Judges 11:24

_AND SAID UNTO HIM, THUS SAITH JEPHTHAH, ISRAEL TOOK NOT AWAY THE LAND OF MOAB, NOR THE LAND OF THE CHILDREN OF AMMON:_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

12-28 One instance of the honour and respect we owe to God, as our God, is, rightly to employ what he gives us to possess. Receive it from him, use it for him, and part with it when he calls for it. The whole of this message shows that Jephthah was well acquainted with the books of Moses. His argument was clear, and his demand reasonable. Those who possess the most courageous faith, will be the most disposed for peace, and the readiest to make advances to obtain; but rapacity and ambition often cloak their designs under a plea of equity, and render peaceful endeavours of no avail....

Verse Judges 11:24. _WILT NOT THOU POSSESS THAT WHICH CHEMOSH THY GOD_ _GIVETH THEE_] As if he had said: "It is a maxim with you, as it is among all nations, that the lands which they conceive to be given them by their gods, they have an absolute right to, and should not relinquish them to any kind of claimant. You suppose that the land which you possess was given you by your god _Chemosh_ and therefore you will not relinquish what you believe you hold by a Divine right. Now, we know that Jehovah, our God, who is the Lord of heaven and earth, has given the Israelites the land of the Amorites; and therefore we will not give it up." The ground of Jephthah's remonstrance was sound and good. 1. The Ammonites had lost their lands in their contests with the Amorites. 2. The Israelites conquered these lands from the Amorites, who had wa

Consult the marginal references. If the ark with the copy of the Law Deuteronomy 31:26 was at Mizpeh, it would account for Jephthah’s 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” Judges 11:11. Judges 11:17 No mention is made of this embassy to Moab in the Pentateuch. Judges 11:19 INTO MY PLACE - This expression implies that the trans-Jordanic possessions of Israel were not includ

EXPOSITION JUDGES 11:1 The narrative here goes back probably some years, to explain the antecedents of Jephthah, who was about to play so prominent a part in the ensuing history. Jephthah we learn was a bastard son of Gilead by a foreign harlot, an Aramitess, if there is any connection between this verse and 1 Chronicles 7:14; and when the sons of Gilead's wife were grown up, they expelled Jephthah, and refused to let him have any share in the inheritance of their father, because he was the son of a foreigner; Jephthah therefore fled from Gilead, and took up his residence in the land of Tob, apparently an Aramean settlement (2 Samuel 10:6,...

WILT NOT THOU POSSESS THAT WHICH CHEMOSH THY GOD GIVETH THEE TO POSSESS?.... Chemosh was the idol of the Moabites, see Numbers 21:29, which has led some to think, that the present king of Ammon was also king of Moab, and who insisted on that part of the country, which formerly belonged to Moab, to be delivered to him, as well as that which had belonged to Ammon. Now since the land, which they now inhabited, as well as what they had lost, they had taken away from others, Deuteronomy 2:10, having conquered them, and which they ascribed to the help and assistance they had from their idol, and possessed as his gift; Jephthah argues with them "ad hominem", from the less to the greater: SO WHOMSOEVER THE LORD OUR GOD SHALL DRIVE OUT FROM BEFORE US, THEM WILL WE POSSESS; we

CHAPTER 11 JEPHTHAH AND THE AMMONITES _ 1. Jephthah's covenant (Judges 11:1)_ 2. The messages to Ammon (Judges 11:12) 3. Jephthah's vow and victory (Judges 11:29) 4. Jephthah keeps his vow (Judges 11:34) Jephthah the judge who delivered Israel from the servitude of Ammon was the offspring of an unholy union “the son of an harlot.” Then he became an outcast and had to flee from his brethren. He dwelt in the land of Tob (goodness) and vain, or worthless, men gathered unto him. Yet he was a mighty man of valor. He was therefore an humble instrument, despised and rejected by his own. But finally thos

JEPHTHAH'S NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE KING OF AMMON. As generally happens, there was a war of diplomacy before the war of swords. The history of 300 years was reviewed in an attempt to settle a present question of _meum_ and _tuum._ Jephthah speedily acquainted himself with the rights and wrongs of the case, and would not have it said that he made no effort to settle matters amicably. But he argued in vain. Perhaps he was not sorry when the solemn palaver was over, and the hour come for the stern arbitrament of war. He was essentially a soldier, only incidentally and reluctantly a politician. Judges 11:14. The point of the long speech of Jephthah's messengers is that the Israelites, in their journey from Egypt, scrupulously respected the neutrality of Ammon. They failed to obtain a transit through either Edom or Moab, and rather than trespass on forbidden ground they comp

WILT NOT THOU... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis_. Jephthah does not recognize Chemosh as. god. The emphasis is on "thy" and "our", and is the argument _a fortiori_: and, taking them on their own ground, it is the _argumentum ad hominem._...

_Chemosh thy god … the Lord our God_ What Jehovah was to Israel Chemosh was to Moab; Numbers 21:29, Moab. St. _passim_. Obviously Moabites are in the speaker's mind, not Ammonites, whose national god was Milcom. According to ancient ideas each nation had its own god, whose influence extended over the country where he was worshipped and no further; Micah 4:5, cf. 1 Samuel 26:19; Deuteronomy 4:19 etc.; an Israelite worshipper of Jehovah would not, therefore, deny the divinity of the gods of his neighbours. A belief in the sole Godhead of Jehovah had not yet been reached. _Will not thou … giveth thee to possess_ Read Wilt