Judges 11:21-22

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 11:12-28

We have here the treaty between Jephthah, now judge of Israel, and the king of the Ammonites (who is not named), that the controversy between the two nations might, if possible, be accommodated without the effusion of blood. I. Jephthah, as one having authority, sent to the king of Ammon, who in this war was the aggressor, to demand his reasons for invading the land of Israel: ?Why hast thou come to fight against me in my land? Jdg. 11:12. Had I come first into thy land to disturb thee in thy... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 11:21

And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel ,.... So that as Sihon, his people, and his country, fell into the hands of Israel through the victory the Lord gave them over him, they had a divine right to the land now in dispute: and they smote them : destroyed him and all his people, as they were ordered to destroy the seven nations of Canaan, of which the Amorites were one, Deuteronomy 7:1 , so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 11:22

And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites ,.... Peaceably and quietly, nor did any pretend to call their right in question, or dispute their title, or give them any disturbance: from Arnon unto Jabbok : which was the length of the country, and the direction was from south to north, and reached from the river Arnon, the border of Moab, to the river Jabbok, the border of Ammon; so that it included no part of what was at this time in the possession of either: and from the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 11:22

From the wilderness even unto Jordan - From Arabia Deserta on the east to Jordan on the west. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 11:15-28

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 11:17No mention is made of this embassy to Moab in the Pentateuch.Judges 11:19Into my place - This expression implies that the trans-Jordanic possessions of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 11:19-22

Judges 11:19-22. Let us pass through thy land unto my place That is, unto the land of Canaan, which the Lord hath given me. But Sihon fought against Israel He not only refused, after the example of his neighbours, to grant the Israelites a passage through his country, which they could not insist upon as their absolute right, but raised all his forces, and proudly marched to drive them away from his borders. So that, as Jephthah intends to signify, Sihon was the aggressor, and the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 11:1-40

Jephthah and five other judges (10:1-12:15)Little is known of the political or military activities of the judges Tola and Jair. They both exercised power for lengthy periods, and Jair’s family certainly enjoyed considerable power and prestige among the East Jordan tribes (10:1-5).Again the Israelites turned away from Yahweh and worshipped false gods, and again they were punished. The Ammonites conquered the eastern tribes, crossed Jordan, and seized large portions of Israelite territory in... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 11:12-28

Jephthah’s negotiations with the king of Ammon 11:12-28Jephthah did not rush into battle but wisely tried to settle the Ammonites’ grievance with Israel peacefully. His approach reveals his humility as well as his wisdom. Most men would have wanted to demonstrate their prowess in battle to impress the ones who had expressed confidence in them and to guarantee their future security with a victory. However, Jephthah restrained himself and appealed to the king of Ammon very logically through... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 11:1-40

Jephthah’s Victory over the Ammonites. His Rash Vow1-11. The Choice of Jephthah.1. As the son of a harlot, Jephthah has no legal standing in the tribe. Gilead begat] Throughout the rest of the narrative Gilead is the name of a place, not a person (cp. Judges 12:7). Here Gilead’s ’sons’ represent the legitimate tribesmen. 3. Tob] must have been near Gilead, probably to the NE. (cp. 2 Samuel 10:6). Vain men] see on Judges 9:4. ’Broken men,’ such as came to David at the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 11:21

(21) The Lord God of Israel.—This is evidently a cardinal point in the mind of Jephthah. The God of Israel has decided against the gods of Ammon.All the land of the Amorites.—All the land, therefore, which they took from the Amorites was theirs by. the immemorial law of nations, irrespective of any who had been its previous owners (Grot., De Jure Belli, 3:6, § 7). read more

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