Deuteronomy 2:36

2:36 Aroer, on the north rim of the Arnon Gorge three miles from Dibon, marked the southernmost extent of the Amorite kingdom (3:12; 4:48; Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16, 25). • The identity of the town in the gorge is uncertain. • Gilead, famous for its balm and other aromatic spices (Jer 8:22; 46:11), lay north of the Jabbok River, the northernmost border of the Amorites under Sihon.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, into our hand.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 36. From Aroer - by the brink of the river of Arnon] See Clarke on Nu 21:13, &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(36) Aroer.—According to Conder, “the ruin ‘Ar ‘Air, on the north bank of Wâdy Môjib.” (But he makes the Aroer of Num_32:34 a different place, and marks it as unknown. Why?)

The city that is by the river.—The description suggests Rabbath-ammon, but this cannot be referred to here.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

36. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon] The Naḥal ’Arnon = Wâdy Môjeb, see above Deu_2:24. Edge, Heb. lip. ‘Arô‘er is frequently given in the O.T. as a S. limit:—e.g. of the territory taken by Israel from Sîḥôn (here, and Deu_3:12, Deu_4:48, Jos_12:2; Jos_13:9; Jos_13:16); of the kingdom of Israel (2Sa_24:5 emended after LXX; 2Ki_10:33). ‘I built,’ says Mesha (Moabite Stone, 27), ‘‘Arô‘er and made the high-way by the ’Arnon.’ Jer_48:19 connects ‘Arô‘er with a high-road. Eusebius describes it as above ’Arnon, ‘on the eyebrow of the hill.’ To-day the Khirbet ‘Arâ‘er, ruins of a walled town on the N. edge of the W. Môjeb, here nearly 2000 feet deep, with an ancient zig-zag road down the precipitous slopes to the bed of the Wâdy (Tristram, Moab, 125 ff.; Musil, Moab, 331, with plan and views). It lies nearly 2 miles E. of the Roman road, the present high road across ’Arnon, and must not be confounded with the ruins called ‘Aḳraba close to the latter (cp. Brünnow, Provincia Arabia, i. 31; and the present writer, PEFQ, 1905, 41); an error into which several travellers have fallen.

the city that is in the valley] The valley or naḥal is, of course, the ’Arnon or Wâdy Môjeb, the S. frontier of Sîḥôn’s kingdom. The site of the unnamed city is uncertain. Its frequent association with ‘Arô‘er as on a S. frontier (e.g. here, Jos_13:9; Jos_13:16, 2Sa_24:5) may imply that it lay close under ‘Arô‘er on the stream; where to-day ruins stand with the name Khreibet ‘Ajam1[113]; in which case the city has been added to ‘Arô‘er in order to define the exact border as the stream, and its namelessness is explicable by its having been a mere suburb or the toll-town of ‘Arô‘er. Or else, since ‘Arô‘er lay towards the W. end of the S. frontier of Sîḥôn’s kingdom formed by the ’Arnon, the city in the valley lay further up the ’Arnon and so defined the E. extremity of the S. border. Musil suggests Medeyyneh on the upper stretch of ’Arnon, now the W. Sa‘ideh or Sa‘îdeh (Moab, 328 ff.). It lies on a projection of the plateau into the Wâdy, and might well be described as the city in, or in the midst of, the naḥal. This is the same site as Musil proposes for ‘Ar or ‘Ir of Mo‘ab, also given as a limit (see on Deu_2:18); the identification of which had already been made on Biblical data alone (Dillm. in loco).

