Moses turns his attention now to Israel's passage through Moab and Ammon. The Moabites inhabit the tableland east of the Jordan Rift-Valley, bounded on the south, and separating it from Edom, by the Zered River (Open Map ☰), and on the north by the Arnon River, which separates it from Ammon. The Ammonites occupied the tableland north of Moab. The land north of Ammon was occupied by Sihon the Amorite king, but the boundary between them is less clearly distinguished. The Old Testament traces the origin of the Moabites and Ammonites back to the incestuous offspring of Lot and his two daughters (Gen.19:31-38); hence the reference to them as "the descendants of Lot" (v9 & 19).
This account is notable for the wealth of comments inserted by the narrator into Moses' recall of the journey. These comments, however, seem purposively emplaced to highlight the demise of GA, which is set at the centre of the structure that frames the
account:
Aa. Israel's Journey through the Territory of the Descendents of Lot (Moab), v9.
Ab. Parenthetical Remarks about the Territory's Pre-Existent People, vv10-12.
B. Transition into Moabite Territory, v13.
C. The Passing Away of GenA, vv14-16.
B'. Transition into Moabite Territory, vv17-18.
Aa'. Israel's Journey through the Territory of the Descendants of Lot (Ammon), v19.
Ab'. Parenthetical Remarks about the Territory's Pre-Existent People, vv20-23.
To emphasize the horror of disobedience the death of GenA is deliberately set at the center of a series of accounts about other nations who had conquered their lands. But the center is also in the midst of Moabite territory, from whence GenB would conquer the land. The unit thus looks back to the rebellion of the past generation and looks forward to the hope of conquest by the present generation.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, rev., 2021