northwards at once and took the road to Bashan, that they might also defeat this king, whom the Lord had likewise given into their hand, and conquer his country (cf.

Num 21:33-34). They smote him at Edrei, the modern Draà , without leaving him even a remnant; and took all his towns, i. e. , as is here more fully stated in Deu 3:4. , “sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan . ” These three definitions refer to one and the same country. The whole region of Argob included the sixty towns which formed the kingdom of Og in Bashan, i.

e. , all the towns of the land of Bashan, viz. , (according to Deu 3:5) all the fortified towns, besides the unfortified and open country towns of Bashan. חבל, the chain for measuring, then the land or country measured with the chain. The name “ region of Argob ,” which is given to the country of Bashan here, and in Deu 3:4, Deu 3:13, Deu 3:14, and also in 1Ki 4:13, is probably derived from רגוב, stone-heaps, related to רגב, a clump or clod of earth (Job 21:33; Job 38:38).

The Targumists have rendered it correctly טרכונא ( Trachona ), from τραθών, a rough, uneven, stony district, so called from the basaltic hills of Hauran; just as the plain to the east of Jebel Hauran, which resembles Hauran itself, is sometimes called Tellul , from its tells or hills ( Burckhardt , Syr. p. 173). This district has also received the name of Bashan , from the character of its soil; for בּשׁן signifies a soft and level soil.

From the name given to it by the Arabic translators, the Greek name Βαταναία, Batanaea , and possibly also the modern name of the country on the north-eastern slope of Hauran at the back of Mount Hauran, viz. , Bethenije , are derived. The name Argob probably originated in the north-eastern part of the country of Bashan, viz. , the modern Leja , with its stony soil covered with heaps of large blocks of stone ( Burckhardt , p.

196), or rather in the extensive volcanic region to the east of Hauran, which was first of all brought to distinct notice in Wetzstein's travels, and of which he says that the “southern portion, bearing the name Harra , is thickly covered with loose volcanic stones, with a few conical hills among them, that have been evidently caused by eruptions” ( Wetzstein , p. 6).

The central point of the whole is Safa , “a mountain nearly seven hours’ journey in length and about the same in breadth,” in which “the black mass streaming from the craters piled itself up wave upon wave, so that the centre attained to the height of a mountain, without acquiring the smoothness of form observable in mountains generally,” - “the black flood of lava being full of innumerable streams of stony waves, often of a bright red colour, bridged over with thin arches, which rolled down the slopes out of the craters and across the high plateau” ( Wetzstein , pp. 6 and 7).

At a later period this name was transferred to the whole of the district of Hauran (= Bashan), because not only is the Jebel Hauran entirely of volcanic formation, but the plain consists throughout of a reddish brown soil produced by the action of the weather upon volcanic stones, and even “the Leja plain has been poured out from the craters of the Hauran mountains” ( Wetzstein , p. 23).

Through this volcanic character of the soil, Hauran differs essentially from Balka, Jebel Ajlun , and the plain of Jaulan , which is situated between the Sea of Galilee and the upper Jordan on the one side, and the plain of Hauran on the other, and reaches up to the southern slope of the Hermon. In these districts the limestone and chalk formations prevail, which present the same contrast to the basaltic formation of the Hauran as white does to black (cf.

v. Raumer , Pal. pp. 75ff.) - The land of the limestone and chalk formation abounds in caves, which are not altogether wanting indeed in Hauran (as v. Raumer supposes), though they are only found in eastern and south-eastern Hauran, where most of the volcanic elevations have been perforated by troglodytes (see Wetzstein, pp. 92 and 44ff.) But the true land of caves on the east of the Jordan is northern Gilead, viz.

, Erbed and Suêt ( Wetzst . p. 92). Here the troglodyte dwellings predominate, whereas in Hauran you find for the most part towns and villages with houses of one or more stories built above the surface of the ground, although even on the eastern slope of the Hauran mountains there are hamlets to be seen, in which the style of building forms a transition from actual caves to dwellings built upon the ground.

An excavation is first of all made in the rocky plateau, of the breadth and depth of a room, and this is afterwards arched over with a solid stone roof. The dwellings made in this manner have all the appearance of cellars or tunnels. This style of building, such as Wetzstein found in Hibbike for example, belongs to the most remote antiquity. In some cases, hamlets of this kind were even surrounded by a wall.

