CHAPTER 2 Apr. 19 
Instructions to Avoid Edom, Moab and Ammon
Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea as Yahweh spoke to me, and we circled Mount Seir many days. 2Yahweh spoke to me saying, 3You have circled this mountain long enough; turn to the north. 4Command the people saying, ‘You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. Take good heed to yourselves therefore, 5don’t meddle with them, for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. 6You shall purchase food of them for money that you may eat, and you shall also buy water of them for money that you may drink’. 7For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; He has known your walking through this great wilderness; these forty years Yahweh your God has been with you and you have lacked nothing. 8So we passed by from our brothers the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9Yahweh said to me, Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle, for I will not give you of his land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession. 10(The Emim lived there before, a people great and many and tall as the Anakim; 11these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12The Horites also lived in Seir before, but the children of Esau succeeded them, and they destroyed them from before them and lived in their place, as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.) 13Now rise up and cross over the brook Zered. We went over the brook Zered. 14The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them. 15Moreover the hand of Yahweh was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed. 16So it happened. When all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, 17Yahweh spoke to me saying, 18You are today to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, 19and when you come near to the children of Ammon, don’t bother them or contend with them, for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession. 20That also is accounted a land of Rephaim. Rephaim lived there before, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21a people great and many and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them and they succeeded them and lived in their place, 22as He did for the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them and they succeeded them and lived in their place to this day; 23and the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.
Sihon King of Heshbon Defeated
24Rise up, take your journey and pass over the valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite king of Heshbon and his land; begin to possess it and contend with him in battle. 25This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who will hear the report of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you. 26I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace saying, 27Let me pass through your land; I will go along by the highway; I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. 28You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on my feet, 29as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us. 30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as at this day. 31Yahweh 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. 32Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33Yahweh our God delivered him up before us and we struck him and his sons and all his people. 34We took all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left none remaining. 35Only the livestock we took for a prey to ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken. 36From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; Yahweh our God delivered up all before us. 37Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn’t come near, all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbad us.

Commentary

2:7 He has known your walking- Because God ‘knew’ Israel’s journey through the wilderness, therefore they “lacked nothing”. The Hebrew language reflects certain realities about the nature of God's ways. The common Hebrew word for 'to see', especially when used about God's 'seeing', means also 'to provide' (Gen. 16:13; 22:8,14; 1 Sam. 16:17; ). What this means in practice is that the fact God sees and knows all things means that He can and will therefore and thereby provide for us in the circumstances of life; for He sees and knows all things.  
2:12 The children of Esau succeeded them, and they destroyed them from before them and lived in their place- This history had been arranged by God to encourage His people; if those in the unbelieving world could do this, then how much more could they with God behind them. God arranges our lives so that we sometimes encounter others who without faith in God have achieved great things in their lives- in order to inspire us that if they can do it, how much more can we. See on 2:21.
2:19 Don’t bother them or contend with them- As also commanded about other areas in :5 and :9. The idea was that Israel weren’t to take anything less than the real promised land; they weren’t to seek to develop their own kingdom where seemed easier and more convenient to them. Likewise we are surrounded by temptation to have our own pseudo-Kingdom of God in this life; but we are to keep focused on the one and only true Kingdom of God which is yet to come.
2:21 If giants weren’t a barrier to the children of Lot taking land for a possession, neither should they be for Israel; but they greatly feared them (Num. 13:28,33). If worldly people can achieve as they do, how much more can we with God on our side. See on 2:12.
2:24 Contend with him- The implication could be that Moses was disobedient to this and tried to avoid confrontation with him (:27). But we can’t ultimately avoid the confrontations which God at times puts in our path (:32).
2:29 The land which Yahweh our God gives us- This phrase or idea occurs many times in Deuteronomy. Moses was urging the people to believe the most basic reality- that God would really give them the promised Kingdom. And we too are likewise continually encouraged by God’s word. In this particular example, Moses quite openly tells a Gentile people about their destination, in the same way as we should be unashamed to speak of our hope of the Kingdom to unbelievers.
2:31 Begin to possess- Even on our wilderness journey, before we have possessed the Kingdom, we do have some foretastes of that Kingdom; in the same way as Israel began to possess the promised land in some limited sense whilst still in the desert.