[113] There are other ruins a little further E. up the stream at its confluence with that from the S. and these Grove (Smith’s D.B. 1st ed.) takes as the city in question.

even unto Gilead] E, Num_21:24, defines more exactly unto the Jabboḳ, the next great natural frontier N. of Arnon. Gile‘ad lay on both sides of Jabboḳ, which divided it into halves.

too high for us] The Heb. phrase is found in prose only here, and elsewhere in the O.T. only in Job_5:11. Further see Deu_1:28.

before us] Sam. LXX: into our hands.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river Arnon.... Upon the border of Moab, and the principal city of it; see Jer 48:19.

and from the city that is by the river; or even the city that is in the midst of the river, the city Aroer, which seems to be meant; see Jos 12:2. This river is afterwards called the river of Gad, Sa2 24:5 in the midst of it Aroer was, perhaps because it was possessed by the tribe of Gad:

even unto Gilead; Mount Gilead and the country adjacent to it, which belonged to Og king of Bashan:

there was not one city too strong for us; that could hold out against them, when attacked and besieged by them, but presently surrendered:

the Lord our God delivered all unto us; Moses ascribes all the victories and success they had unto the Lord, not to their own might and power, but to the power of God with them, and his blessing on them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon - Aroer stood on the north bank of the river, and was assigned Jos 13:9, Jos 13:16 to the tribe of Reuben, of which it formed the most southerly city. The valley of the Arnon is here deep, and the descent to it abrupt. In Roman times it was spanned by a viaduct, the ruins of which still remain, and which was probably built on the lines of the original structure of Mesha 2Ki 3:5. Aroer here must not be confounded with “Aroer, which is before Rabbah” Jos 13:25. This latter place was “built,” “i. e.” rebuilt, by the Gadites Num 32:34; it belonged to that tribe, and was consequently far to the north of the Arnon. A third Aroer in the tribe of Judah is mentioned in 1Sa 30:28.

“The city that is by the river,” literally, “in the midst of the river” (compare Jos 13:9, Jos 13:16) is Ar Moab (compare Num 21:15 note).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Aroer was in the border of Moab, but now in the hands of the Amorites.

By the river, Heb. in the river, wherewith it was encompassed, Num 21:15,28; Jos 12:2; 13:9. He speaks exclusively, for this was Ar, which now was in the Moabites’ jurisdiction, above, Deu 2:9.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

36. From Aroer — This city was on the north bank of the Arnon, and was given to the tribe of Reuben. Joshua 13. On the Moabite Stone Mesha states: “I built Aroer and I made the road across the Arnon.” Burckhardt found ruins with the name Ara’ar on the edge of the north bank of the Arnon.

The city that is by the river — Rather, the city which is in the valley. This refers to Ar or Areopolis. See Num_21:15.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Aroer, one of the Amorite cities, on the right bank of the river Arnon (cf. Jos_12:2 Jos_13:16) On the Moabite Stone, King Mesha says, "I built Aroer;" but this can only mean that, after some temporary condition of decay or ruin, he rebuilt it. On the borders of the northern side of the Wady Mojeb, there are heaps of ruins bearing the name of Ara"ir, which probably mark the site of this ancient town. There was another Aroer, belonging at a later period to the tribe of Gad, and opposite to Rabba, the chief city of the Ammonites (Jos_13:25; 2Sa_24:5) and still another in the south of Judah, (1Sa_30:28) probably in what is now known as the Wady A"rarah. The city that is by the river; properly, in the river or wady; i.e. At, the capital of Moab, which was in the valley of the Arnon, and which is mentioned here as marking the exclusive limit of the country that was captured. The word rendered "river" (ljn) is used of the valley or ravine (Arabic, wady) through which a stream flows, as well as of the stream itself (cf. Gen_26:19; Num_24:6, etc.) Ar is elsewhere called Ar of. (Isa_15:1) Even unto Gilead, i.e. Mount Gilead, which rises to the north of the Jabbok (hod. Zerka).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Aroer

This is the name of a city on the north bank of the Arnon River. (See: How to Translate Names)

Valley of the Arnon

"Arnon" is the name of a river. See how you translated this in Deuteronomy 2:24. (See: How to Translate Names)

there was not a city too high for us

This negative statement is used to emphasize their success in battle. This can be stated in a positive form. AT: "we were able to defeat the people of every city even if the city had high walls around it" (See: Litotes)

you did not go

Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so "you" is singular. (See: Forms of You)

Jabbok River

This is the name of a river that created the border between Sihon's land and the land of the Ammonites. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Gilead

Yahweh

God

Ammon

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.