Those villages of Hauran which are built above the surface of the ground, attract the eye and stimulate the imagination, when seen from a distance, in various ways. “In the first place, the black colour of the building materials present the greatest contrast to the green around them, and to the transparent atmosphere also. In the second place, the height of the walls and the compactness of the houses, which always form a connected whole, are very imposing.

In the third place, they are surmounted by strong towers. And in the fourth place, they are in such a good state of preservation, that you involuntarily yield to the delusion that they must of necessity be inhabited, and expect to see people going out and in” ( Wetzstein , p. 49). The larger towns are surrounded by walls; but the smaller ones as a rule have none: “the backs of the houses might serve as walls.

” The material of which the houses are built is a grey dolerite, impregnated with glittering particles of olivine. “The stones are rarely cemented, but the fine and for the most part large squares lie one upon another as if they were fused together. ” “Most of the doors of the houses which lead into the streets or open fields are so low, that it is impossible to enter them without stooping; but the large buildings and the ends of the streets have lofty gateways, which are always tastefully constructed, and often decorated with sculptures and Greek inscriptions.

” The “larger gates have either simple or (what are most common) double doors. They consist of a slab of dolerite. There are certainly no doors of any other kind. ” These stone doors turn upon pegs, deeply inserted into the threshold and lintel. “Even a man can only shut and open doors of this kind, by pressing with the back or feet against the wall, and pushing the door with both hands” ( Wetzstein , pp.

50ff. ; compare with this the testimony of Buckingham, Burckhardt, Seetzen , and others, in v. Raumer's Palestine, pp. 78ff.) Now, even if the existing ruins of Hauran date for the most part from a later period, and are probably of a Nabataean origin belonging to the times of Trajan and the Antonines, yet considering the stability of the East, and the peculiar nature of the soil of Hauran, they give a tolerably correct idea of the sixty towns of the kingdom of Og of Bashan, all of which were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, or, as it is stated in 1Ki 4:13, “with walls and brazen bars.

” The brazen bars were no doubt, like the gates themselves, of basalt or dolerite, which might easily be mistaken for brass. Besides the sixty fortified towns, the Israelites took a very large number of הפּרזי ערי, “ towns of the inhabitants of the flat country ,” i. e. , unfortified open hamlets and villages in Bashan, and put them under the ban, like the towns of king Sihon (Deu 3:6, Deu 3:7; cf.

Deu 2:34-35). The infinitive, החרם, is to be construed as a gerund (cf. Ges. §131, 2; Ewald , §280, a .) The expression, “kingdom of Og in Bashan,” implies that the kingdom of Og was not limited to the land of Bashan, but included the northern half of Gilead as well. In Deu 3:8-11, Moses takes a retrospective view of the whole of the land that had been taken on the other side of the Jordan; first of all (Deu 3:9) in its whole extent from the Arnon to Hermon, then (Deu 3:10) in its separate parts, to bring out in all its grandeur what the Lord had done for Israel.

The notices of the different names of Hermon (Deu 3:9), and of the bed of king Og (Deu 3:11), are also subservient to this end. Hermon is the southernmost spur of Antilibanus, the present Jebel es Sheikh , or Jebel et Telj . The Hebrew name is not connected with חרם, anathema , as Hengstenberg supposes (Diss. pp. 197-8); nor was it first given by the Israelites to this mountain, which formed part of the northern boundary of the land which they had taken; but it is to be traced to an Arabic word signifying prominens montis vertex , and was a name which had long been current at that time, for which the Israelites used the Hebrew name שׂיאן ( Sion = נשׂיאן, the high, eminent: Deu 4:48), though this name did not supplant the traditional name of Hermon .

The Sidonians called it Siron , a modified form of שׁריון (1Sa 17:5), or נשׂיון (Jer 46:4), a “coat of mail;” the Amorites called it Senir , probably a word with the same meaning. In Psa 29:6, Sirion is used poetically for Hermon ; and Ezekiel (Eze 27:4) uses Senir , in a mournful dirge over Tyre, as synonymous with Lebanon ; whilst Senir is mentioned in 1Ch 5:23, and Shenir in Sol 4:8, in connection with Hermon, as a part of Antilibanus, as it might very naturally happen that the Amoritish name continued attached to one or other of the peaks of the mountain, just as we find that even Arabian geographers, such as Abulfeda and Maraszid , call that portion of Antilibanus which stretches from Baalbek to Emesa (Homs, Heliopolis) by the name of Sanir .

