21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has consumed Ar of Moab
and the lords 1 of the high places of Arnon.
21:29 Woe to you, Moab.
You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! 2
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.
1 tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (ba’aley, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.
2 sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.