Deuteronomy 2:36

Summary

The verse describes the extent of Israelite conquest from Aroer on the Arnon valley to Gilead, stating that no town was too strong to withstand the attack, and that Yehovah delivered "everything" before the Israelites.

Key words

• 'a.ro.'Er ("Aroer", H6177H) — proper noun marking the southern boundary point of the conquered territory.
• Na.chal ("wadi/valley of", H5158N) — construct-form noun used twice, anchoring the geographic markers to the Arnon watercourse.
• sa.ge.Vah ("it was [too] high", H7682) — qal perfect, 3rd feminine singular, describing a town's quality of being inaccessible or unassailable.
• mi.Me.nu ("for/than us", H4480A + H9035) — preposition with suffix forming a comparative construction with the previous verb, "too high from/for us."
• na.Tan ("he delivered up", H5414G) — qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular, with Yehovah as subject, governing the direct object "the all" (et ha-kol).

What the text says

The sentence opens with a geographic frame built on two relative clauses introduced by 'a.Sher ("which", H0834A): one identifying Aroer as "on the edge of the wadi of Arnon" ('al sefat-nachal Arnon), and another identifying "the city that is in the wadi" (ba-nachal). The phrase then extends "to Gilead" ('ad ha-Gil'ad), marking the far boundary. This span sets up the main clause.

The core statement is a negative existential construction: lo hayetah qiryah 'asher sagevah mimennu — "there was not a town which was too high from us." The verb sagevah (H7682) combined with the comparative mimennu (H4480A + H9035) conveys the idea of a town being architecturally or defensively "too high" relative to the attackers, i.e., beyond their reach. This idiom differs from a simple statement of victory; it frames the outcome in terms of height/strength rather than escape.

The final clause places the direct object 'et ha-kol ("the all/everything", H0853 + H3605) before the verb natan ("he delivered up", H5414G), whose subject is Yehovah 'Elohei-nu ("Yehovah our God", H3068G + H0430G). The closing phrase le-fanei-nu ("before us/to our faces", H9005 + H6440L + H9025) uses the construct plural of "face" with a pronominal suffix, a common idiom for "in our presence" or "before us."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew idiom sagevah mimennu ("too high/strong for us") is rendered in the LXX as diephygen hēmas ("escaped us") and in the Vulgate as quae nostras effugeret manus ("which escaped our hands") — both versions shift from a description of the town's inaccessibility to a description of evasion. Additionally, the Hebrew le-fanei-nu ("before us/to our faces") appears in the LXX as eis tas cheiras hēmōn ("into our hands") and in the Vulgate simply as nobis ("to us"), diverging from the literal "face" imagery of the Hebrew.