Deu 3:1-9 The Help of God in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Og of Bashan. - Deu 3:1. After the defeat of king Sihon and the conquest of his land, the Israelites were able to advance to the Jordan. But as the powerful Amoritish king Og still held the northern half of Gilead and all Bashan, they proceeded northwards at once and took the road to Bashan, that they might also defeat this king, whom the Lord had likewise given into their hand, and conquer his country (cf.

Num 21:33-34). They smote him at Edrei, the modern Draà , without leaving him even a remnant; and took all his towns, i. e. , as is here more fully stated in Deu 3:4. , “sixty towns, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan . ” These three definitions refer to one and the same country. The whole region of Argob included the sixty towns which formed the kingdom of Og in Bashan, i.

e. , all the towns of the land of Bashan, viz. , (according to Deu 3:5) all the fortified towns, besides the unfortified and open country towns of Bashan. חבל, the chain for measuring, then the land or country measured with the chain. The name “ region of Argob ,” which is given to the country of Bashan here, and in Deu 3:4, Deu 3:13, Deu 3:14, and also in 1Ki 4:13, is probably derived from רגוב, stone-heaps, related to רגב, a clump or clod of earth (Job 21:33; Job 38:38).

The Targumists have rendered it correctly טרכונא ( Trachona ), from τραθών, a rough, uneven, stony district, so called from the basaltic hills of Hauran; just as the plain to the east of Jebel Hauran, which resembles Hauran itself, is sometimes called Tellul , from its tells or hills ( Burckhardt , Syr. p. 173). This district has also received the name of Bashan , from the character of its soil; for בּשׁן signifies a soft and level soil.

From the name given to it by the Arabic translators, the Greek name Βαταναία, Batanaea , and possibly also the modern name of the country on the north-eastern slope of Hauran at the back of Mount Hauran, viz. , Bethenije , are derived. The name Argob probably originated in the north-eastern part of the country of Bashan, viz. , the modern Leja , with its stony soil covered with heaps of large blocks of stone ( Burckhardt , p.

196), or rather in the extensive volcanic region to the east of Hauran, which was first of all brought to distinct notice in Wetzstein's travels, and of which he says that the “southern portion, bearing the name Harra , is thickly covered with loose volcanic stones, with a few conical hills among them, that have been evidently caused by eruptions” ( Wetzstein , p. 6).

The central point of the whole is Safa , “a mountain nearly seven hours’ journey in length and about the same in breadth,” in which “the black mass streaming from the craters piled itself up wave upon wave, so that the centre attained to the height of a mountain, without acquiring the smoothness of form observable in mountains generally,” - “the black flood of lava being full of innumerable streams of stony waves, often of a bright red colour, bridged over with thin arches, which rolled down the slopes out of the craters and across the high plateau” ( Wetzstein , pp. 6 and 7).

At a later period this name was transferred to the whole of the district of Hauran (= Bashan), because not only is the Jebel Hauran entirely of volcanic formation, but the plain consists throughout of a reddish brown soil produced by the action of the weather upon volcanic stones, and even “the Leja plain has been poured out from the craters of the Hauran mountains” ( Wetzstein , p. 23).

Through this volcanic character of the soil, Hauran differs essentially from Balka, Jebel Ajlun , and the plain of Jaulan , which is situated between the Sea of Galilee and the upper Jordan on the one side, and the plain of Hauran on the other, and reaches up to the southern slope of the Hermon. In these districts the limestone and chalk formations prevail, which present the same contrast to the basaltic formation of the Hauran as white does to black (cf.

v. Raumer , Pal. pp. 75ff.) - The land of the limestone and chalk formation abounds in caves, which are not altogether wanting indeed in Hauran (as v. Raumer supposes), though they are only found in eastern and south-eastern Hauran, where most of the volcanic elevations have been perforated by troglodytes (see Wetzstein, pp. 92 and 44ff.) But the true land of caves on the east of the Jordan is northern Gilead, viz.

, Erbed and Suêt ( Wetzst . p. 92). Here the troglodyte dwellings predominate, whereas in Hauran you find for the most part towns and villages with houses of one or more stories built above the surface of the ground, although even on the eastern slope of the Hauran mountains there are hamlets to be seen, in which the style of building forms a transition from actual caves to dwellings built upon the ground.

An excavation is first of all made in the rocky plateau, of the breadth and depth of a room, and this is afterwards arched over with a solid stone roof. The dwellings made in this manner have all the appearance of cellars or tunnels. This style of building, such as Wetzstein found in Hibbike for example, belongs to the most remote antiquity. In some cases, hamlets of this kind were even surrounded by a wall.

