Judges 11:25

Balak. See Num. 22:1 to 24:25. Although Israel took over the territory of Sihon, which formerly had belonged to Moab, the king of Moab at the time had apparently not claimed Israel’s newly won land as his. He had fought Israel out of hatred rather than because he claimed the land Israel had captured from the Amorites (Joshua 24:9). How, therefore, can a valid claim be made centuries later? Quite likely the Moabite king had clearly recognized the right of conquest. If the land had rightfully been his, why had he not claimed it long before? This was a telling argument to support the justice of Israel’s cause.