Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified.
Parallel Translations
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Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified.
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And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
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And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Numbers 21:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Amos 2:9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
- Genesis 32:22 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.
- Joshua 24:8 “ ‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
- Nehemiah 9:22 Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
- Psalms 136:19 Sihon king of the Amorites; for his loving kindness endures forever;
- Numbers 21:13 From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
- Numbers 32:1-4 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.”
- Numbers 32:33-42 Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan; the land, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land. The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep. The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built. The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair. Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
- Deuteronomy 2:31-37 Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.” Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. Yahweh our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, his sons, and all his people. We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left no one remaining. Only the livestock we took for plunder for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities which we had taken. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. Yahweh our God delivered up all before us. Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn’t come near: all the banks of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us.
- Deuteronomy 3:16 To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
- Deuteronomy 29:7 When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them.
- Joshua 9:10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
- Joshua 12:1-3 Now these are the kings of the land, whom the children of Israel struck, and possessed their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah eastward: Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the middle of the valley, and half Gilead, even to the river Jabbok, the border of the children of Ammon; and the Arabah to the sea of Chinneroth, eastward, and to the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward, the way to Beth Jeshimoth; and on the south, under the slopes of Pisgah:
- Joshua 13:8-10 With him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them: from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon; and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon;
- Judges 11:21-23 Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?
- Judges 12:1-2 The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!” Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand.
- Judges 21:8 They said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn’t come up to Yahweh to Mizpah?” Behold, no one came from Jabesh Gilead to the camp to the assembly.
- Psalms 135:10-12 He struck many nations, and killed mighty kings, Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, and gave their land for a heritage, a heritage to Israel, his people.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For the people were tall and strong like giants,…
For the people were tall and strong like giants, Deut. 2:20.
The river.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain From Arnon; or which reached from Arnon, &c. such…
From Arnon; or which reached from Arnon, &c. such supplements being very usual; and so here is contained a description or limitation of Sihon’s conquest and kingdom, that it extended only from Arnon—unto the children of Ammon; and then the following words, for the border of the children of Ammon was strong, come in very fitly, not as a reason why the Israelites did not or could not conquer the Ammonites, for they were absolutely forbidden to meddle with them, Deu 3:8; but as a reason why Sihon could not enlarge his conquests and empire to the Ammonites, as he had done to the Moabites.
Jabbok; a river by which the countries of Ammon and Moab were in part bounded and divided.
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Was strong; either by the advantage of the river, or by their strong holds in their frontiers.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say,.... The historical…
Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say,.... The historical writers of those times, among the Amorites, who were usually poets, and wrote the history of the wars between the Moabites and Amorites in verse; as Homer among the Greeks wrote the wars of Troy; and the compositions of those ancient bards were short and compendious, and wrapped up in proverbial sayings, and enigmatical and figurative expressions, that they might be the better retained in memory, and therefore were called proverbialists. Jarchi says, they were Balaam and Beor that took up their parables, and said:
come into Heshbon; which words are the beginning of the song, and in which the Amorites are represented as inviting Sihon, and his nobles, to enter Heshbon, which he had taken, and make it his royal seat; or as encouraging one another to go into it and repair it, having suffered much at the taking of it, which seems to be confirmed by what follows:
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let the city of Sihon be built and prepared; that is, let us set about rebuilding of the city, and let us fit it up for Sihon our king, and let it be called his city, and made the place of his residence, his palace, and where his court may be kept.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain From Arnon - Or, which reached from Arnon; and…
From Arnon - Or, which reached from Arnon; and so here is a description or limitation of Sihon's conquest and kingdom, that is, extended only from Arnon, unto the children of Ammon; and then the following words, for the border of the children of Ammon was strong, come in very fitly, not as a reason why the Israelites did not conquer the Ammonites, for they were absolutely forbidden to meddle with them, Deut. iii, 8, but as a reason why Sihon could not enlarge his conquests to the Ammonites, as he had done to the Moabites. Jabbok - A river by which the countries of Ammon and Moab were in part bounded and divided. Strong - Either by the advantage of the river, or by their strong holds in their frontiers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 21:24. From Arnon — Or, which reached from…
Num 21:24. From Arnon — Or, which reached from Arnon; and so here is a description or limitation of Sihon’s conquest and kingdom, that it extended only from Arnon unto the children of Ammon — And then the following words, for the border of the children of Ammon was strong, come in very fitly, not as a reason why the Israelites did not conquer the Ammonites, for they were absolutely forbidden to meddle with them, (Deu 3:8,) but as a reason why Sihon could not enlarge his conquests to the Ammonites, as he had done to the Moabites. Jabbok — A river by which the countries of Ammon and Moab were in part bounded and divided. Strong — Either by the advantage of the river, or by their strong holds in their frontiers.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Jabbok (now Wady Zerka: compare Gen 32:22) runs eastward…
Jabbok (now Wady Zerka: compare Gen 32:22) runs eastward under Rabbah of the children of Ammon, thence westward, and reaches the Jordan, 45 miles north of the Arnon. It was between Rabbah and Gerasa that it formed the Ammonite boundary.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Garrison, either against Sehon, or against the Hebrews, whom…
Garrison, either against Sehon, or against the Hebrews, whom God did not, as yet, authorize to attack the Ammonites, (Calmet) though the latter knew it not. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain from Arnon unto Jabbok--now the Zurka. These rivers formed…
from Arnon unto Jabbok--now the Zurka. These rivers formed the southern and northern boundaries of his usurped territory.
