Judges 11:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?

NIV: "Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over?

NASB: And now the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from His people Israel; so should you possess it?

CSB: "The Lord God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, and will you now force us out?

NLT: 'So you see, it was the Lord, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it back to you?

KJV: So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?

NKJV: ‘And now the Lord God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it?

Jephthah, the brand-new leader of the Israelite people in Gilead, has sent a long message to the king of Ammon. The missive included a history lesson correcting the king's wrongful claim. The Ammonite leader claimed that Gilead was territory taken from his people by Israel during the time of Moses. Jephthah has shown that there were not Ammonites in Gilead when Moses arrived—the inhabitants were Amorites. The Israelites took it over after the Amorites attacked and were defeated (Judges 11:14–22).

This verse contains the heart of Jephthah's argument: God gave this land to Israel when He gave them victory over the Amorites. The fact that Israel had possessed the land, for centuries (Judges 11:26) was evidence that it was the Lord's divine will for Israel to have it. Jephthah poses a challenging question to the Ammonite king: are you going to try and take from Israel what God has given them?

Another way to phrase this part of Jephthah's message is that Ammon's argument is with God Himself, not with Israel or any other leader. The Israelites living in Gilead have simply received what the Lord has given to them. Who are the Ammonites to defy the Lord God in this way? Jephthah will continue by highlighting the fact that no one has thought to dispute the territory from Moses until now.

Judges 11:12–28 is Jephthah's attempt to negotiate with the Ammonites. He exchanges messages with the king of Ammon, asking the reason for this war on their land. Jephthah corrects the king's response that Israel wrongly took the land from them during the time of Moses. He offers several forms of rebuttal. Jephthah notes that Ammon was never in control of Gilead. Instead, the Amorites attacked Israel and God have his people victory. Greater kings have not attempted to take the region away; it had not been disputed for centuries. However, the Ammonite king will not listen.

A man named Jephthah is driven away from his home in Gilead by jealous brothers. He settles in Tob, where he becomes warrior chief of a criminal band. Gilead's elders later recruit Jephthah to lead the fight against their Ammonite oppressors. After a failed negotiation attempt, Jephthah vows to make a burnt offering to the Lord of whatever comes to meet him if God gives him victory over the Ammonites. Israel thoroughly defeats Ammon, and Jephthah's daughter, his only child, greets him. Jephthah carries out his vow after his daughter grieves never marrying or having children.

Judges 11 answers the question raised at the end of the previous chapter: who could lead Gilead's fight against the Ammonites? The elders recruit Jephthah, a warrior driven away by his family in Gilead. Jephthah agrees to return and is appointed leader of Gilead. Jephthah raises an army and makes a foolish vow to the Lord in exchange for victory. Israel defeats Ammon, but Jephthah's vow costs him his only child, his daughter. His victory also creates civil strife in Israel, leading to a minor civil war.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).