The Skeptics Annotated Bible (168 page)

26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

27 Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.

28 Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet;

29 (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.

30 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.

(2.30)
“The LORD thy God hardened his spirit … that he might deliver him into thy hand.”
God hardened the heart of the king of Heshbon and so that he could have him and all of his people killed.

31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.

32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

(2.33-34) At God’s instructions, the Israelites “utterly destroyed the men, women, and the little ones” leaving “none to remain.”
God’s 29th Killing

33 And the LORD our
God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

(2.33) “
God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.”

34
And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

(2.34)
“And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain.”

35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.

36 From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us:
the LORD our God delivered all unto us:

(2.36)
“The Lord our God delivered all unto us.”

37
Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not
, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.

(2.37)
“Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not.”
146 How should the Ammonites be treated?

3
Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

(3.3-6) The Israelites, with God’s help, kill all the men, women, and children of 60 cities.
God’s 30th Killing

3
So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og
also, the king of Bashan,
and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

4 And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not
from
them,
threescore cities
, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.