Judges 11:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’

NIV: Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, 'Let us pass through your country to our own place.'

NASB: And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, 'Please let us pass through your land to our place.'

CSB: "Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, 'Please let us travel through your land to our country,'

NLT: 'Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination.

KJV: And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

NKJV: Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land into our place.”

Jephthah is explaining that the king of Ammon is wrong in claiming Gilead belonged to his people before being stolen by the Israelites. For one thing, Israel went to great pains to avoid even stepping foot in lands belonging to other peoples (Numbers 20:14–21) on their way across the Jordan River into the land of Canaan (Judges 11:12–18). When they did arrive in territory of Gilead, the Ammonites were not yet there. They were farther east. Further, the Israelites did not even want to stay in Gilead. They just wanted to cross over the Jordan and move on. To do so, though, they would have to travel through the region that became known and Gilead, and it was occupied by the Amorites—not the Ammonites.

Since the Israelites were still not interested in war on the east side of the Jordan, they sent messengers to the king of the Amorites and king of Heshbon. They requested to travel through those territories to get to their own land. The overall point of Jephthah's history lesson to the king of Ammon is that Ammonites were not involved in any of this.

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).