And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.

and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, vex them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.

And when thou comest nigh the frontiers of the children of Ammon, take heed thou fight not against them, nor once move to battle: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.

and come near over against the children of Ammon; thou shalt not distress them nor attack them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon a possession; for unto the children of Lot have I given it as a possession.

and thou hast come near over-against the sons of Ammon, thou dost not distress them, nor stir up thyself against them, for I do not give any of the land of the sons of Ammon to thee for a possession; for to the sons of Lot I have given it for a possession.

And when you come near over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.

And when you come near the land of the children of Ammon, give them no cause of trouble and do not make war on them, for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for your heritage: because I have given it to the children of Lot.

and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, harass them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.-

And when you have arrived in the vicinity of the sons of Ammon, be careful that you do not fight against them, nor should you be moved to battle. For I will not give to you from the land of the sons of Ammon, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.'

Et accedes ad viciniam filiorum Ammon, ne obsideas eos, neque in'ites eos, quia non daturus sum tibi de terra filiorum Ammon possessionem aliquam: nam filiis Lot dedi illam in possessionem.

And when thou comest nigh over against the children ofAmmon. God now makes provision as to the Ammonites, since their condition was the same as that of the Moabites, inasmuch as they were descended from the two daughters of Lot. It might, indeed, seem wonderful that, since the memory of their origin was detestable, these two nations should have been so dear to God. Ammon and Moab had been born of an incestuous connection. It was, therefore, more reasonable that this tragical circumstance should have been buried by their destruction, than that they should have been distinguished by God's favor from the common lot of other nations, as if their nobility rendered them superior to others. But let us learn from hence, that since God's judgments, like a deep abyss, are beyond our apprehension, they should be regarded with reverence. Lot's distinguished piety is expressly declared. The disgraceful crime, which he committed when drunk, it pleased God so to mark with perpetual infamy, as still to impress upon it some signs of His mercy, although this was done especially for the sake of Abraham himself. It is unquestionable, however, that God recommends the posterity of Lot to the Israelites on this ground, that they may more willingly exercise kindness towards them, and abstain from all injury, when they had to do with two nations whom they see to be cared for by God Himself, for the sake of their common relationship to Abraham. Furthermore, by the same argument whereby he had before proved that both Edomites and Moabites, relying on God's help, had occupied the lands over which they had dominion, he now establishes that the land which the Ammonites possessed had been granted them by God, viz., because in their conquest and overthrow of the giants they had surpassed the limits of human bravery, and thus God had given a proof of His special and unusual favor towards them. For neither by the ordinary course of nature could two men increase to so great a multitude. Now, although the Hebrew call the Cappadocians Caphthorim, [1] we do not know whether the giants, whose country was taken possession of by the Ammonites, sprung from them. But, if this be admitted, they had a long journey, attended by many dangers, after they left their country; and again, since they must have passed through rich and fertile regions, it is strange that they should have penetrated to those mountains. It might, however, be the case, that, making forays as robbers, they nowhere found a quiet resting-place until a less cultivated region presented itself.

Footnotes

1 - Bochart remarks that all ancient writers are unanimous in supposing Caphthor to be Cappadocia, and the Caphthorim Cappadocians; but he assigns to them that part of Cappadocia only which bordered on Colchis. Phaleg. Book 4, chap. 32:-- See C. on Jeremiah 47:4, C. Soc. Edit., [22]vol. 4, p 614.

And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon,.... Who dwelt near the Moabites, and were brethren, both descending from Lot, Genesis 19:37.
distress them not, nor meddle with them: lay no siege to any of their cities, nor provoke them to war, nor engage in battle with them:
for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; that is, any part of it which was now in their hands; otherwise half their land was given to the tribe of Gad; but then that was what Sihon king of the Amorites had taken from them, and which Israel retook from him, and so possessed it not as the land of the Ammonites, but of the Amorites, one of the seven nations, whose land they were to inherit; see Joshua 13:25,
because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession; the Ammonites were the children of Lot by his second daughter, Genesis 19:38.

when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them--The Ammonites, being kindred to the Moabites, were, from regard to the memory of their common ancestor, to remain undisturbed by the Israelites. The territory of this people had been directly north from that of Moab. It extended as far as the Jabbok, having been taken by them from a number of small Canaanitish tribes, namely, the Zamzummins, a bullying, presumptuous band of giants, as their name indicates; and the Avims, the aborigines of the district extending from Hazerim or Hazeroth (El Hudhera) even unto Azzah (Gaza), but of which they had been dispossessed by the Caphtorim (Philistines), who came out of Caphtor (Lower Egypt) and settled in the western coast of Palestine. The limits of the Ammonites were now compressed; but they still possessed the mountainous region beyond the Jabbok (Joshua 11:2). What a strange insight does this parenthesis of four verses give into the early history of Palestine! How many successive wars of conquest had swept over its early state--what changes of dynasty among the Canaanitish tribes had taken place long prior to the transactions recorded in this history!