Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 4:46
while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, delivering the statutes and ordinances immediately after their Exodus from Egypt. He anchors this proclamation in the valley across the Jordan opposite Beth-peor, within the territory formerly controlled by Sihon king of the Amorites.
The words — The phrase בְּ/עֵ֨בֶר הַ/יַּרְדֵּ֜ן (be./'E.ver hai./yar.Den) literally means "on the other side of the Jordan," marking the eastern boundary of the narrative. The directional term מ֚וּל (mul) translates as "opposite to," precisely locating the camp across from Beth-peor.
The thread — This eastern valley location reappears in Deuteronomy 3:29 as the Israelite campsite opposite Beth-peor and in Numbers 21:21 where Israel first sends messengers to Sihon. It also connects to Numbers 32:19, which separates the eastern inheritance from the western conquest.
Why it lands — The text places the giving of the law within a specific conquered territory, signaling the shift from wilderness wandering to territorial occupation. It requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant instruction is delivered at the threshold of possession, not in abstraction.
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
On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth–peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 3:29 So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
- Numbers 21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
- Numbers 32:19 Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”
- Deuteronomy 1:4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.
- Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
- Deuteronomy 3:8 At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon—
- Deuteronomy 4:47 They took possession of the land belonging to Sihon and to Og king of Bashan—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan to the east—