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Judges 11:26

in Judges 11

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?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; wherefore did ye not recover them within that time?

KJV

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?

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This verse in Judges 11

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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).

This site's exposition

better than Balak son of Zippor

on Judges 11:25-26

Balak hired Balaam and never brought an army against Israel, in Numbers 22 to 24, so Moab's own king pressed no claim by arms. The "three hundred years" of verse 26 is read as a round number, as the sum of the book's servitudes and rests so far, or against the 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1. Jephthah's point, a claim left unpressed for centuries, holds on any reading.

This site's exposition

Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer

Heshbon was Sihon's royal city in verse 19, so the list begins with the seat of the kingdom Israel had taken. Villages and cities along the Arnon fill out the land. Matthew Henry holds that so long a silence ended Ammon's claim.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

So that, supposing their title had not been clear at the first (which yet he had proved it was), yet, no claim having been made for so many generations, the entry of the children of Ammon, without doubt, was barred for ever.
While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns,....

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • בְּשֶׁ֣בֶתwhen dwelt

    beshevetH3427 →1079 times

  • יִ֠שְׂרָאֵלIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • בְּחֶשְׁבּ֨וֹןin Heshbon

    becheshbonH2809 →

  • וּבִבְנוֹתֶ֜יהָand in daughters its

    uvivnoteihaH1323 →588 times

  • וּבְעַרְע֣וֹרand in Aroer

    uvearorH6177 →

  • וּבִבְנוֹתֶ֗יהָand in daughters its

    uvivnoteihaH1323 →588 times

  • וּבְכָל־and in all

    uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הֶֽעָרִים֙the cities

    hearimH5892 →1090 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֙which

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עַל־[were] on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • יְדֵ֣י[the] sides of

    yedeiH3027 →1618 times

  • אַרְנ֔וֹן[the] Arnon

    ʾarnonH769 →25 times

  • שְׁלֹ֥שׁthree

    sheloshH7969 →432 times

  • מֵא֖וֹתhundred<s>

    meotH3967 →581 times

  • שָׁנָ֑הyear[s]

    shanahH8141 →877 times

  • וּמַדּ֥וּעַand why?

    umadua'H4069 →72 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • הִצַּלְתֶּ֖םdid you recover [them]

    hitzaltemH5337 →212 times

  • בָּעֵ֥תat the time

    baetH6256 →296 times

  • הַהִֽיא׃<the> that

    hahi'H1931 →1879 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Deuteronomy 2:36From 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.4 worksJudges 9:22After Abimelech had reigned over Israel for three years,2 worksDeuteronomy 3:2But 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.”2 worksDeuteronomy 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.2 worksJoshua 23:1A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years,2 worksJoshua 12:5He 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.2 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Judges 10:2–3Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.2 worksJudges 3:30So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.2 worksJudges 3:11So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.2 worksJoshua 11:18Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long period of time.2 worksJoshua 12:2Sihon 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,2 worksNumbers 21:25–30Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.2 worksJudges 8:28In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,2 worksDeuteronomy 3:6We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city.2 worksJudges 10:8who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.2 worksJoshua 13:10and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the Ammonites;2 worksJudges 5:31So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.2 works1 Kings 6:1In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    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…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 13:9

      The area from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon,

    • Deuteronomy 3:12

      So at that time we took possession of this land. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the land beyond Aroer along the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, along with…

    • Deuteronomy 4:48

      extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),

    • Psalms 44:3

      For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because…

  • Through

    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,

    it leads to

    • Joshua 13:1

      Now Joshua was old and well along in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and well along in years, but very much of the land remains to be possessed.

    • Joshua 21:44

      And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their…

  • Through

    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…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 29:20

      I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD.

    • Judges 11:18–21

      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.…

About Judges

Jephthah's Daughter Comes to Meet Her Father — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jephthah's Daughter Comes to Meet Her Father — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 11 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.

Read on in Judges 11 →