Sihon, King of the Amorites
Sihon ruled the Amorite kingdom of Heshbon east of the Jordan, territory he had himself seized from Moab. When Israel requested safe passage through his land on their way to Canaan, promising to stay on the highway and pay for any water they drank, Sihon refused and instead mustered his army to attack Israel at Jahaz. Israel defeated him decisively, taking his entire territory from the Arnon to the Jabbok, which became the inheritance of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. His refusal to allow peaceful passage, framed in Deuteronomy as God hardening his spirit, set the pattern for how Israel would treat the nations blocking their path to the promised land.
Biography
- Occupation
- King of the Amorites
- Era
- Wilderness Wandering
- Nationality
- Amorite
Did You Know?
Sihon's defeat is quoted for centuries afterward - Rahab in Jericho cites it as the reason Canaan's heart melted before Israel.
The territory taken from Sihon became the inheritance of Reuben and Gad - Israel's first permanent land, won before the Jordan was ever crossed.
Numbers preserves an ancient victory ballad about Sihon's own earlier conquest of Moab - a rare case of the Bible quoting Amorite war poetry.
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Sihon Refuses Passage
Numbers 21:21-24
Israel's reasonable request for passage, refused by Sihon, results in the first territorial conquest east of the Jordan - a preview of the larger campaign to come.
21nd Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
Moses Recounts the Victory
Deuteronomy 2:30-33
Moses frames Sihon's stubbornness as divinely permitted, so that his defeat would demonstrate God's hand in giving Israel the land.
30ut 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.