And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
Israel sent messengers unto Sihon ... - (see the notes at Numbers 20:17-19.) The place from which the messengers were sent was Kedemoth - i:e., eastward (see the note at Deuteronomy 11:26). The rejection of their respectful and pacific message was resented; Sihon was discomfited in battle; and Israel obtained by right of conquest the whole of the Amorite dominions. The decisive battle which was followed by this splendid result was fought at Jahaz [Yaahaats, with the Hebrew letter he (h), the particle of motion added to it in this passage; Septuagint, Iassa, a place considerably south of Heshbon, on the edge of the eastern desert in the extreme southern part of Sihon's dominions, and consequently on the northernside of the Arnon]. Its site has not been ascertained. Sihon himself was the challenger, and the Israelites, who had done nothing toward him to provoke an attack, were compelled to engage in a defensive war with him, in which, by the help of their Almighty Guardian, they were completely victorious.