Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 11:25
And now [art] thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
25. art thou better than Balak ] Though the king of Ammon is supposed to be addressed, the question really aims at some king of Moab: is he a better man than his predecessor Balak, who did not dare to fight Israel? The verse agrees with Numbers 22-24, where no mention is made of a war between Moab and Israel; Jos 24:9 a is probably due to an annotator.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Art thou better than Balak? art thou wiser than he? or hast thou more right than he had? Balak, though he plotted against Israel, in defence of his own land, which he feared they would invade and conquer, Num 22:4; yet he never contended with them about the restitution of those lands which Sihon took from him or his predecessors, after the Israelites had conquered them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And now art thou anything better than Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab?…. This argument seems to strengthen the conjecture, that this king was king of Moab at this time, and so Balak was one of his predecessors. Now he is asked, whether he thought he was a wiser and more knowing prince than he, as to what was his right and due; or whether he had a better claim, or any additional one to the land in dispute the other had not; or whether he judged he was more able to regain what belonged to him:
did he ever strive against Israel? for the land they took away from Sihon formerly in the possession of the Moabites? did he ever lay any claim to it, or enter into any dispute, or litigate with Israel about it? not at all:
or did he ever fight against Israel? that is, on that account; no, he sent for Balaam to curse Israel, and sought to defend and secure his own country he was in possession of, which he thought was in danger by the Israelites being so near him; but he never made war with them under any such pretence, that they had done him any injury by inheriting the land they had taken from Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(25) Art thou anything better than Balak?Literally, Are you the good, good in comparison with? It is one of the Hebrew ways of expressing the superlative. Jephthah here argues from prescriptive right, which even the contemporary king Balak had not ventured to challenge, showing, therefore, that he admitted the claim of Israel, deadly as was his hatred against them.
Did he ever fight against them?This may seem at first sight to contradict Jos. 24:9. There Balak the son of Zippor arose and warred against Israel; and we might infer that it was in some Moabite battle that Baalam had been slain (Num. 31:8; Jos. 13:22). But this would not affect Jephthahs argument. Balak had fought against Israel out of pure hatred, not from any pretensions to claim their conquests from them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. Better than Balak Hast thou any better claim on these lands than Balak? The king of Moab had even a better title to the lands than Ammon, for from him the greater part of them had been taken by the Amorites, (Num 21:26😉 and the fact that he did not strive against Israel to recover his lost possessions was further evidence of the futility of Ammon’s claim.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“ And now are you anything better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Or did he ever fight against them?”
Now Jephthah sought to stress the superiority of Israel and of Yahweh their God. Even the famous Balak of Moab had not dared to claim back the land Israel had taken from the Amorites. Indeed, as they would be aware, he had been so unwilling to take on Israel, because he had heard what they had done to the Amorites with the help of Yahweh their God, that he had had to seek the help of the famous prophet Balaam against them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 11:25 And now [art] thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
Ver. 25. And now art thou anything better than Balak? ] Heb., An bonus es tu prae Balaco? an contendendo contendit? an pugnando pugnavit? Here he pleadeth prescription: and he doth it with great intention of spirit, and contention of speech. As men must not be hot in a cold matter, so neither cold in a hot.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
art thou. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. Compare Num 22:2. Deu 23:4. Jos 24:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Balak: Num 22:2-21, Deu 23:3, Deu 23:4, Jos 24:9, Jos 24:10, Mic 6:5
Reciprocal: Num 22:4 – And Balak
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 11:25. Art thou any thing better than Balak? Art thou wiser than he? Or hast thou more right than he had? This is a third argument, that though Balak plotted against Israel, in defence of his own land, which he feared they would invade and conquer, yet he never contended with them about the restitution of those lands which Sihon took from him or his predecessors, laid no claim to them, nor ever demanded to have them restored.