‏ Deuteronomy 2:25

Deu 2:24-25

While they were encamped on the Arnon, the border of the Amoritish king of Sihon, He directed them to cross this frontier and take possession of the land of Sihon, and promised that He would give this king with all his territory into their hands, and that henceforward (“this day,” the day on which Israel crossed the Arnon) He would put fear and terror of Israel upon all nations under the whole heaven, so that as soon as they heard the report of Israel they would tremble and writhe before them. רשׁ החל, “begin, take,” an oratorical expression for “begin to take” (רשׁ in pause for רשׁ, Deu 1:21). The expression, “all nations under the whole heaven,” is hyperbolical; it is not to be restricted, however, to the Canaanites and other neighbouring tribes, but, according to what follows, to be understood as referring to all nations to whom the report of the great deeds of the Lord upon and on behalf of Israel should reach (cf. Deu 11:25 and Exo 23:27). אשׁר, so that (as in Gen 11:7; Gen 13:16; Gen 22:14). וחלוּ, with the accent upon the last syllable, on account of the ו consec. (Ewald, §234, a.), from חוּל, to twist, or writhe with pain, here with anxiety.
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