Bible Strands
Judges 11:33
With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jephthah conducts a military campaign against the Ammonites immediately after crossing the border and receiving divine delivery of their forces, prior to his return to Mizpah.
The words — The verb וַ/יַּכֵּ֡/ם (va/i.ya.Ke/m) literally renders "and he defeated/ them" [H5221], denoting the decisive strike that reduces the Ammonite resistance.
The thread — The geographic markers Aroer and Minnith reappear in Deuteronomy 2:36 as boundary limits of Israel’s conquest and in Ezekiel 27:17 as a source of traded wheat.
Why it lands — The text records a calculated campaign that destroys twenty urban centers to break Ammonite resistance, requiring the reader to recognize the direct correlation between territorial conquest and national subjugation.
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 he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 27:17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith, cakes and honey, oil and balm for your merchandise.
- 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.