(Deut. 2:3:) “You have had enough of going about this mountain.” This text is related (to Cant. 2:7=3:5), “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem by gazelles or by hinds of the field….” There are three oaths<sup class="footnote-marker">11</sup><i class="footnote">Actually there are four oaths, 2:7; 3:5; 5:8; and 8:4, and only the first two mention gazelles or hinds.</i> in the book of Canticles that the Holy One, blessed be He, adjured [Israel].<sup class="footnote-marker">12</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. <i>Ket</i>. 111a.</i> Why? One in which the Holy One, blessed be He, adjured Israel not to reveal the end<sup class="footnote-marker">13</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Cant. R. 12:9:1.</i>; [a second] that they would not force the end; [a third] that they would not rebel against the [other] kingdoms. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, “If you fulfill the oaths, fine; but if not, I will permit your flesh [to be prey], as with gazelles or hinds of the field, [the injury of which] no one makes a claim or demands. So shall I not make a claim about your blood. (Deut. 2:31:) “And the Lord said unto me], ‘See I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you.” It is also written (in Amos 2:9), “Yet I destroyed the Amorite<sup class="footnote-marker">14</sup><i class="footnote">Although THE AMORITE implies the Amorite people in the biblical context, in the context of the midrash the singular AMORITE refers to Sihon.</i> before (you) [them].” By virtue of what? By virtue of the Torah, which the sages had taught. Our masters have said, “Sihon was difficult [to overcome].<sup class="footnote-marker">15</sup><i class="footnote">M. Pss. 136:11.</i> His height was like a wall tower, and he was stronger than all creatures. He was taller than any tower on earth, but his feet reached to the earth. So no creature was able to stand before him, just as it says (Amos 2:9, cont.), “yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.” What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He bound the ministering angel that belonged to him and to his land. Then he cast him from his place and handed him over to Israel. Therefore it is written (ibid.), “yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.” Our masters have said, “Sihon and Og were stronger than Pharaoh and his armies. And just as they uttered a song over the fall of Pharaoh, so were they worthy to utter a song at their fall. It is simply that David came and uttered a song over them, as stated (in Ps. 136:17, 19) ‘To the One who smote great kings […]; Sihon, king of the Amorites […].’”