Deuteronomy 2 · a question people ask
"The LORD your God hardened his spirit" (2:30). Then was Sihon to blame?
Numbers tells Sihon's refusal without giving a reason: "Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border" (Numbers 21:23). Deuteronomy gives one: "But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today" (2:30). "Hardened" is the verb of "I will harden Pharaoh’s heart" (Exodus 7:3). The honest question in Exodus 4 sets out how Christians read the hardening of Pharaoh, and the same two readings are given here for Sihon, each resting on its verses. Both agree that the verse names the LORD's purpose, "that he might deliver him into your hand" (2:30), and that Sihon himself "came out against us, he and all his people, to battle" (2:32).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
The LORD's purpose comes first
Those who hold this view start from the order of the chapter. Before any messenger is sent, the LORD says, "Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land" (2:24), and the hardening is told with its purpose, "that he might deliver him into your hand" (2:30). Writing of Pharaoh, Paul concludes, "he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires" (Romans 9:18).
Deuteronomy 2:24 · Deuteronomy 2:30 · Romans 9:18
The LORD confirmed Sihon's own choice
Those who hold this view note that the verse begins with what Sihon himself would not do: "Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him" (2:30), where the Hebrew verb is one Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "be willing, consent". He had been sent "words of peace" (2:26), and Numbers tells his refusal as his own act: he "gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel" (Numbers 21:23). They read the LORD's hardening as giving Sihon over to what he had chosen.
Deuteronomy 2:26 · Deuteronomy 2:30 · Numbers 21:23
The verses
“Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz. He fought against Israel.”
“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today.”
“Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz.”
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.”