Bible Strands
Judges 11:15
to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jephthah’s messengers deliver his diplomatic complaint to the king of Ammon, denying that Israel ever seized Moabite or Ammonite territory before recounting their wilderness route.
The words — לָקַח (la.Kach) means “has taken” or “took,” paired with לֹא (lo’) “not,” forming the explicit negation that Israel never captured the land.
The thread — This denial of conquest aligns with Deuteronomy 2:9 and Deuteronomy 2:19, where Yahweh forbids provoking Moab or Ammon, and echoes Numbers 21:13, which notes Israel’s route past the Arnon without claiming those borders.
Why it lands — The verse demands that territorial disputes be settled by historical record rather than military assertion, requiring the reader to verify claims against established boundaries.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 2:19 But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
- Deuteronomy 2:9 Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
- Numbers 21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory. Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.
- Numbers 21:27 That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored.
- 2 Chronicles 20:10 And now, here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. So Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them.
- Acts 24:12 Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city.