ohrlur,1to nnd persistent in his hostility to of course implied utter deirlrnction. Th~ tho pcoplo of Goel ; the oxpreaaion " ho men, nnrl the women, and the Wile ime,, of wnul,l not" indicntca thnt it wna of his own every dty; literally, e1JP,T!f city of men an,l will thnt Sihon nctod; but it wn~ !ho will ,oomen and little chilrlren. Tho phrase nnd pmposo of God that Sihon should ho "city of men" can harrlly mean, aR Rosen- dcstrnvcd, and his country taken by the miiller affirms, "men of a city;" tho hy- Jsrnclitos, nnrl so ho wo.a placed in circum- pallage here would be too violent. lt stnnc~s by which," given over to a reprobate rather means "a people,! city," "o. city in- mind," 110 was confirmed o.nd strengthened habiterl by men." The worrl rendered in his dctcrminntion to pursue n course "men" (C'J')~) does not designate males as which Jeri to his destruction; like Pharaoh, opposed to females, but is a designation of by tho circumstances in whic~ Goel placed human beings in general (cf. Joh xi. 3: him he found scope for the display and for xxiv. 12 [Heb, xx. 48]; xxxi. 31; Ps. xxvi. the ~nfirmation of a stubborn, pertinacious 4, "vain persons," A uthorize,I V crsion, pride of spirit, which led ultimo.tely to litero.lly, men of emptiness or nf fale,hoorl, his ruin. Nothing so hardens tho heart etc.). The passage might be ren<lcrecl, ns rcsistanco to God's overtures of peace. ever!/ inhabited city, even the women ancl As nppeareth ~his day; i.e. o.s present ex- the little children. pcricuce shows; in Sihon's· refusing to let Ver. 36.-Aroer, one of the Amorite cities, them pass, there was already an actunl on the right bank of the river Arnon (cf. be.,iuning of the fulfilment of God's pur- Josh. xii. 2; xiii. 16). On the i\'Ioabito po~e to deliver him into the ho.nd of the Stone, King Mesha says, " I built Aroer; " Isrnclitcs. but this can only mean that, after some Vcrs. 31-37.-God had determined to temporary condition of decay or ruin, he give Sihon and his land to the Israelites, rebuilt it. On the borders of the northern nnd so certainly should this be done, that aide of the Wady Mojeb, there are heaps of l\1oscs is exhorted already to begin to seize, ruins bearing the name of Ara'ir, which probably mark the site of this ancient town. in order to possess the land. Sihon initiated 'fhere was another Aroer, belonging at o. hostilities by coming out with o.11 his host later period to the tribe of Gad, and opposite to fight ago.inst Moses and the Israelites. to Rabba, the chief city of the A=onites Tho batllo took place at Jo.haz (or Jahuzah, (Josh. xiii. 25; 2 Sam. xxiv. 5); and still or Jahza), o. town between Medeba and another in the south of Judah (1 Sam. xxx. 28), probably in what is now known as tbo Dibon (Euseb.; cf. Numb. xxxiii. 45), after- Wady A'rarah. The city tha.t is by the river: wards belonging to the tribe of Reuben properly, in the river or wacly; i.e . .Ar, the (Josh. xiii. 18), and assigned to the Levites ea.pita! of l\foab, which was in the valley of of the line of Memri ( J osb. xxi. 36 ; I Chmn. the Arnon, and which is mentioned here as vi. 78). '!'ho war was one of extermination, marking the exclusive limit of the country in which nil the people of Sihon were de- that was ~aptnred. The word rendered "river" (S.!71) is used of the valley or ravine stroyed, from one end of bis dominion to the (Arabic, wridy) through which a stream flows, other; all his cities were devoted irredeem- as well as of the stream itself (cf. Gen. xxvi. ably (comp. Lev. xxvii. 29), and only the 19; Numb. xxiv. 6, etc.). Ar is elsewhere cattle and the materio.l property were pre- called Ar of Moab (Isa. xv. 1). Even unto served ns booty by the conquerors (Numb. Gilead, i.e. l\Iount Gilead, ,vhich rises to tbo xx:. 23-26). north of the Jabbok(hod. Zerh). Ver. 37.-In obedience to the Divine Ver. 32 (cl'. Numb. xxi. 23).-Jahaz (i''!.', injunction, the Israelites left untouched the clowntroclden), elsewhere Jnhazo.h (:"lf'l:), a country of the Ammonites, situated on the city of l\loab, o.fterwarcls assigned to tho eastern side of the Upper Jabbok. Cities in tribe of Reuben, and allotted to the priests the mountains: the towns in the Ammonitish (Josh. xiii. 18; xxi. 36; I Cbron. vi. 63; bighlo.nds. In Josh. xiii. 25, ho.If of the Isa. xv. 4: Jer. xlviii. 34). lnnd of the Ammonites is said to be assigned Vcrs. 33, 34 (cf. Nmnb. xxii. 24, 25; xxxii. to the tribe of Gad; but that refers to the 3J, 35, otc.).-And utterly destroyed the men, po.rt of the land between the Arnon and and the women, an:I the little ones, . ; . we the Jo.bbok, which bad been taken from the left none to remain. As the Amorites came Ammonites by the Aruol'ites, anJ was in out. of Cnnuan, they belonged to the race the possession of the !utter at the time of the ~\Inch Goel had doomed to destruction. Israelitish invasion (Judg. xi. 13, etc.). I he Ismelitea, therefore, bad a commission Whatsoever the Lord our God forba.d us: to oxlirpate them. Utterly d1stroyed; liter- literally, all that Jehovah our God commanded ully, devoted or pluced under a ban, which us, so. not to come into. DEUTERONOMY. D THE BOOK OF DEUT~UONOMY, [ell, II, 1-37,
HOMILETICS.