Judges 11:26

ARGUMENT NO. 4

This was what might be called an argument based upon what men call today "the statute of limitations." Israel had been in possession of Gilead ever since the days of Moses, and, "It was too late for Ammon to press her claim, since Israel had enjoyed such a long period of undisputed occupation of that territory."[14]

"While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; wherefore did ye not recover them within that time?"

This is one of the most significant statements about the entire Book of Judges:

"Jephthah here argued that the `statute of limitations' had expired since Israel had then held this territory for three hundred years ... Since Jephthah's judgeship began about 1100 B.C., adding the 300 years mentioned here dates the conquest at approximately 1400 B.C. The exodus took place forty years earlier in 1440 B.C., the so-called `early date' held by most evangelical scholars."[15]

These dates synchronize exactly with the dates of the Exodus and of the Conquest which we assigned to those events in our Commentaries on the Pentateuch.