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Judges 11:15-20

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

15. And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: 16. But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; 17. Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken [thereto]. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not [consent]: and Israel abode in Kadesh. 18. Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon [was] the border of Moab. 19. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. 20. But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

Judges 11:15-20 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Judges 11:15

Theological / Devotional

Israel took not away. Jephthah refuted the king of Ammon’s statements. He showed that the Ammonites, and the Moabites, who seemed to be united with them in their claims against Israel, had no legal claim to the territory between the Amon and the Jabbok. To prove his point he described in detail what had taken place when the Israelites took over that country. They had captured the land from Sihon, king of the Amorites, and they were not willing to discuss who had been the previous owners.

Land of Moab. Throughout his denial, Jephthah grouped the Moabites and the Ammonites together, as if they were one people. In v. 24 Chemosh, who was the god of the Moabites, is called the god of the king of Ammon. From this it has been thought that at this time the king of Ammon had perhaps gained control over Moab, either by force of arms or intermarriage, so that the one king ruled over both countries. The national deity of Ammon was Milcom, or Molech (see on Lev. 18:21).

By SdaBc