A common misinterpretation views this as indiscriminate genocide or divine endorsement of ethnic cleansing applicable today, ignoring the unique covenantal context of herem (devotion to destruction) as targeted judgment on Amorite wickedness after centuries of grace, not a model for human violence but a historical act of God's justice against idolatry and rebellion, distinct from New Testament teachings on love and mercy.
Deuteronomy 2:34
King James Version (1769)
34 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:
This passage recounts the Israelites' complete destruction of the cities of King Sihon of Heshbon, including men, women, and children, as a direct fulfillment of God's command after Sihon refused passage and attacked, illustrating divine judgment on wicked nations opposing Israel's inheritance of the Promised Land and the seriousness of holy war under Yahweh's sovereign direction, where no survivors were left to prevent idolatry's influence.