Bible Commentaries
Deuteronomy 2

Verses 1-37

Deuteronomy 2:30

Professor Andrew Harper remarks on this verse that the writer 'does not mean... to lay upon God the causation of Sihon's obstinacy, so as to make the man a mere helpless victim. His thought rather is, that as God rules all, so to Him must ultimately be traced all that happens in the world. In some sense all acts, whether good or bad, all agencies, whether beneficent or destructive, have their source in, and their power from, Him. But nevertheless men have moral responsibility for their acts, and are fully and justly conscious of ill desert. Consequently that hardening of spirit or of heart, which at one moment may be attributed solely to God, may at another be ascribed solely to the evil determination of man.'

References. III. 25-27. J. A. Aston, Early Witness to Gospel Truth, p. 1. III. 25-29. H. Bonar, Short Sermons for Family Beading, p. 424.