Judges 11:19-22 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Bible Comments

Let us pass through thy land unto my place That is, unto the land of Canaan, which the Lord hath given me. But Sihon fought against Israel He not only refused, after the example of his neighbours, to grant the Israelites a passage through his country, which they could not insist upon as their absolute right, but raised all his forces, and proudly marched to drive them away from his borders. So that, as Jephthah intends to signify, Sihon was the aggressor, and the Israelites were compelled to fight in their own defence. They possessed all the coasts Or borders, together with all the land included within those borders. From the wilderness Namely, the desert of Arabia; unto Jordan.

Judges 11:19-22

19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.