Judges 11:23
in Judges 11Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So now Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess them?
KJV
So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
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This verse in Judges 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites - Jephthah shows that the Israelites did not take the land of the Moabites or Ammonites, but that of the Amorites, which they had conquered from Sihon their king, who had, without cause or provocation, attacked them; and although the Amorites had taken the lands in question from the Ammonites, yet the title by which Israel held them was good, because they took them not from the Ammonites, but conquered them from the Amorites.
This site's exposition
has driven out the Amorites from before His people
on Judges 11:23-24
The god named in verse 24 is Chemosh, the god of Moab at Numbers 21:29 and 1 Kings 11:7, while Ammon's god is Milcom at 1 Kings 11:5. Readers take this three ways: Jephthah argues from the king's premise without granting it, Moab and Ammon shared cults on that border, or the strip was Moabite before Sihon took it. The text passes no judgment on his words.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Not that Jephthah thought Chemosh a god, only he is thy god, and the worshippers even of those dunghill deities that could do neither good nor evil yet thought themselves beholden to them for all they had ( Hos. ii. 12 , These are my rewards which my lovers have given me; and see Judg. xvi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The bravest officers have always been averse to war; so Jephthah, whose courage was indisputable, resolved not only to make it clearly appear that hostilities were forced upon him, but to try measures for avoiding, if possible, an appeal to arms: and in pursuing such a course he was acting as became a leader in Israel (De 20:10-18).
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֞ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה׀ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הוֹרִישׁ֙ | horish | he has dispossessed | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָ֣אֱמֹרִ֔י | haemori | the Amorite[s] | H567 → | 87 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| עַמּ֣וֹ | amo | people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְאַתָּ֖ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תִּירָשֶֽׁנּוּ׃ | tirashenu | will you take possession of? it | H3423 → | 231 times |
וְעַתָּ֞הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
יְהוָ֣ה׀Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הוֹרִישׁ֙he has dispossessed
horishH3423 →231 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָ֣אֱמֹרִ֔יthe Amorite[s]
haemoriH567 →87 times
מִפְּנֵ֖יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
עַמּ֣וֹpeople his
amoH5971 →1873 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְאַתָּ֖הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
תִּירָשֶֽׁנּוּ׃will you take possession of? it
tirashenuH3423 →231 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.