Numbers 21:21-35

The victories over Sihon and Og. See the parallel account in Deuteronomy 2:24 to Deuteronomy 3:13. The previous verses have described the Israelites" march through the territory occupied by the Amorites on the north of the Arnon, and their arrival at one of the glens which cleave the western edge of the plateau, close to the spot where it ran into the Jordan valley. The narrative now returns to the earlier point, described in Numbers 21:13, when they were still on the eastern border of the Amorites.

Since the town of Heshbon commanded the glens, it would have been impossible to penetrate into them unless the town had first been captured; but the writer has arranged his material in the present order for the sake of convenience. The battles with Sihon and Og being the last struggles before the promised land could be reached, the remembrance of them was cherished; see Judges 11:19-22; 1 Kings 4:19; Nehemiah 9:22; Psalms 135:11; Psalms 136:19 f.