What Does Deuteronomy 3:2 Mean?
And the LORD said to me, Do not fear him, for I have given him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand, and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who settled in Heshbon.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.THE KEY
Beneath “deliver” is נתן (natan, give, set, place): the feared king, his people, and his land are described as already placed into the addressed hand.
THE MEANING
The verse places fear beside an announced handoff: the king, his people, and his land are given into the addressed hand. The assurance carries a violent command, to do to Og as was done to Sihon, and the verse keeps that conquest in plain view.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A feared opponent still controls the outcome.
THE ROOT
נָתַתִּי
natatti
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“given, into your hand” in this verse is natatti. The Hebrew form נָתַתִּי (natatti, “I have given”) carries the root נתן (natan, “give, set, place”). That gives “deliver” the shape of a handoff into a hand, while the next clause keeps the violence of conquest fully visible.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This is the root itself: the king and his people are placed into the addressed hand.
mattanah: A gift; a thing given.
מַתָּנָה
This noun from the same root makes the shared idea of giving visible, though the verse describes a transfer into power, not a gift to celebrate.
THE PATTERN
A command not to fear is grounded in an announced handoff of what the hearer cannot control.
Rise up, pull up, and cross over the torrent-bed of Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to take hold of it, and stir him up in battle.Saying, Fear not, Paul, you must stand before Caesar, and look, God has favored you with all who sail with you.THE THREAD
Rise up, pull up, and cross over the torrent-bed of Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to take hold of it, and stir him up in battle.This verse uses the same handoff language for Sihon before naming Og in the present passage. Both draw on נתן (natan, give, set, place), and both connect that transfer to battle and possession.
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