Deuteronomy 2:26

Summary

The verse narrates that the speaker sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, carrying words of peace. It functions as a narrative transition introducing the diplomatic approach before the confrontation with Sihon.

Key words

• 'esh.Lach ("I sent", H7971G) — qal narrative verb with 1st person prefix, continuing the sequence of past actions in the first-person account.
• mal.'a.Khim ("messengers", H4397G) — masculine plural noun, the direct object being sent.
• mid.Bar ("wilderness of", H4057B) — masculine singular construct, linking to the place name Kedemot to specify the point of departure.
• div.Rei ("words of", H1697G) — masculine plural construct, forming a construct chain with shalom.
• Mor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed le- ("to/in"), introducing the reported speech that follows.

What the text says

The clause opens with the narrative va- prefix attached to 'esh.Lach ("I sent"), a standard Biblical Hebrew construction for sequential past narration in first person. The subject "I" is embedded in the verb form itself, requiring no separate pronoun. The object mal.'a.Khim ("messengers") follows directly, then two prepositional phrases specify origin and destination: mi-mid.Bar Kedemot ("from the wilderness of Kedemoth") marks the point of departure using a construct chain between mid.Bar and the place name, while 'el Sichon Melekh Cheshbon ("to Sihon, king of Heshbon") marks the recipient, itself a construct chain (Melekh Cheshbon, "king of Heshbon") in apposition to the personal name Sichon.

The content carried by the messengers is expressed through another construct chain, div.Rei shalom ("words of peace"), literally "words of peace" rather than a single abstract noun like "a peace offer." This construct phrase functions adverbially, describing the nature of the message. The clause closes with the infinitive le-'Mor ("to say" / "saying"), a common Hebrew device that introduces direct speech to follow in subsequent verses. The infinitive construct with le- prefix has no exact one-word English equivalent and typically requires "saying" as a translational placeholder.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint renders mal.'a.Khim ("messengers") as πρέσβεις ("envoys/elders"), a term with slightly more formal diplomatic connotation than the Hebrew's more general "messengers." The Vulgate's nuntios ("messengers/heralds") and verbis pacificis ("with peaceful words") closely track the Hebrew construct chain div.Rei shalom, though "pacificis" as an adjective differs structurally from the Hebrew's noun-construct phrase "words of peace." The BSB's "with an offer of peace" interprets the same construct chain as a singular offer rather than the plural "words" in the Hebrew text.