Devotional Short Note to Deuteronomy 2
Before we delve into this chapter we
need to understand that scholars are trying to toothpick all kinds of strange
ideas regarding Moses’ editorial work and compilation here. They are saying
that when Moses’ introduce something new in this Book, he uses the phrase “which
I command” like in 4:2 and 40. But when he is using the Books of Exodus,
Leviticus and Numbers, he is using the expression “as was
commanded/swore/promised” like in 2:1 and 14. We will have a chance to test
these concepts by secular Jews of the recent-past scholarship. Of course Moses
is going to use older laws that he penned down in the desert given to him by
God either direct, on the mountain or else by visions or other means of
revelation. He explains older laws that were given in wilderness but to say he
expanded it is a question we reserved the answer for until we look into it in
this Book. Moses is not scrutinizing the laws for practical deficiencies or
other reasons, he did already explain it in such a way in the wilderness, he is
just putting it in print here what he said then. There is no difference between
what he said earlier or now. He reminds them what he told them before, a theme
that is constantly popping-up in Deuteronomy. To say that Moses had a concern for
inconsistencies between cases, is not correct. He had a long experience dealing
with cases and he is just jotting down what he said or did all these years. Some
say Moses had a concern to make the law comprehensive or integrated here in
Deuteronomy. But, that was his heartfelt feeling all the time dealing with
Israel from day one. Others felt that Moses was trying in
this Book of Deuteronomy to make the laws more workable or practicable. But,
that is not true either since nothing he said here would cancel what he said
earlier. The fact that it is not reported in the same way as it is said here in
Deuteronomy, does not mean that he never said it the same way as he is saying
it here later in his life, even earlier in his life. Scholars are trying to say that the
combination of priests and magistrates in a court is a combination of civil and
religious persons together is a Book of Deuteronomy invention. This cannot be
true. Moses will not develop or adjust the words of the Lord earlier on his
own. It is rather a command by God to do it later for purposes that God knows
why, or God said it from day one and Moses is only penning it down now in the
Book of Deuteronomy. Moses wish to continue the anecdotes
of rebellion in ways past and bad consequences for not following the Lord. He said that they took their trip into
the wilderness and they past Mount Seir (2:1). They lingered at this mountain. Then the Lord spoke to them to pass on
(2:3). They should turn northward. They would pass through the area of
distant brothers the children of Esau which dwelled in Seir. Their attitude
will not be good but they need to take care of themselves: “take good heed unto
yourselves therefore” (2:4). How should they deal with this “brotherly”
enemy? Do not meddle with them; they are not given their land; for the land was
given unto Esau (2:5). Trading can be done with money so that they can buy meat
from them to eat, water to drink (2:6). For 40 years God has seen that they
lack nothing. He provided for them (2:7). “You lacked nothing”. Some words of Moses in 1411/1410 BCE
compares very well with phrases one finds in the early Amarna corpus that dates
to the days of Thutmosis IV or pharaoh Naphureya the father of Nimmureya
(Amenhotep III). In the letter EA 29 which is from the days of Thutmosis IVth
between 1410-1405 BCE, with Artatama dating to 1405 BCE, one sees the author
using the words: “and I have not caused [my brother dis]tress” EA 29 line 147,
also line 165, compared to Moses in Deuteronomy 2:9 where the Lord said through
Moses to Israel: “Distress not the Moabites”. The original transcribed by
Knudzon reads: ù[
a-n]a-k[u libbibi aḫi-]ia
lu-ú
la ú-še-im-ri-iṣ
translated by me as: “and I, the heart of my brother, not did I cause distress”.
The Amarna corpus was using similar language and formulas that Moses was using
a few years earlier in the Book of Deuteronomy. It is to be expected that there
will be correspondences. Writers that are professional use the linguistic
conventions of their times. Moses was learned from Egyptian top Universities
under the watchful eye of his supporter mentor pharaoh Hatshepsut, between
1518-1490 BCE. Quite a period of education. The Amarna corpus comes from the
city built by the grandson of Thutmosis IV, Amenhotep IV, or Ikhnaton, a hippie
pharaoh. But, it collected also the old archives of his grandfather and that is
the early corpus or war years of the Amarna corpus when the Habiru = SA-GAZ
people = Hebrews, were causing havoc in Canaan with the Egyptian overseers
having heart attacks. These are the texts that I am comparing here. Proximity
and relevancy are the key words here. Forget about Wellhausen’s “after the
exile compositions” theories as a qualified reader of the Koran as he was, a
great Arabist superimposing his research over the Hebrew Scriptures to
prescribe for Moses what he wrote and what not, when he wrote and when not.
