Numbers 21:22 - Exposition

Let me pass through thy land. Cf. Numbers 20:17 . Israel was not commanded to spare the Amorites, indeed he was under orders to smite them ( Deuteronomy 2:24 ), but that did not prevent his approaching them in the first instance with words of peace. If Sihon had hearkened, no doubt Israel would have passed directly on to Jordan, and he would at least have been spared for the present.