Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 2:9
Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks to Moses as the Israelite camp moves along the road of the Wilderness of Moab, immediately after passing through Edom. The command halts military action against Moab at the boundary of the promised inheritance.
The words — The Hebrew verb תּצַר (ta.tzar) means to distress or harass, joined with the negative imperative וְאַל (ve'al) to strictly forbid provoking Moab to war.
The thread — The city of Ar marks the Moabite border in Numbers 21:15 and is destroyed by fire from Heshbon in Numbers 21:28. Genesis 19:36 traces Moab’s lineage to Lot’s daughter, establishing the genealogical context for the territorial restriction in Deuteronomy.
Why it lands — The text commands restraint toward Moab and clarifies that Yahweh alone determines land distribution, having already allocated Ar to Lot’s descendants. A reader must recognize that divine timing and territorial limits override military opportunity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
Cross-references
- Genesis 19:36 Thus both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
- Numbers 21:15 even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”
- Numbers 21:28 For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
- Numbers 22:4 So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Since Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time,
- Deuteronomy 2:5 Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.
- Deuteronomy 2:18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.
- Deuteronomy 2:29 just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”
- Judges 11:17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
- Psalms 83:8 Even Assyria has joined them, lending strength to the sons of Lot. Selah
- 2 Chronicles 20:10 And now, here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. So Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them.