Judges 11:27

Be judge this day. Jephthah ends his argument with an appeal to God to approve the justice of his cause. There was a difference between the conception of the Hebrews about their God and that of the heathen about theirs. The Hebrews believed theirs was a just and moral God. In the recognition of moral character, which they recognized in their God, lay one of the points of superiority of their belief over that of their heathen neighbors. Jephthah asserts that if the Ammonites want to decide the issue by force of arms, he is willing to trust God to decide justly whose cause is right, and then give the victory to that side.

The verses give evidence of the straight-forward, honest, firm, yet conciliatory diplomacy of Jephthah. He had maintained the rights of Israel on three grounds: (1) the right of direct conquest, not from Ammon but from the Amorites (vs. 15-20); (2) the decision of God (vs. 21-24), which he supported by diplomatically suggesting that even their deity had not contested the conquest of Sihon; (3) undisputed possession of the land over a long period of time (vs. 25, 26). Then he ended by an appeal to God to approve the justice of his cause.