Misinterpretations often portray this verse as endorsing indiscriminate violence or genocide without context, ignoring that it describes historical conquests against nations who had long rejected God and oppressed Israel, authorized as divine judgment in a specific covenantal framework; others mistakenly apply it to justify modern wars or territorial grabs, overlooking its role in a unique biblical narrative of inheritance rather than a timeless mandate, or confuse the 'whom Moses smote' as referring to cities instead of Sihon's people.
Joshua 13:21
King James Version (1769)
21 And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.
Joshua 13:21 details part of the inheritance allotted to the tribe of Reuben east of the Jordan River, listing cities and villages once controlled by Sihon, the Amorite king defeated by Moses near Jericho; this underscores God's faithfulness in delivering on His covenant promise to give Israel the Promised Land, emphasizing divine sovereignty over the conquest and the orderly distribution of territory among the tribes as a fulfillment of ancient pledges.