Bible Strands
Judges 11:19
And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Israel, having bypassed Edom and Moab to camp east of the Arnon, dispatches envoys to Sihon, the Amorite king ruling from Heshbon, to request safe passage through his territory to reach their own land.
The words — The verb וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayishlach) records the formal sending of מַלְאָכִים (mal'akim), meaning messengers or diplomatic agents, to initiate contact.
The thread — This request matches the account in Numbers 21:21 and echoes Moses’ earlier peace offer recorded in Deuteronomy 2:26, while Deuteronomy 3:1 notes the subsequent campaign against Sihon’s successor Og.
Why it lands — The text establishes Israel’s peaceful diplomatic overture as the factual precursor to Sihon’s refusal and the resulting battle, requiring the reader to note the sequence before military action begins.
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 Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.
Cross-references
- Numbers 21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
- Deuteronomy 2:26 So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,
- Deuteronomy 3:1 Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei.
- Joshua 13:8 The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them: