Numbers 21:30
We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba. We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
The verse records part of Israel's victory over Sihon and the Amorites, in which Israel destroyed them and laid waste their cities from Heshbon to Dibon and to Nophah reaching toward Medeba, and took possession of their land. It belongs to the account of Israel slaying two kings east of the Jordan before entering Canaan. That victory followed an earlier defeat when the people rebelled and tried to take the land by their own strength without Moses, without the cloud of God's presence, and without the ark. The later victory came when they obeyed God's command to advance, with Moses strengthening them and the divine presence leading them. The contrast shows that the victory depended on trusting and following God rather than on Israel's military strength.
Balaam knew this victory as one of the recent triumphs showing God's power on Israel's behalf. These victories showed how terrible it is for finite people to oppose God, for while Israel remained true to Him no power could prevail against them. That victory proved Israel to be a powerful people. After the victory Israel moved forward and camped in the plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan by Jericho. When Balak king of Moab learned what Israel had done to the Amorites, he and all Moab were exceedingly terrified and troubled.
That slaughter, together with the Lord stopping the swollen and impetuous Jordan before Israel, melted the hearts of the Amorite and Canaanite kings and filled all the surrounding nations with great terror.