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The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
The Antiquities of the Jews
Written by Flavius Josephus
Translated by William Whiston
Book Four
Chapter 5
How Moses Conquered Sihon And Og Kings Of The
Amorites, And Destroyed Their Whole Army And Then Divided Their
Land By Lot To Two Tribes And A Half Of The Hebrews
1. The people mourned for Aaron thirty days, and when this
mourning was over, Moses removed the army from that place, and
came to the river Arnon, which, issuing out of the mountains of
Arabia, and running through all that wilderness, falls into the
lake Asphaltitis, and becomes the limit between the land of the
Moabites and the land of the Amorites. This land is fruitful,
and sufficient to maintain a great number of men, with the good
things it produces. Moses therefore sent messengers to Sihon,
the king of this country, desiring that he would grant his army
a passage, upon what security he should please to require; he
promised that he should be no way injured, neither as to that
country which Sihon governed, nor as to its inhabitants; and
that he would buy his provisions at such a price as should be to
their advantage, even though he should desire to sell them their
very water. But Sihon refused his offer, and put his army into
battle array, and was preparing every thing in order to hinder
their passing over Arnon.
2. When Moses saw that the Amorite king was disposed to enter
upon hostilities with them, he thought he ought not to bear that
insult; and, determining to wean the Hebrews from their indolent
temper, and prevent the disorders which arose thence, which had
been the occasion of their former sedition, (nor indeed were
they now thoroughly easy in their minds,) he inquired of God,
whether he would give him leave to fight? which when he had
done, and God also promised him the victory, he was himself very
courageous, and ready to proceed to fighting. Accordingly he
encouraged the soldiers; and he desired of them that they would
take the pleasure of fighting, now God gave them leave so to do.
They then, upon the receipt of this permission, which they so
much longed for, put on their whole armor, and set about the
work without delay. But the Amorite king was not now like to
himself when the Hebrews were ready to attack him; but both he
himself was affrighted at the Hebrews, and his army, which
before had showed themselves to be of good courage, were then
found to be timorous: so they could not sustain the first onset,
nor bear up against the Hebrews, but fled away, as thinking this
would afford them a more likely way for their escape than
fighting, for they depended upon their cities, which were
strong, from which yet they reaped no advantage when they were
forced to fly to them; for as soon as the Hebrews saw them
giving ground, they immediately pursued them close; and when
they had broken their ranks, they greatly terrified them, and
some of them broke off from the rest, and ran away to the
cities. Now the Hebrews pursued them briskly, and obstinately
persevered in the labors they had already undergone; and being
very skillful in slinging, and very dexterous in throwing of
darts, or any thing else of that kind, and also having nothing
but light armor, which made them quick in the pursuit, they
overtook their enemies; and for those that were most remote, and
could not be overtaken, they reached them by their slings and
their bows, so that many were slain; and those that escaped the
slaughter were sorely wounded, and these were more distressed
with thirst than with any of those that fought against them, for
it was the summer season; .and when the greatest number of them
were brought down to the river out of a desire to drink, as also
when others fled away by troops, the Hebrews came round them,
and shot at them; so that, what with darts and what with arrows,
they made a slaughter of them all. Sihon their king was also
slain. So the Hebrews spoiled the dead bodies, and took their
prey. The land also which they took was full of abundance of
fruits, and the army went all over it without fear, and fed
their cattle upon it; and they took the enemies prisoners, for
they could no way put a stop to them, since all the fighting men
were destroyed. Such was the destruction which overtook the
Amorites, who were neither sagacious in counsel, nor courageous
in action. Hereupon the Hebrews took possession of their land,
which is a country situate between three rivers, and naturally
resembled an island: the river Arnon being its southern ; the
river Jabbok determining its northern side, which running into
Jordan loses its own name, and takes the other; while Jordan
itself runs along by it, on its western coast.
3. When matters were come to this state, Og, the king of Gilead
and Gaulanitis, fell upon the Israelites. He brought an army
with him, and in haste to the assistance of his friend Sihon:
but though he found him already slain, yet did he resolve still
to come and fight the Hebrews, supposing he should be too hard
for them, and being desirous to try their valor; but failing of
his hope, he was both himself slain in the battle, and all his
army was destroyed. So Moses passed over the river Jabbok, and
overran the kingdom of Og. He overthrew their cities, and slew
all their inhabitants, who yet exceeded in riches all the men in
that part of the continent, on account of the goodness of the
soil, and the great quantity of their wealth. Now Og had very
few equals, either in the largeness of his body, or handsomeness
of his appearance. He was also a man of great activity in the
use of his hands, so that his actions were not unequal to the
vast largeness and handsome appearance of his body. And men
could easily guess at his strength and magnitude when they took
his bed at Rabbath, the royal city of the Ammonites; its
structure was of iron, its breadth four cubits, and its length a
cubit more than double thereto. However, his fall did not only
improve the circumstances of the Hebrews for the present, but by
his death he was the occasion of further good success to them;
for they presently took those sixty cities, which were
encompassed with excellent walls, and had been subject to him,
and all got both in general and in particular a great prey.
Continue on to
Book
Four,
Chapter 6,
The Antiquities of the Jews
by
Flavius Josephus
Return to
The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
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