Map, King of Ammon: "Israel's people stole my land"
Map King of Ammon: "Israel's people stole my land"
AMMON ATTACKS ISRAEL
4People of Ammon later attacked Israelites living in the area. 5Israelite leaders went to Tob and asked Jephthah to come back with them. 6They told him, “We want you to command the army that will fight the Ammonites."
7Jephthah said, “You do, do you? Don’t you remember that you’re the people who kicked me out of my father’s house. And now you have the nerve to ask for my help when you’re in trouble?” 8The leaders of Gilead said, “Yes, we know. But we're coming to you anyhow, asking you to lead us in the battle. If you do, we’ll appoint you ruler of Gilead.”
9Jephthah said, “Are you feeding me a line? If I come back with you, and the LORD lets me defeat the Ammonites, will you really do what you said—you’ll make me ruler?” 10The leaders of Gilead told Jephthah, “Yes. And we’ll make that promise with the LORD watching. Once you become our ruler, we’ll do whatever you say.” 11So Jephthah went back with the leaders, and they appointed him ruler of Gilead and commander of the army. He took the oath of leadership at a sacred site at Mizpah, with the LORD watching.
WORDS BEFORE THE WAR
12Jephthah sent a message to the king of Ammon, asking, “What’s the problem here? Why are you coming onto my land to fight me?”
13Ammon’s king sent a reply. “When Israel’s people came here from Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River to the Jordan River. Give it back to me peacefully.”
14Jephthah answered the king. 15“This message is from Jephthah: Israel didn’t take land from the people of Moab or Ammon. 16When Israel came up here from Egypt, they traveled through barren wasteland and the Reed Sea, on their way to the Kadesh oasis. 17Israel sent messengers to Edom’s king, asking, ‘Would you allow us to pass through your land?’ The king would not. Israel asked the same of Moab’s king, with the same result. So, Israel stayed at Kadesh for a while. 18When they started traveling again, they circled around Edom and Moab. To take that bypass, they had to walk through desolate land again. They camped on the far side of the Arnon River, to the east. They didn’t step on Moab’s land because Arnon marked the eastern boundary. 19Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in his capital at Heshbon: ‘We would like permission to pass through your country.’ 20Sihon didn’t trust Israel enough to let them do that. So, he assembled his army and camped at Jahaz. That’s where he fought Israel. 21He lost. Because of it, the LORD gave Sihon and his people to Israel. So, Israel took the land and lived there.
Boundaries
22They controlled all the land you’re talking about, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert in the east to the Jordan River in the west. 23Israel’s God, the LORD, crushed the Amorites. Are you planning to step into this picture and pick up where they left off? 24Shouldn’t you be satisfied with what your god, Chemosh, gives you? And shouldn’t we be allowed to take everything the LORD, our God, gives us? 25Are you any better than Moab’s former king, Balak the son of Zippor? Did he argue with Israel about the land? Did he go to war with them? 26Let’s be clear, you want land that Israel has lived on for 300 years. This includes the cities of Heshbon and Aroer along with their outlying communities along the Arnon River. If this land belonged to you, why didn’t you take it earlier? 27I haven’t done anything wrong to you. You’re the one causing trouble. You’re starting a war against me. The LORD will have the final say about all of this.” 28Jephthah’s message didn’t change the Ammonite king’s mind.
Judges 11, Casual English Bible
Compare with other Bible versions, Bible Gateway
Map of attack of desert nomads
Map of attack of desert nomads
Map of 33 cities the Israelites conquered
Map of 33 cities the Israelites conquered
Map of Canaan cities
Map of Canaan cities
Bible map of cities in ancient Israel
Bible map of cities in ancient Israel
Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Israel, Judah capture land
Israel, Judah capture land
Land grab
Israel and Judah take land from Syria and Edom
Israel, Judah, and Moab are the big winners in a land grab. Each nation fought for control over their individual corners of the region.Assyria weakens Syria
Assyria attacks Syria, leaving it too weak to defend itself against an opportunist like Israel's King Jeroboam. Jeroboam II recovered territory Israel lost to Syria. He restores Israel’s border from Lebo-hamath in the north (about 50 miles/80 km northwest of Damascus), to the Dead Sea in the south. A prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, said it would happen. Jonah came from the town of Gath-hepher.God helped make it happen
The LORD helped Jeroboam do these things because he saw how desperate the people had become. There was no one else willing to help them, free or slave. One more reason the LORD helped is because he promised not to let anyone erase them from the world. Those are the reasons he helped Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash.Edom and Judah gain land, too
Edom can't stop the young king of Judah, Amaziah, still in his early 20s and ambitious. After taking Edom, he challenges Israel to a battle. He loses, gets captured, and for punishment, Israel's soldiers knock down part of Jerusalem's city walls. Many citizens are taken as slaves.Moab's last stand
As for Moab, the combined armies of Judah and Israel can't break through the defenses of Moab's capital city, Kir-hareseth. Moab’s king saw he was losing the city. So, he took 700 swordsmen and tried to punch through Edom’s line and scatter the enemy. He failed and had to retreat.King sacrifices his son on city wall
