Bible Strands
Judges 11:26
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?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jephthah speaks to Ammonite envoys during a territorial dispute, asserting Israel's uninterrupted occupation of the region prior to demanding divine judgment.
The words — בְּשֶׁבֶת (beShevet) denotes "dwelling" or "period of residence," while בְּנוֹתֶיהָ (beNoteyha) literally means "daughters of it," a Hebrew idiom for the surrounding villages.
The thread — The geographic list aligns with Israel's initial conquest in Numbers 21:25 and Deuteronomy 2:24, 36, which document the capture of Heshbon, Aroer, and the Arnon valley cities.
Why it lands — The text forces a reader to confront the factual weight of prolonged possession, requiring the challenger to justify why a legal claim was delayed for centuries.
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
While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 2:36 From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
- Numbers 21:25 Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.
- Deuteronomy 2:24 “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.
- Deuteronomy 3:2 But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”
- Deuteronomy 3:6 We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city.
- Joshua 11:18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long period of time.
- Joshua 12:2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, up to the Jabbok River (the border of the Ammonites), that is, half of Gilead,
- Joshua 12:5 He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan up to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
- Joshua 13:10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the Ammonites;
- Joshua 23:1 A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years,