to tell him, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites. But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh. Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’ But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country, seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it? Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us. Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them? For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time? I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
"Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.
Significance
Jephthah's extended argument in Judges 11:15-27 references God's command in Deuteronomy 2:24 to engage Sihon king of Heshbon and begin taking possession (רֵשׁ, resh) of his territory. This divine authorization distinguishes Israel's conquest of Amorite land from any alleged seizure of Ammonite territory. By recounting the specific moment God directed Israel to confront Sihon, Jephthah establishes that Transjordanian holdings originated in YHWH's sovereign command, not in arbitrary military expansion against neighboring peoples. The verse's own declaration, הָחִלֹּתִי תֵּת לְפָנֶיךָ (hachilloti tet lefanekha, "I have begun to deliver [him] before you"), casts this authorization as an accomplished divine act rather than a mere permission.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — Jephthah's case that Israel "took possession of all the land of the Amorites" (Judges 11:21-22) stands on God's command at an earlier stage, "See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon... Begin to take possession" (Deuteronomy 2:24), so that the disputed territory is the ongoing deposit of a divinely initiated act in redemptive history, not expansion against Ammon.
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