Judges 11:18

Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:12-28 One instance of the honour and respect we owe to God, as our God, is, rightly to employ what he gives us to possess. Receive it from him, use it for him, and part with it when he calls for it. The whole of this message shows that Jephthah was well acquainted with the books of Moses. His argument was clear, and his demand reasonable. Those who possess the most courageous faith, will be the most disposed for peace, and the readiest to make advances to obtain; but rapacity and ambition often cloak their designs under a plea of equity, and render peaceful endeavours of no avail.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

No mention is made of this embassy to Moab in the Pentateuch.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. the king of Ammon …, Because Israel took away my land—(See on [221]De 2:19). The subject of quarrel was a claim of right advanced by the Ammonite monarch to the lands which the Israelites were occupying. Jephthah's reply was clear, decisive, and unanswerable;—first, those lands were not in the possession of the Ammonites when his countrymen got them, and that they had been acquired by right of conquest from the Amorites [Jud 11:21]; secondly, the Israelites had now, by a lapse of three hundred years of undisputed possession, established a prescriptive right to the occupation [Jud 11:22, 23]; and thirdly, having received a grant of them from the Lord, his people were entitled to maintain their right on the same principle that guided the Ammonites in receiving, from their god Chemosh, the territory they now occupied [Jud 11:24]. This diplomatic statement, so admirable for the clearness and force of its arguments, concluded with a solemn appeal to God to maintain, by the issue of events, the cause of right and justice [Jud 11:27].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then they went along the wilderness,.... The wilderness of Paran, which lay along the borders of Edom; they went, according to Jarchi, from the west to the east on the south border of Edom and Moab:

and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab; all the south of the land of Edom, and all the south of the land of Moab; towards the sunrising, as in Numbers 21:11.

and pitched on the other side of Arnon; the river Arnon, which, according to Jarchi, was at the east end of the land of Moab, where began the country of Sihon and Og:

but came not within the border of Moab; so far were they from attempting to take away any part of that land from the king of it, though ill treated by him:

for Arnon was the border of Moab; which divided between Moab and the Amorites, Numbers 21:13.

Geneva Study Bible

Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. compassed the land of Edom] Numbers 21:4 b; cf. Deuteronomy 2:1.

on the other side of Arnon] Clearly the country north of the Arnon, viewed from the march from the south; cf. Numbers 21:13.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - Then they went along, etc. The narrative here follows Deuteronomy 2:1. For they compassed the land of Edom. Deuteronomy 2:1 has, "we compassed Mount Seir;" but Numbers 21:4 has, "to compass the land of Edom." By the east side - literally, by the sun-rising side, as in Numbers 21:11. They pitched on the other side of Arnon. The identical words occur in Numbers 21:13. For Arnon was the border of Moab. The identical words of Numbers 21:18, where it is added, "between Moab and the Amorites." South of the Amen belonged to Moab, and north to the Amorites. The route taken by the Israelites is carefully traced (Numbers 21:11-20). Judges 11:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

On leaving Egypt, Israel passed through the desert to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh (Numbers 20:1). They then sent messengers to the king of Edom, to obtain permission to pass through his land; and this the king of Edom refused (Numbers 20:14-21). They also sent to the king of Moab, who sent back a similar refusal. The embassy to the king of Moab is not mentioned in the Pentateuch, as it had no direct bearing upon the further course of the Israelites (see Pentateuch, p. 741, note 1). "And Israel abode in Kadesh" (word for word, as in Numbers 20:1), and "then passed through the desert," namely to Mount Hor, then down the Arabah to the Red Sea, and still farther past Oboth to Ijje-abarim in the desert (Numbers 20:22-21:11). In this way they went round the land of Edom and the land of Moab (יסב, like סבב in Numbers 21:4); and came from the east to the land of Moab (i.e., along the eastern boundary, for Ijje-abarim was situated there, according to Numbers 21:11); and encamped on the other side of the Arnon (Numbers 21:13), i.e., on the upper course of the Arnon where it still flows through the desert (see Pent. p. 749). On this march, therefore, they did not enter the territory of Moab, as the Arnon formed the boundary of Moab, i.e., the boundary between Moab and the territory of the Amorites (Numbers 21:13).