Shelve him kindly back among the other books in the library and leave him where
he belongs. Among Arabic research where he more properly belongs. And now that we are free from
obstacles studying Moses’ Book of Deuteronomy, one can proceed. The time the Lord was with them, says
Moses was 40 years. That means it is the year 1410 BCE (Deuteronomy 2:7). The
internal dating of Deuteronomy is 1410 BCE for chapters 1 and 2. It is the time of the reign of
Thutmosis IV the grandson of the pharaoh of the Exodus Thutmosis III who’s body
was never found after that Red Sea incident. The Thutmosis III mummy in the
Oriental Institute in Chicago is the oldest son of Thutmosis III that also died
at 12 o’ clock when the angel of the Lord came through. This mummy is only 35
years old and Thut III was much older in his seventies. Thutmosis IV reigned possibly between
1419/1418-1386 BCE. His first year was probably in 1415 BCE. It is not always
clear if the pharaohs are dated by sole rulership or co-rulership times. He was
not a well-documented pharaoh. Yet there are enough evidence available of him
with his building projects. Both Amenhotep II and Thutmosis IV focus was not to
Canaan but to the South majorly. God gave the area to Lot and the Emims
lived there in the past, also tall like the Anakims. The division of the land
to Lot happened in 2162 BCE during the reign of Neterkhet of the 2nd
Dynasty in Egypt? The Emims is shrouded in mystery and speculation is the only
resort. The Sumerian word for “house” is É.
Mim should then also be a cuneiform word meaning something else. The suggestion
is that they were Mesopotamian traders squatting in the area before 2162 BCE.
At that time the area of Sodom and Gemorrah was very beautiful as well as the
other cities in that valley which is today the Dead Sea. With Hammurabi [not
the later Hammurabi of the Law but an earlier one] or Amraphel interested in
the area in the days of Lot, it is thus not too remote to seek for a meaning
for Emims. They were also giants but the Moabites
called them Emims (2:11). At these early times, the Horims dwelled
at Seir but the children of Esau destroyed them (2:12). This must have been
between 2040-2030 BCE when Isaac developed some form of cataract on the eyes? Esau married a Hittite so that
Hurrians and they were probably mixed? Is Horims another form of Hurrians?
Their main capital was at Nuzi. Between strata V and III at Nuzi,
there were buildings and graves at the site in the Dynasty of Agade and the
Gutian Invasion between 2180-2070 BCE. There is a one meter layer of ashes of
burning and destruction probably indicative of this invasion during the time of
Lot. They may have resettled in Moab as they fled before the Invaders? The
early building texts dated to just after 2070 BCE. The Hurrian history of Nuzi
starts after the end of the Ur III period in 2004 BCE which is the date for the
destruction of Ur. It spans a period between 2004-1475 BCE, the last date which
is the letter of Saushshattar. During this period there were no graves at Nuzi.
It is between strata IIB until strata I. With this excursus on the history of
God’s dealings with these great nations giving their land to the people, it is
then fair to say that God does not want them to fear these people. They are to
rise up and get over the brook Zered. They stood up and went over (2:13). The
time it took between Kadesh-Barnea and the brook of Zered is 38 years (2:14). It
is maybe 1410 BCE that they arrived at the Zered? They arrived at Kadesh-Barnea
2 years after the Exodus in 1448 BCE. The delay happened until all died who
the Lord decreed that they should not live to enter (2:15-16). They are to pass over Ar the coast of
Moab that day (2:18). Also the Ammonites they are not to
distress for the Lord gave it over to the sons of Lot (2:19). They were also
giants in the olden times before Lot came there in 2165 BCE, namely the
Zamzummims. Again there is mere speculation over who they could have been? Who in 2165 BCE could qualify for the
Zamzummims? First about the word. One cannot miss
the repetition of consonants in the word. Normally when Semites want to express
something repetitive or circle shape, they used the repetition mode of the root.
