What does Judges 11:21 mean?
Jephthah's main point in this message to the king of Ammon is this: The Israelites did not take Gilead from you during the time of Moses. The Amorites lived there, not the Ammonites. The Amorites attacked the Israelites and not the other way around (Judges 11:12–20).Israel conquered the land, however. That happened when King Sihon and the Amorites attacked Israel instead of letting them pass through peacefully (Numbers 21:21–23). The Lord gave Israel the victory in that battle. He gave the land of Gilead to Israel by an act of His own will, through the choice of the Amorite king, and so Israel took possession of it. That's how it came to them.