Chapter 2 There Are Others To Whom Yahweh Has Given Land And They Are To Be Left Alone; The Defeat of Sihon, King of the Amorites.
So their fathers had failed to receive the land. But now the people are stirred up to go forward and take the land which God is giving them. He stresses, however, that there are also others to whom He has given land, and that that land is not theirs for the taking. That land belongs to the nations to whom Yahweh has given it. Israel cannot have it because it has been given to those nations by Yahweh. These are Edom, Moab and Ammon, all descended from Terah, Abraham's father, and connected with Abraham.
The first are related to the children of Esau, and ‘Mount Seir was given to Esau for a possession' (Deuteronomy 2:5) while the other two are ‘descended' from Lot and receive their land as from him. Theirs is the land which He has given to the children of Lot for a possession (Deuteronomy 2:9; Deuteronomy 2:19). To all three He has given their land for the sake of their fathers, for the sake of Abraham. For it is He Who disposes of land in accordance with His will (Deuteronomy 32:8). Although Israel (Jacob) are special, for they are His portion.
By this means it is emphasised to Israel that when Yahweh gives land to a nation it is under His protection. He is the Lord of all land and can give it to whom He will. Here is a shining example to them of what it means to dwell in land given by Yahweh. Let them then go forward to claim their own. The land that Yahweh gives them will be as secure to them as the land of Edom, Moab and Ammon are secure to those nations if only they are obedient. But they must not touch what Yahweh has given to others.
However, the same was not true of the Amorites. The land that they were in possession of did not belong to them. They were among those whose iniquity was now full (Genesis 15:16). They had forfeited the land. Thus the land of Sihon was Israel's for the taking.
Note how interspersed with the information about Edom, Moab and Ammon are two statements concerning Israel. The first confirms the way that Yahweh has blessed the second generation in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 2:7) and the second that He has destroyed all the first generation who were disobedient in Israel (Deuteronomy 2:14-15). If His people are, in His will, to enjoy blessing in their land like Edom, Moab and Ammon have, they must remember both, that God blesses those who obey Him and curses those who do not.
Approach to Edom (Deu Deuteronomy 2:1-8).
The first people who would be approached by Israel were Edom, described here as ‘sons of Esau' (compare). Esau was Jacob's elder brother and had made his home in Mount Seir gathering around him a band of men and combining with others to form the nation of Edom (Genesis 33:16; Genesis 36:6-9). They were thus seen as a ‘brother' tribe.
This passage can be analysed as follows:
a They went round in Mount Seir for a number of years (Deuteronomy 2:1 b).
b Until Yahweh said that they had gone round Mount Seir long enough and were to turn towards the north (Deuteronomy 2:2-3).
c They were to pass by the borders of their brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir. Esau would be afraid so that must be careful about their behaviour (Deuteronomy 2:4).
d They were not to contend with them, for Yahweh would not give Israel their land even to tread on (Deuteronomy 2:5 a).
d The reason for this was that Yahweh had given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession (Deuteronomy 2:5 b).
c They were therefore to purchase their food and water with silver so that they might eat and drink (Deuteronomy 2:6).
b For He reminds them that He has blessed them in all that they have done as they have travelled in the wilderness for ‘forty years', so that they have lacked nothing (Deuteronomy 2:7).
a So they passed by their brothers the children of Esau who dwelt in Seir as they came from Elath and Ezion-geber in the Arabah rift valley (Deuteronomy 2:8 a).
Note that in ‘a' they wandered around Mount Seir, but that in the parallel they avoided the places where Esau dwelt. In ‘b' they have been travelling around Seir long enough, and in the parallel while they have done so for almost forty years Yahweh has blessed them and ensured that they lacked nothing. In ‘c' they were to recognise that Esau were frightened of them and were to pass by their borders, and in the parallel they were to ensure that they paid for any food or drink that they required, thus quieting their fears. And in ‘d' they were reminded that they must not fight with them because their land was not for Israel. Indeed, in the parallel, they learn that it is Yahweh Himself Who has given it to Esau for a possession.
The Command To Go Forward (Deu Deuteronomy 2:1-3).
(Note: For commentary on Deuteronomy 2:1 a, see the comments for Deuteronomy 1:46.)
‘And we went around in mount Seir many days.'
This section begins with their weary wandering around the region of Mount Seir while the period of judgment of thirty eight years passed (Deuteronomy 2:14).
‘ And Yahweh spoke to me, saying, “You have wandered round this mountain long enough, turn you northward.”
Again it is stressed that we have the words of Moses as received by revelation from Yahweh. The period of waiting was over. Now they were to cease their wandering around the mountainous wilderness and move northward. It was time for them to possess the land in order to fulfil His promise to their forefathers. This northward movement is in direct contrast to their previous ‘movement' southward as they fled from the Amorites and then returned to the wilderness (Deuteronomy 1:44-46).
“Long enough.” Compare Deuteronomy 1:6. There their fathers had remained at Mount Sinai in Horeb long enough. That had been the sign to their fathers to move on. Here they had been travelling around Mount Seir long enough. This is a sign for them to move on. But we should note that Moses does not make this distinction between them and us. He speaks of ‘us' and ‘you'. Although two generations they are one people, and many of the children who were now men had also been there with their fathers.
“Turn you northward.” Once again they can do an ‘about turn', but this time in obedience to Yahweh and in order to enter the land (contrast Deuteronomy 1:40).