Judges 11:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.

NIV: Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess.

NASB: Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess it.

CSB: Isn't it true that you can have whatever your god Chemosh conquers for you, and we can have whatever the Lord our God conquers for us?

NLT: You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us.

KJV: Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

NKJV: Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess.

In prior verses, Jephthah completed his historical argument for why Gilead belongs to the Israelites. The enemy king was wrong: Israel did not take the land from Ammonites during the era of Moses. Rather, Israel was attacked by the resident Amorites, who were defeated. In short, the Lord God of Israel gave it to His people (Judges 11:14–23).

Here, Jephthah continues to explore this theological argument. He has said the territory was given by God, asking if the king of Ammon is attempting to overthrow the will of the Lord.

Now Jephthah adds one of the gods of the Ammonites to his argument. Don't they believe their god, Chemosh, has given them the lands they already possess? Would they give up land they believed to be given to them by Chemosh just because someone asked them to do so? That's what Ammon has asked Jephthah to do: to "peaceably" hand over the territory (Judges 11:13).

The implied answer is clearly, "no." It would be unreasonable for a nation to give away what they believe was given by the divine will of their deity. Jephthah is pointing out that Ammon's king is making an absurd suggestion. The Israelites in Gilead would have no reason to give up the land the Lord "dispossessed" for them. Even if Ammon's king does not believe in the God of Israel, he must realize that Israel believes the Lord removed the Amorites from that land. The Israelites will not defy His will by giving it away to the Ammonites.

Jephthah probably does not believe that Chemosh is a real deity who gave land to the Ammonites. Faithful Israelites believed firmly the Lord was the only true God (Exodus 20:1–23) and that He was sovereign over the possession of all land. That included the land promised to Israel. Jephthah is making a logical point, appealing to ideas the king of Ammon likely already believes.

Scholars point out that Chemosh is usually identified as a deity of the Moabites; the Ammonites typically worshiped Molech. One possible explanation is that Jephthah made a mistake. The book of Judges records his statement but does not specifically comment on its accuracy. Others speculate the Ammonites may have worshiped Chemosh alongside Molech. Another theory connects to a tradition which claimed Chemosh gave the Ammonites their land while angry with the Moabites.

Yet another idea is that Jephthah was intentionally antagonizing the king by suggesting his land was given to him by a rival god instead of his own. His references to "greater" kings in the next verses are nearly a taunt and might be an echo of that same approach (Judges 11:25).

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.

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).