for the border of . . . Ammon was strong--a reason stated for Sihon not being able to push his invasion further.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 24. Jabbok — This is one of the two…
24. Jabbok — This is one of the two important streams flowing into the Jordan on the east. It was the scene of Jacob’s wrestling with the angel, and of his meeting with Esau. See Gen_30:22; Jos_12:2, notes.
Unto the children of Ammon — This difficult passage is thus explained. The Ammonites at one time possessed the whole country between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok. Being driven out by Sihon they took possession of the eastern plain and the eastern defiles of Gilead, around the sources and upper branches of the Jabbok. For this reason the border of the children of Ammon was strong, that is, well fortified, so that Sihon had only been able to push his conquests to the upper Jabbok, not into the territory of the Ammonites which Israel was forbidden by Jehovah to enter. See Deu_2:19.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 24. from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children…
24. from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon] This gives three boundaries of Sihon’s kingdom, the Jordan being the western boundary. Arnon was on the south (Num_21:13), Jabbok on the north, and the Ammonites on the east, whither the Amorites had driven them. The Jabbok flows into the Jordan nearly 25 miles north of the Dead Sea. The district here described is now known as the Belka‘ (see G. A. Smith, H. G. [Note: . G. Historical Geography of the Holy Land.] 535 f.).
for the border of the children of Ammon was strong] This may be intended to explain why Sihon’s territory extended no further on the east, or why the Israelites did not push their conquests further. The natural features of the country would afford no special obstacle, but the border fortresses might be impregnable. The Heb. adjective, however, is peculiar; ‘az (עַז) usually denotes ‘fierce,’ ‘cruel,’ rather than strong. The LXX. read the word as ‘Jazer,’ a town mentioned in Num_21:32, Num_32:3; Num_32:35; and it is possible that ‘for strong (כי עז) was the border, &c.’ should be emended to ‘at Jazer (ביעזר) was the border, &c.’ a statement which finds a parallel in Jos_13:25. The words may have been a comment by the writer or a compiler on the preceding clause.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (24) For the border of the children of Ammon…
(24) For the border of the children of Ammon was strong.—These words assign the reason why the conquests of the Amorites were arrested, not why the children of Israel did not take possession of the land of the Ammonites, with whom they were forbidden to meddle, and whose land they were not to occupy. (See Deu_2:19.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Israel smote him with the edge of the…
And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword. This was the first time that generation had seen war, if we except the uncertain episode of the king of Arad, and they could have had no weapons but such as their fathers had brought out of Egypt. It was, therefore, a critical moment in their history when they met the forces of Sihon, confident from their recent victory over Moab. We may suppose that Joshua was their military leader now, as before and after. From Arnon unto Jabbok. The Jabbok, which formed the boundary of Sihon on the north towards the kingdom of Og, and on the east towards the Ammonites, is the modern Zerka: it runs in a large curve northeast, north-west, and west, until it fails into Jordan, forty-five miles north of the mouth of the Arnon. Even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. This is perhaps intended to explain rather why the Amorites had not extended their conquests any further, than why the Israelites made no attempt to cross the border of Ammon; they had another and more sufficient reason. (see Deu_2:19) Rabbah of Ammon, which stood upon the right (here the eastern) bank of the Upper Jabbok, was an extremely strong place which effectually protected the country behind it, even until the reign of David. (see on 2Sa 11, 12)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Israel attacked
Israel attacked
Here "Israel" refers to the people of Israel. AT: "The Israelites attacked" (See: Metonymy)
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with the edge of the sword
"with the sharp part of the sword." The "edge of the sword" is associated with death and complete destruction. AT: "and completely defeated them" (See: Metonymy)
took their land
"conquered the land of the Amorites." Here the word "their" refers to the Amorites.
the people of Ammon ... the Amorites
"the Ammonites ... the Amorites" or "the people of Ammon ... the people of Amor." These names are similar, but they refer to two different people groups.
was fortified
"was strongly defended." The Israelites did not attack the Ammonites.
Heshbon and all of its villages
Here "its" is possessive to show that a relationship existed between the city of Heshbon and these nearby villages. AT: "Heshbon and the nearby villages that it controlled"
Sihon had taken all his land
Here "his" refers to the king of Moab.
translationWords
Israel
sword
people group
Ammon
stronghold
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.