behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven … And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying: ’Let me pass through thy land; I will go along by the highway, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on my feet; as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.’ . But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. (Deuteronomy 2:24–30)
רְאֵה נָתַתִּי בְיָדְךָ אֶת סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן הָאֱמֹרִי וְאֶת אַרְצוֹ הָחֵל רָשׁ וְהִתְגָּר בּוֹ מִלְחָמָה. הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אָחֵל תֵּת פַּחְדְּךָ וְיִרְאָתְךָ עַל פְּנֵי הָעַמִּים תַּחַת כָּל הַשָּׁמָיִם ... וָאֶשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים מִמִּדְבַּר קְדֵמוֹת אֶל סִיחוֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן דִּבְרֵי שָׁלוֹם לֵאמֹר. אֶעְבְּרָה בְאַרְצֶךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֵלֵךְ לֹא אָסוּר יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול. אֹכֶל בַּכֶּסֶף תַּשְׁבִּרֵנִי וְאָכַלְתִּי וּמַיִם בַּכֶּסֶף תִּתֶּן לִי וְשָׁתִיתִי רַק אֶעְבְּרָה בְרַגְלָי. כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לִי בְּנֵי עֵשָׂו הַיֹּשְׁבִים בְּשֵׂעִיר וְהַמּוֹאָבִים הַיֹּשְׁבִים בְּעָר עַד אֲשֶׁר אֶעֱבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ נֹתֵן לָנוּ. וְלֹא אָבָה סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן הַעֲבִרֵנוּ בּוֹ כִּי הִקְשָׁה ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת רוּחוֹ וְאִמֵּץ אֶת לְבָבוֹ לְמַעַן תִּתּוֹ בְיָדְךָ כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה. (דברים ב', כד-ל)
Moses sends Sihon words of peace requesting passage through his land. This request, first mentioned in Numbers 21:21–22, suggests that had Sihon agreed, Israel would merely have passed through on its way to Canaan rather than conquering his kingdom.
Yet the LORD commanded possession of his land, “begin to possess it.” Why did Moses settle for requesting passage instead of obeying?
The answer is that the request itself was the commanded provocation. The LORD said “begin to possess it” – how? “contend with him in battle”!
The request for passage was unreasonable. A similar proposal to Edom, Israel’s relative – “Thus saith thy brother Israel” – was flatly refused (Numbers 20:14–21). If Edom, a “brother,” answered so, a completely foreign kingdom such as Sihon’s would certainly refuse.
The precedents Moses cites – “as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me” – are not comparable. Israel traveled only along their territories’ edges. Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, and the Moabites merely allowed passage at their borders by not attacking. Moses asked to traverse Sihon’s kingdom’s entire center from east to west, something no sovereign kingdom could accept. The seemingly innocent request was actually provocation.
If the LORD wanted Moses to provoke war and possess Sihon’s land, however, why did he speak peacefully as though avoiding war?
His request and the LORD’s hardening of Sihon’s heart recall the request to leave Egypt for a three-day journey and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (see “The Deception”). Both follow the same pattern: an intended refusal followed by punishment, Pharaoh losing his army in the sea and Sihon his land.
Just as the request for three days’ departure sought Pharaoh’s refusal of a reasonable request and consequent punishment, the peaceful-passage request sought Sihon’s refusal and punishment through loss of his territory.
In the exodus, requesting only three days induced Egypt to pursue Israel and perish in the sea. Similarly, Moses’ peaceful request and Sihon’s mistaken response of gathering all his people for battle eased conquest: Israel could destroy his main army concentrated at Jahaz rather than wage a long war against each city separately.
Ultimately, the peace request was the instrument for realizing “begin to possess it,” rather than its contradiction. The peaceful words were the provocation itself, designed to induce Sihon to battle and defeat. Egypt’s familiar pattern recurs: an innocent request, a hardened heart, and refusal leading to destruction.
