See, I [God] give into your power Sihon the Emori, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin inheriting; start a war...

Then I [Moshe] sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedeimot to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace, as follows…

“Turn from evil and do good, seek out peace and chase after it” (Tehillim 34:15).

The Torah does not command us to go chasing after the mitzvot. Instead, it says:

“When you find a bird's nest…” (Devarim 22:6),

“When you encounter your enemy’s ox…” (Shemot 23:4),

“When you see your enemy’s donkey…” (Shemot 23:5)...

If these situations come up, you have a mitzvah to act, but you don’t have to go chasing after them.

But in the case of peace, the verse from Tehillim teaches to “seek out peace,” wherever you are, and “chase after it,” wherever else it may be.

This is what Benei Yisrael did. Although the Holy Blessed One said, “begin inheriting, start a war,” they chased after peace.