Conquest of the Amorites

(Book of Numbers 21:10 - 21:35)
The Israelites moved on to make their camp at Oboth.  Next, they left Oboth and traveled to Abarim, the desert that faces the eastern border of Moab.  From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.  They left there and next camped on the far side of the Arnon river, in the desert that extends to the border of Amorite territory.  (The Arnon is the boundary between Moab and the land of the Amorites.)  So it is that the Book of the Wars of Jehovah refers to "the town of Waheb in the region of Suphah, and the ravines of Arnon River that extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab."

From there the Israelites traveled to Beer, the well that Jehovah referred to when he told Moses, "Gather your people together and I will bring them water."  The Israelites then sang this song:

"Spring up, O well.  Sing its praises!
The well that was sunk by princes,
That the nobles of the people dug
Scraped out with the scepter and the staff."

They went from the desert to Matannah, from Matannah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley of Moab where the Pisgah Mountains overlook desert wasteland.

Israel then dispatched envoys to King Sihon of the Amorites with the request, "We ask your permission to be given safe passage through your land.  We will take care not to travel through your tilled fields or vineyards.  We won't drink from your wells.  We will stay on the king's highway until we have passed through your territory."

But King Sihon refused them passage through his land.  Instead, he mustered his entire army and marched it into the desert to challenge Israel.  When he reached Jahaz, his forces attacked Israel.  Israel, however, defeated him in battle and occupied his territory from the Arnon river to the Jabbok River, but only as far as the Ammonite border, which was heavily fortified.  Israel captured and settled in all the Amorite cities, including Heshbon and its surrounding settlements.

Heshbon was the capital city of King Sihon, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had wrested from him all the Moabite territory as far as the Arnon.

The poets wrote of this:

"Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt;
Let the city of Sihon be restored.
For a fire issued forth from Heshbon,
And a flame engulfed the city of Sihon.
Conflagration consumed Ar of Moab
And destroyed the lords of the Arnon heights.

Woe be to you, O people of Moab
You are thwarted, O worshipers of Chemosh.
Your sons have been put to flight and your daughters,
Captives of Sihon, the Amorite king.
The rule of Heshbon has been overthrown;
Its domain, plundered all the way to Dibon
And set aflame from Nophah to Medeba."

And thus the people of Israel occupied the territory of the Amorites.  Moses sent out men to scout the Jazer region; they captured all the towns in the area and drove out the Amorites who lived there.  Next, the Israelites marched north on the route to Bashan.  Og, the king of Bashan, mobilized his army and was prepared to engage the Israelites in battle at Edrei.

Jehovah told Moses, "Don't be afraid of him, for I am delivering him into your hands along with his army and his lands.  Deal with him as you did Sihon, the king of the Amorites who reigned at Heshbon."  And so they so they killed King Og and his sons, wiping out his people and then occupying his land.

Notes
1. The Israelites, after moving around from place to place now seem to get serious about finding a place to settle even though they have been denied access to the Promised Land by Jehovah.  And/or they want to get back at those peoples who had denied them safe passage through their countries when they asked politely for it.  The people who have spent all their time griping about the food, yearning to return to Egypt, challenging Moses, (and being afraid of snakes) suddenly, inexplicably, transform themselves into a formidable fighting force, conquerors, in fact.  They are, of course, getting a hand from Jehovah, but his part in the successful battles against against Sihon and Og is not specified.  The Israelites seem incapable of building anything themselves, except what is demanded by Jehovah, so they do not claim territory and begin building houses like pioneer immigrants have always done.  Instead, they settle in the towns they have taken, presumably living in the homes of the enemies they have killed.  This would certainly be a major lifestyle change.  One would think this would mean no more living in tents.  However, it is not clear whether it is the entire community of Israel that occupies the conquered towns, or only a small contingent.

2. The narrative references, even quotes, another book, The Book of the Wars of Jehovah.  Is this some ancient text used by the biblical authors?  A book that didn't make it into the Old Testament or was lost?  Since Numbers, along with the other 4 Books of Moses, claims to have been written by Moses himself, how could he, and why would he, refer to another book.  How and by whom could it have been written that it predates the Books of Moses?  It has been suggested that it was, in fact, another book written by Moses and perhaps Joshua.  Later, poets are quoted.  Of what nationality were these poets and in what language did they write, considering that in the time of Moses Hebrew did not exist and no alphabet had yet been invented.  Of course it is well established that the Books of Moses were written, or rather compiled, several hundred years after Moses, but one would have thought that the authors would have avoided the inclusion of any reference that obviously contradicted the fiction they sought to maintain, that Moses was their author. 

3. No moral justification is given for the wars the Israelites engage in.  Jehovah has never been concerned with such moral issues, but promotes a tribalistic sense of ethics -- any act that benefits your tribe is right and just regardless of the harm it may inflict upon those outside your tribe.

4. Pisgah can refer to the mountain range northeast of the Dead Sea or its primary peak, Mount Nebo.  The Arnon River (now Wadi Mujib in Jordan), the boundary between the lands of the Moabites to the south and the Amorites to the north, flows westward through mountainous terrain into the Dead Sea.  To the south, the Zered River (Wadi Hasa) also flows west into the Dead Sea and formed the boundary between Edom and Moab.  The Ammonites lived east of the Jordan, north of Moab and the Amorites.  The Jabbok River (the Zarqua) flows into the Jordan.  The biblical Amorites, probably distinct from the Mesopotamian people of an earlier period, were a tribe of mountain-dwelling Canaanites often thought to be of great physical stature.  The city of Heshbon was northeast of Moab, east of the north bank of the Dead Sea.  Jabaz was a few miles to the south.  Jazar, well to the north, was on the border of Ammon.  Bashan, a kingdom, was in the Golan Heights, far to the north, east of the Sea of Galilee.  Its capital, Edrei (Daraa) lies across the border of modern Syria.  The Israelites are indeed covering a great deal of distance in their conquests!

5. Chemosh was the national god of the Moabites and possibly the Ammonites as well.  He may have been the same deity as Moloch, or Chemosh and Moloch may have been two aspects of the same god.  It may be remembered that the Moabites and Ammonites were supposedly descended from Lot and his daughters.