We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 6. Utterly. Yet out of the ruins they soon raised other strong cities. Numbers 32:26. All the walls were not probably demolished, (verse 19,) but only a part, so that they might be repaired with no great labour or expense. The inhabitants were all destroyed, that they might not pervert the Hebrews by their bad example; and because God had pronounced the sentence of death upon them, in punishment of their crimes. Hebrew seem to insinuate, that the cities were destroyed only by the death of the inhabitants. “We subjected them to anathema … utterly destroying the men,” and so forth Bible.—We devoted to utter ruin the men, women, and children of the cities which we took. Calmet.