Arnon
Flowing through the rugged lands east of the Jordan, the Arnon marked the longstanding border between Moab and the Amorites, a division that shaped the territorial claims encountered by Israel during its wilderness approach to Canaan. This river figured directly in the conquest of Sihon, whose Amorite kingdom had earlier seized the area northward from Moab, allowing the victory under Moses to secure the region as part of the inheritance granted to Reuben and Gad. Later referenced by Jephthah in his message to the Ammonites, the Arnon illustrates how God sovereignly used prior conflicts to establish boundaries that advanced His redemptive purposes for the nation.
Details
- Region
- Moab
- Modern Location
- Wadi Mujib, Jordan
Key Passages
Border of Moab
Numbers 21:13
The Israelites camped by the Arnon, which served as the boundary between Moab and the Amorites.
13rom thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Conquest of Sihon
Deuteronomy 2:24
God commanded Israel to cross the Arnon and begin the conquest of Sihon's kingdom.
24ise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.
Jephthah's Message
Judges 11:18
Jephthah recounted how Israel traveled along the border of the Arnon without entering Moabite territory.
18hen they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.