Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

2:1 Mount Seir was a mountainous territory north of the Gulf of Aqaba, east of the Arabah (see study note on 1:1) and the Dead Sea. It was originally settled by the Horites (Gen 14:6), now identified by many scholars as the Hurrians. The Hurrians are described in many ancient texts as wandering tradesmen and adventurers who found a home in many parts of the ancient Near East. In time, the Horites of Mount Seir were supplanted by the descendants of Esau (Deut 2:22), and the region was called Edom (“red”), perhaps because of the rose-red stone typical of the area.

Verse 2

2:2-25 Num 21:10-20 covers the same time period.

Verse 5

2:5 I have given them: God’s gift of a promised land was not limited to Israel. He also distributed lands to Edom, Moab (2:9), Ammon (2:19), and the Caphtorites (2:22-23). Although God had chosen Israel as a special nation (1:31; see also 7:6; 14:2; Exod 19:5), he is also the God of all nations and has a place and purpose for each (Deut 32:8; Acts 17:26)—even for those that do not recognize his sovereignty (Rom 1:16-23).

Verse 8

2:8 our relatives: Isaac had two sons, Esau, the firstborn, and Jacob, who obtained Esau’s birthright and blessing as the firstborn (Gen 25:27-34; 27:1-36). The result was intense hostility between Esau and Jacob and between their descendants. Israel still recognized and honored the kinship, however; out of fraternal good faith, if not affection, Israel bypassed Edom and did not engage the Edomites in battle (see Num 20:14-21). • Arabah Valley: See study note on Deut 1:1. • Elath and Ezion-geber were twin port cities on the Red Sea. They later harbored the merchant ships of Solomon (1 Kgs 9:26), Jehoshaphat (1 Kgs 22:48), and Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22).

Verse 9

2:9 Following the destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain, Lot (Abraham’s nephew and Isaac’s cousin) and his two unmarried daughters sheltered in a cave east of the Dead Sea (see Gen 19:30-38), where Lot’s daughters plied their father with drink until he had sexual relations with them. Their descendants became the nations of Moab and Ammon. Because of their kinship with Israel, the Moabites were to be left undisturbed. David’s great-grandmother Ruth descended from Moab (Ruth 1:4), and David sent his own family to the land of Moab for protection when he was pursued by Saul (1 Sam 22:3-5). • Ar was probably the capital of Moab.

Verse 10

2:10 The Emites were also located at Shaveh-kiriathaim (Gen 14:5), perhaps ten miles east of the Dead Sea’s north end.

Verse 11

2:11 The Rephaites lived near Ashteroth-karnaim (Gen 14:5; perhaps modern Tell Ashtarah), due east of the Sea of Galilee (see Deut 1:4).

Verse 12

2:12 just as Israel drove out: The Hebrew does not include the phrase the people of Canaan. This passage is often cited as a later addition to Deuteronomy because it seems to presuppose the conquest under Joshua. However, it refers in part to the defeat of peoples east of the Jordan, such as the Amorites under King Sihon and King Og (3:12-17).

Verse 13

2:13 The ravine of Zered Brook marked the boundary between Moab and Edom. Rising in the highlands of Mount Seir, this waterway empties into the southeast bend of the Dead Sea.

Verse 19

2:19 Like the Moabites, the Ammonites were descendants of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters (see study note on 2:9). Throughout most of their history, the Ammonites lived south and east of the Jabbok River. The nation’s capital was Rabbath Ammon (modern Amman, Jordan). David arranged for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, to be slain in the siege of this city (2 Sam 11:1, 14-21).

Verse 20

2:20-21 The Zamzummites are probably the same as the Zuzites (Gen 14:5). The Lord had removed them from the land in the past so that the Ammonites could occupy their lands. The God of Israel is also the God of all the earth; he is mindful of all nations and has a place and purpose for each.

Verse 23

2:23 The Caphtorites were descendants of Ham and were originally from Crete, a large island south of the Greek peninsula. The Caphtorites are usually identified with the Philistines (see Gen 10:6-14; 1 Chr 1:8-12). The Philistine presence in Canaan resulted from two separate movements, one in the time of the Hebrew patriarchs (see study note on Gen 21:32) and another that began about 1200 BC (see study notes on Josh 13:2; Judg 3:3). This passage apparently refers to the earlier settlement. • The Avvites were indigenous inhabitants of the lower Mediterranean coastal plain; they were supplanted in Gaza by the early wave of Philistines (cp. Josh 13:2-4).

Verse 24

2:24 The Arnon Gorge is the deep canyon formed by the Arnon River; it sometimes marked the border between Moab and Edom (see Num 21:13). It rises deep in the Arabian Desert and empties into the Dead Sea midway along its eastern shore. • Sihon the Amorite controlled the area east of the Jordan, north of the Arnon, and south of the Ammonite territories (see Num 21:21-35). He is not known outside of the Bible. His capital, Heshbon, was probably about fifteen miles southwest of Rabbath Ammon and is usually identified with the impressive ruins at Tell Hesban.

Verse 26

2:26-37 See Num 21:21-32.

2:26 The wilderness of Kedemoth might refer to the area north of the Arnon Gorge between Dibon and Mattanah (Josh 13:18; 21:37).

Verse 30

2:30 made Sihon stubborn and defiant (literally had hardened his spirit and strengthened his heart): Like Pharaoh (see Exod 7:13), Sihon was incorrigibly unrepentant and thus experienced God’s wrath. God knew that any further extension of grace to these rulers would be useless. Mystery surrounds the relationship between statements that people harden their own hearts (e.g., Exod 7:13, 22; 8:15) and statements that God hardens people’s hearts (e.g., Exod 4:21; 7:3; 9:12). What is clear is that God appeals for repentance and is ready to forgive, but when people continually ignore or reject his appeals, they can become incapable of hearing and obeying God (see “Hardened Hearts” Theme Note; Rom 1:21-28; 9:17-24).

Verse 34

2:34 completely destroyed (Hebrew kharam): The Hebrew term refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. The underlying rationale was to maintain the Lord’s holiness in the face of pagan idolatry and moral corruption (see also Lev 27:28-29).

Verse 36

2:36 Aroer, on the north rim of the Arnon Gorge three miles from Dibon, marked the southernmost extent of the Amorite kingdom (3:12; 4:48; Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16, 25). • The identity of the town in the gorge is uncertain. • Gilead, famous for its balm and other aromatic spices (Jer 8:22; 46:11), lay north of the Jabbok River, the northernmost border of the Amorites under Sihon.

Verse 37

2:37 Like the Moabites, the Ammonites were related to Israel and were thus to be left undisturbed (cp. 2:9). • The Jabbok River, a great tributary of the Jordan River, marked the border between Gilead to the north and the Amorite kingdom of Sihon to the south. The Ammonites lived east and south of the Jabbok (2:19). It was somewhere at the Jabbok that Jacob wrestled with the stranger at night (Gen 32:22-32).