(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 2:24–37, “Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us: Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.”
The river Arnon was the boundary between Moab and the land of the Amorites. Later this river became the southern boundary between Israel on the eastern side of Jordan and Moab. When Israel crossed this river the Amorites, led by their king Sihon attacked Israel and tried to destroy them. Even though Israel sought peace with these Amorites they refused to make peace with Israel and in, the ensuing battle, were soundly defeated. They took their livestock for booty, according to rules of war that were applied during that age but they didn’t take any other booty from those people. The land from the river Arnon right up the north of Galilee was rich land for livestock so there was much livestock to be taken as booty. Israel fought battles all the way from Arnon to north of Gilead and no one was able to resist their progress even though the people who formerly lived there were determined to destroy Israel and stop their progress, this was because the Lord was with Israel and no one can withstand the Lord for very long.
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