Wesley Corpus

This land, before the conquests of Sihon and Og, belonged partly to the Ammonites, and partly to the Moabites. And indeed, Moab and Ammon did for the most part join their interests and their forces. The Red - sea - Unto which they came three times; once, Exod 13:18, again, a little after their passage over it, and a third time, long after, when they came to Ezion Geber, which was upon the shore of the Red - Sea, from whence they went to Kadesh; of this time he speaks here. Abode - Peaceably, and did not revenge their unkindness as they could have done. My place - That is, unto the land of Canaan, which God hath given me. Sihon fought - So Sihon was the aggressor, and the Israelites were forced to fight in their own defence. The coasts - Or, borders; together with all the land included within those borders. Wilderness - Namely, the desert of Arabia. So the Lord - God, the sovereign Lord of all lands, hath given us this land; this he adds, as a farther and convincing reason; because otherwise it might have been alledged against the former argument, that they could gain no more right to that land from Sihon, than Sihon himself had. Wilt not thou - He speaks according to their absurd opinion: the Ammonites and Moabites got their land by conquest of the old inhabitants, whom they cast out; and this success, though given them by the true God, for Lot's sake, Deut 2:9,19, they impiously ascribe to their god Chemosh, whose gift they owned to be a sufficient title. Than Balak - Art thou wiser than he Or hast thou more right than he had Balak, though he plotted against Israel, in defence of his own land, which he feared they would invade and conquer, yet never contended with them about the restitution of those lands which Sihon took from him or his predecessors. Three hundred years - Not precisely, but about that time, either from their coming out of Egypt; or, from their first conquest of those lands. He urges prescription, which is by all men reckoned a just title, and it is fit it should be so for the good of the world, because otherwise the door would be opened both to kings, and to private persons, for infinite contentions and confusions.