What does Judges 11:18 mean?
The king of Ammon claimed Israel took their land back in the time of Moses (Judges 11:12–13). He refers to the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan between the Jabbok and Arnon Rivers. Jephthah has countered this, showing that the Israelites did not even walk across the lands of the Edomites or Moabites without their permission (Numbers 20:14–21). They certainly didn't steal their land (Judges 11:14–17).Instead, the Israelites took the long way around to reach Gilead, arriving on the east side of the Jordan River to the north of Arnon River. This would allow them to avoid Moabite territory to the south. The point of this detail is to note that the Ammonites were not occupying this area at that time. The land of the Ammonites was still further east into the wilderness. It was also true that God had told the Israelites not to fight with the Ammonites, because they were also descendants of Lot (Deuteronomy 2:16–22). At that time, the Ammonites were not in the area now known as Gilead. There were other people in the region, however.