Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 11:15
And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
15. nor the land of Ammon ] So Num 21:24, Deu 2:19; Deu 2:37.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Consult the marginal references. If the ark with the copy of the Law Deu 31:26 was at Mizpeh, it would account for Jephthahs accurate knowledge of it; and this exact agreement of his message with Numbers and Deuteronomy would give additional force to the expression, he uttered all his words before the Lord Jdg 11:11.
Jdg 11:17
No mention is made of this embassy to Moab in the Pentateuch.
Jdg 11:19
Into my place – This expression implies that the trans-Jordanic possessions of Israel were not included in the land of Canaan properly speaking.
Jdg 11:21
The title God of Israel has a special emphasis here, and in Jdg 11:23. in a narrative of transactions relating to the pagan and their gods.
Jdg 11:24
Chemosh was the national god of the Moabites (see the marginal references); and as the territory in question was Moabitish territory before the Amorites took it from the people of Chemosh, this may account for the mention of Chemosh here rather than of Moloch, or Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. Possibly the king of the children of Ammon at this time may have been a Moabite.
Jdg 11:25, Jdg 11:26
Jephthah advances another historical argument. Balak, the king of Moab, never disputed the possession of Sihons kingdom with Israel.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
And said unto him,…. By his messengers:
thus saith Jephthah; in a majestic style, as governor of Israel:
Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon; they were charged not to take any, nor did they take any that belonged to any of these countries, or that was then in the possession of either of them, De 2:9 what they did take was in the hands of Sihon and Og, and they had obtained it by conquest, and so no more belonging to either of these.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(15) Took not away the land of Moab . . .What they took was the territory of Sihon, which they had never been forbidden to take, and had indeed been forced to take by Sihons attack on them. It was not likely that they could enter into discussion as to the previous owners of the land.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Israel took not Israel took the land in question not of Ammonites or Moabites, but of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and therefore with previous owners they had nothing to do. Jephthah’s messengers proceed to state the real facts in the case. For the facts which they state, see the passages referred to in the margin. This whole message of Jephthah is a most primitive and honest piece of diplomacy, and a weighty argument for the antiquity and genuineness of the Pentateuch.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon. But when they came from Egypt, and Israel walked through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds (to Ezion Geber – Num 33:35), and came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messages to the king of Edom, saying ‘Let me I pray you pass through your land. But the king of Edom did not respond. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not, and Israel abode in Kadesh.”
Note the majestic opening, ‘thus says Jephthah’. Jephthah wanted the king of Ammon to recognise with whom he was dealing. We can sense here the pride of the newly appointed chief. Then he followed it by reminding the king of Ammon about how Yahweh had delivered them from the might of Egypt. ‘They came from Egypt.’ Not many nations could say that. It was a part of history, and what Yahweh had done in delivering them from Egypt was widely known in the area. Let him think about that! Then they had travelled through the wilderness seeking a home. But when they arrived at Edom, Edom would not help them, and neither would Moab. Every word is loaded as he depicts how Israel were wronged.
His aim here was to put Moab in the wrong. They had refused to help Israel and had made life difficult for them, even though Israel had promised to refrain from attacking them, recognising them as related tribes holding their land under Yahweh’s good hand (Deu 2:9). This was base ingratitude and demonstrated that they actually deserved worse than they got. Thus they had no case against Israel. It was the other way round. There is more detail here than in Numbers 22 where no messengers to Moab are mentioned, but it spoke of what was Moses’ general practise (Num 20:14; Num 21:21) and he was presenting it in a way that put Moab clearly in the wrong. There was nothing here that could be specifically denied.
Note the use of ‘Israel’ as subject of an active verb, very rare in Judges apart from in this speech. His aim was to depict Israel on a high level as a nation and not simply as a group of confederate tribes. The stronger he could show Israel to be the more likely that they would finally succeed. And there is possibly there too a hint that he now saw them as his people.
Then he went on to point out that not only had Moab or Ammon no right to the land in dispute but that their god Chemosh had actually handed it over to Sihon and the Amorites (Num 21:29). And that Israel had obtained it from the latter by right of conquest. Thus the land belonged by right of conquest to the people of Yahweh Who had dispossessed the Amorites.
But first he wanted to put Moab now even more in the wrong.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 11:15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
Ver. 15. Israel took not away. ] It falls out often that plain dealing puts craft out of countenance. “There is no such thing as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine heart,” saith Nehemiah to his adversary; so here.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
And said. A special reading (Sevir, App-34) and some codices read “and they said”. Hebrew text = he.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Israel took: Num 21:13-15, Num 21:27-30, Deu 2:9, Deu 2:19, 2Ch 20:10, Act 24:12, Act 24:13
Reciprocal: Deu 2:37 – unto the land 2Ch 26:8 – the Ammonites Amo 1:13 – and for