2:31 - The Lord said to me, "See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land."
With Sihon's refusal, Yahweh's decision is crystalized. This sentence closes this unit in the same way it opened (v24b), with a call to faith: "See, I have began to deliver Sihon and his country to you." This is followed by the imperative: "Go. Conquer it. Thus take possession of it." Commentators are uncertain about the construction in the Hebrew of the second half of this commandment; literally, "begin to possess to possess his land." Is it a particular idiomatic Hebrew expression? Or was the text here scrambled because a tired scribe made an error in the copying of the ancient manuscripts? Whatever may be the case, the force of its call to take possession of the land is clear. GenB's parents had, once upon a time, come at the end of a long journey to Kadesh Barnea where this very thing was commanded of them (1:21). They had disobeyed. GenB too had come to the end of a long journey, and here the command is renewed to them. For every generation there is a new beginning, a new opportunity for decision. What are the possessions for which God has prepared for us? And how will we decide?
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, rev., 2021