The root is repeated indicating a circular movement. The /z/ in the word would
disqualify a Sumerian or Assyrian word. Mesopotamia is not likely the place
where one expect them to come from. In the later Ammonite area, the
Zamzummims were living. Then Lot and his children moved in and later the
Ammonites lived there. Scholars suggested that it is a people who speaks in a
buzzing voice, and others suggested that they are people scheming. But, it
cannot satisfy the quest of investigation much. One never hear of them
afterwards any more. One does not know much of them even before this time. On
page 273 of the Hebrew Dictionary by Brown-Driver-Briggs they suggested one who
speaks gibberish on the basis of Arabic! Moses knew nothing about Arabic and to
use 6th century A.D. Arabic to analyze a word used by the author in
1410 BCE dating to 2165 BCE, is methodologically flawed. Cancel and shelve. What does archaeology reveal about
these people in Transjordan pottery wise and material culture before 2165 BCE? According to the specialists in this
area, during this time a donkey based trade existed in the region. At Heshbon
for example, there is evidence of an Early Bronze sherd with a rope motif on
the rim found in 1971 at Locus C.1:44 and published in Hesban after 25 years
page 231. James A. Saur’s comment (idem) that there was a lack of water at
Heshban is a jump to conclusions. The area was one of the most beautiful areas
because Lot selected it for himself in 2165 BCE and many nations wanted to come
and grab it in 2151 BCE which was the 14th year of the foreign occupation
according to Genesis 14 but in Genesis 13:10 Lot selected this area because it
was “well watered”. Saur contradicts the Word of God here. Shelve his idea. The
rope motif on the Early Bronze big jars can also be found on the Hanriver at
Amsa in South Korea on the southern side of the river settlements. Common for
that period in 2165 BCE. So who are the Zamzummims? We do not know. Early Greek
traders? Was it a musical instrument? But the Lord destroyed them in the
time of Esau in 2040-2030 BCE before them (2:21). Just as He did in 2165, he
did also in 2040 BCE. As He did at Moab for Lot, He did at Seir for Esau and He
did at Ammon also for Lot in 2165 BCE. Other squatting nations were also
destroyed by God: Avims who dwelled at Hazerim, Caphtorims from the island of
Caphtor (2:23) were all destroyed. This is proof that they squatted there and
it was not their original habitat. Many anti-colonialists are trying to retreat
or rewind the engine by claiming these nations land were stolen by the
Israelites. Not so. They were squatting there anyways. Sihon at Hesbon was an Amorite!
Squatter again. It is not his homeland or home-country. The Amorites were all
known on the edges of the Tigris and Haran and other desert areas (2:24). From that day that they are to take
Heshbon from the Amorite king Sihon, the Lord was going to spread the news of
their fear to all nations (2:25). The start of the Amarna Corpus letters
of overseers to the pharaoh with cries, which one can see in the early corpus
of the military letters, was one big lament about the SAGAZ or Habiru that
ransacked them left right and center. One cannot miss the central message.
Asking the pharaoh to send more troops but the pharaohs were dumbfounded. No reaction. Moses sent a messenger to Sihon saying
that he asked for right of passage through his area. He wanted meat and water
for money but was not planning any other situation than to pass through
(2:26-29). He had references that he did the same at Seir and Moab. But Sihon was obnoxious. “Sihon king
of Heshbon would not let us pass by him” (2:30). “His heart was obstinate” (2:30). So the Lord gave his land into the
hand the Israelites (2:31). They fought at Jahaz (2:32). All were smote (2:33). All the cities were taken at that time
(2:34). They destroyed everyone. The cattle they took as prey and spoil
(2:35). From Aroer unto Gilead there were none
too strong for them (2:36). But unto the land of the Ammonites,
they did not come for they lived in places near the Jabbok and in cities of the
mountains. The Lord forbade them to disturb them (2:37). It appears that the
Ammonites were remnants of Lot. They were not to be destroyed at all.
Dear God When You decide to give a space for
someone, You do it and You keep to Your decisions and Words. We pray that in
our day and age, You will protect us against the evil who wants to steal and
landgrab around us. In Jesus Name. Amen.