Deuteronomy 2:16-25
New Living Translation
16 “When all the men of fighting age had died, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar 19 and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”
20 (That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land. 22 He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day. 23 A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete[a] invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)
24 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said, ‘Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land. 25 Beginning today I will make people throughout the earth terrified because of you. When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear.’”
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- 2:23 Hebrew from Caphtor.
Deuteronomy 2:16-25
New English Translation
Instructions Concerning Ammon
16 So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community,[a] 17 the Lord said to me, 18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar.[b] 19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants[c] as their possession.”
20 (That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites.[d] The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites.[e] 21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites[f] in advance of the Ammonites,[g] so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. 22 This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day. 23 As for the Avvites[h] who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites[i] who came from Crete[j] destroyed them and settled down in their place.)
24 “Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look, I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon,[k] and his land. Go ahead—take it! Engage him in war! 25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth[l] with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.”[m]
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- Deuteronomy 2:16 tn Heb “and it was when they were eliminated, all the men of war, to die from the midst of the people.”
- Deuteronomy 2:18 sn Ar. See note on this word in Deut 2:9.
- Deuteronomy 2:19 sn Lot’s descendants. See note on this phrase in Deut 2:9.
- Deuteronomy 2:20 sn Rephaites. See note on this word in Deut 2:11.
- Deuteronomy 2:20 sn Zamzummites. Just as the Moabites called Rephaites by the name Emites, the Ammonites called them Zamzummites (or Zazites; Gen 14:5).
- Deuteronomy 2:21 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Rephaites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 2:21 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Ammonites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 2:23 sn Avvites. Otherwise unknown, these people were probably also Anakite (or Rephaite) giants who lived in the lower Mediterranean coastal plain until they were expelled by the Caphtorites.
- Deuteronomy 2:23 sn Caphtorites. These peoples are familiar from both the OT (Gen 10:14; 1 Chr 1:12; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7) and ancient Near Eastern texts (Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:37-38; ANET 138). They originated in Crete (OT “Caphtor”) and are identified as the ancestors of the Philistines (Gen 10:14; Jer 47:4).
- Deuteronomy 2:23 tn Heb “Caphtor”; the modern name of the island of Crete is used in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
- Deuteronomy 2:24 sn Heshbon is the name of a prominent site (now Tel Hesbān, about 7.5 mi [12 km] south southwest of Amman, Jordan). Sihon made it his capital after having driven Moab from the area and forced them south to the Arnon (Num 21:26-30). Heshbon is also mentioned in Deut 1:4.
- Deuteronomy 2:25 tn Heb “under heaven” (so NIV, NRSV).
- Deuteronomy 2:25 tn Heb “from before you.”
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