Those villages of Hauran which are built above the surface of the ground, attract the eye and stimulate the imagination, when seen from a distance, in various ways. “In the first place, the black colour of the building materials present the greatest contrast to the green around them, and to the transparent atmosphere also. In the second place, the height of the walls and the compactness of the houses, which always form a connected whole, are very imposing.

In the third place, they are surmounted by strong towers. And in the fourth place, they are in such a good state of preservation, that you involuntarily yield to the delusion that they must of necessity be inhabited, and expect to see people going out and in” ( Wetzstein , p. 49). The larger towns are surrounded by walls; but the smaller ones as a rule have none: “the backs of the houses might serve as walls.

” The material of which the houses are built is a grey dolerite, impregnated with glittering particles of olivine. “The stones are rarely cemented, but the fine and for the most part large squares lie one upon another as if they were fused together. ” “Most of the doors of the houses which lead into the streets or open fields are so low, that it is impossible to enter them without stooping; but the large buildings and the ends of the streets have lofty gateways, which are always tastefully constructed, and often decorated with sculptures and Greek inscriptions.

” The “larger gates have either simple or (what are most common) double doors. They consist of a slab of dolerite. There are certainly no doors of any other kind. ” These stone doors turn upon pegs, deeply inserted into the threshold and lintel. “Even a man can only shut and open doors of this kind, by pressing with the back or feet against the wall, and pushing the door with both hands” ( Wetzstein , pp.

50ff. ; compare with this the testimony of Buckingham, Burckhardt, Seetzen , and others, in v. Raumer's Palestine, pp. 78ff.) Now, even if the existing ruins of Hauran date for the most part from a later period, and are probably of a Nabataean origin belonging to the times of Trajan and the Antonines, yet considering the stability of the East, and the peculiar nature of the soil of Hauran, they give a tolerably correct idea of the sixty towns of the kingdom of Og of Bashan, all of which were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, or, as it is stated in 1Ki 4:13, “with walls and brazen bars.

” The brazen bars were no doubt, like the gates themselves, of basalt or dolerite, which might easily be mistaken for brass. Besides the sixty fortified towns, the Israelites took a very large number of הפּרזי ערי, “ towns of the inhabitants of the flat country ,” i. e. , unfortified open hamlets and villages in Bashan, and put them under the ban, like the towns of king Sihon (Deu 3:6, Deu 3:7; cf.

Deu 2:34-35). The infinitive, החרם, is to be construed as a gerund (cf. Ges. §131, 2; Ewald , §280, a .) The expression, “kingdom of Og in Bashan,” implies that the kingdom of Og was not limited to the land of Bashan, but included the northern half of Gilead as well. In Deu 3:8-11, Moses takes a retrospective view of the whole of the land that had been taken on the other side of the Jordan; first of all (Deu 3:9) in its whole extent from the Arnon to Hermon, then (Deu 3:10) in its separate parts, to bring out in all its grandeur what the Lord had done for Israel.

The notices of the different names of Hermon (Deu 3:9), and of the bed of king Og (Deu 3:11), are also subservient to this end. Hermon is the southernmost spur of Antilibanus, the present Jebel es Sheikh , or Jebel et Telj . The Hebrew name is not connected with חרם, anathema , as Hengstenberg supposes (Diss. pp. 197-8); nor was it first given by the Israelites to this mountain, which formed part of the northern boundary of the land which they had taken; but it is to be traced to an Arabic word signifying prominens montis vertex , and was a name which had long been current at that time, for which the Israelites used the Hebrew name שׂיאן ( Sion = נשׂיאן, the high, eminent: Deu 4:48), though this name did not supplant the traditional name of Hermon .

The Sidonians called it Siron , a modified form of שׁריון (1Sa 17:5), or נשׂיון (Jer 46:4), a “coat of mail;” the Amorites called it Senir , probably a word with the same meaning. In Psa 29:6, Sirion is used poetically for Hermon ; and Ezekiel (Eze 27:4) uses Senir , in a mournful dirge over Tyre, as synonymous with Lebanon ; whilst Senir is mentioned in 1Ch 5:23, and Shenir in Sol 4:8, in connection with Hermon, as a part of Antilibanus, as it might very naturally happen that the Amoritish name continued attached to one or other of the peaks of the mountain, just as we find that even Arabian geographers, such as Abulfeda and Maraszid , call that portion of Antilibanus which stretches from Baalbek to Emesa (Homs, Heliopolis) by the name of Sanir .