Joshua 12:2

2. Aroer See on Joshua 13:16.

The middle of the river The midst of the valley of the Arnon. This is “a more exact definition of the previous clause, since the Arnon, which flowed through the middle of the valley, formed the actual boundary; whereas Aroer stood not upon the river itself, but on the northern slope of the valley.” Keil. Compare chap. Joshua 13:16, note.

And from half Gilead The word from should be omitted both here and in the next verse. Sihon ruled over the southern half of Gilead, Og over the northern half. Joshua 12:5. Gilead is the name of the great mountain region of limestone on the east of the Jordan, stretching from Mount Lebanon nearly to the territory of Moab. Jabbok is now the Wady Zurka, which intersects the mountain range of Gilead, and falls into the Jordan about half way between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. See on Numbers 21:24. Ammon was a son of Lot, born of incestuous intercourse. Genesis 19:30-38. The Ammonites at one time possessed the whole country between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok, from the Jordan on the west to the wilderness on the east. They were driven out of it by Sihon, king of the Amorites, and he was in turn expelled by the Israelites. Yet long subsequent to these events the country was popularly called the land of the Ammonites, and was even claimed by them. Judges 11:12-22. For this reason the Jabbok is still called the border of the children of Ammon.