Then he killed his oldest son, who would have succeeded him as king. He burned the body on top of the city wall as a sacrifice for everyone to see. Israel saw it, too. Angry and disgusted, they went home.Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Boss of Edom, Moab
Boss of Edom, Moab
Bosses of the Promised Land
Kings of Israel and Judah controlled their neighbor countries of Edom and Moab for part of the era of Israelite kings. Moab had apparently lived under the dominance of Israel since David conquered the nation (2 Samuel 8:12). This likely meant, in part, that they paid annual tribute to Israel’s king—essentially tax payments. This marks a turning point in the history of the northern Jewish kingdom, the beginning of the end of their empire.2 Kings 1-4, Israel's king, about to die
"1When King Ahab of Israel died, Moab decided to declare its independence from Israel. 2Israel’s King Ahaziah fell through the latticework of an upper window in Samaria. Injured, he wanted to know if he would recover. So, he sent messengers to ask Baalzebub, god of the people in the city of Ekron. 3But a messenger from the LORD told Elijah, a prophet from the town of Tishbe, to go and intercept the king’s people. Elijah was to say, “Tell me this, why are you going to Ekron to consult Baalzebub? Don’t we have a God here in Israel? 4Take this message as a reminder that we do. Tell the king the LORD says this: ‘You won’t leave your sickbed. You’ll die there.’” Elijah delivered that message."2 Kings 2:1-9, Moab declares independence
Israel declares war
Moab stops paying Israel
4King Mesha of Moab bred sheep. When King Ahab was alive and Israel was powerful, Mesha had to pay him to live in peace. Mesha gave Ahab 100,000 lambs and wool from 100,000 sheep. 5But Ahab was dead now. So, Mesha was done with that. He declared his independence by refusing to make those payments.Israel declares war
6King Joram mustered his army, pulling fighters in from all over Israel. They marched out of Samaria. 7Along the way, Joram sent a message to King Jehoshaphat in Judah: “Moab’s king has rebelled. Will you join the battle with me and fight Moab?” Jehoshaphat said, “I will. We are one. My people are your people. My horses are your horses. 8Which way should we go?” Joram said, “We’ll attack from the south, from Edom’s desert.”Moab's last city refuses to fall
For more Bible features
Israel and Judah, one nation divided
Israel and Judah, one nation divided
CONSTANT WAR
Israel and Judah live in perpetual hostility toward one another. They are brothers in blood, united to their common and revered ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they remain bitter rivals for as long as they exist...until one at a time, invaders from what is now Iraq, erase them from the world map. JUDAH AND SYRIA FIGHT ISRAEL War between Israel and Judah continued throughout the lives of King Asa and King Baasha of Israel. King Baasha reinforced the border town of Ramah. He wanted to shut the door on anyone trying to come or go between Israel and Judah.King ASA BUYS AN ALLY
Asa collected all the silver and gold in the Temple treasury. He told some officials to deliver it to King Ben-hadad at Damascus in Syria. Ben-hadad was the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion. Asa sent this message to Ben-hadad: “Let’s become allies. King Baasha of Israel is trying to invade and defeat me. I need your help. Please accept this gift of silver and gold. Then walk away from your treaty with Baasha, join forces with me, and help me push Baasha back where he belongs.It's a deal
Ben-hadad agreed to Asa’s deal. Then he unleashed his commanders and their armies. They attacked Israel and captured the cities of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the territory of Chinneroth and all the tribal land of Naphtali. When Baasha heard what Syria was doing, he stopped work on Ramah and retreated to the safety of his capital at Tirzah.Taking down Ramah
King Asa drafted all the men in Judah, no exceptions. He mobilized everyone to carry stones and timber that Baasha used to fortify Ramah. He used the material to fortify the town of Geba in the tribe of Benjamin, along with the town of Mizpah. (1 Kings 15:16-22)Pharaoh Shishak attacks Israel
Pharaoh Shishak attacks Israel
Pharaoh Shishak raids Judah, Israel
Egypt's ruler, Pharaoh Shishak, saw a chance to enrich his kingdom when King Solomon's Israel fell apart, collapsing into two competing nations. Shishak attacked scattered cities throughout both nations, Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Israel broke in half when Solomon's son and successor, Rehoboam, refused to lighten up on the forced labor and high taxes Solomon had imposed, to maintain his aggressive building projects. Instead, he threatened to get tougher. The northern tribes took a walk and never came back. Rehoboam was left ruling only his own tribe of Judah, in the south.On the Bible's record
Bible writers report only that Shishak threatened Jerusalem and that Judah's king Rehoboam saved the city by emptying the Temple treasury and giving it to Shishak. This payoff convinced the Egyptian to go home. The story appears in 1 Kings 14:25-28 and in 2 Chronicles 12:2-12."During the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign, Egypt’s King Shishak invaded and attacked Jerusalem. 26He stole everything of value from the Temple. And he took the golden shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam replaced the shields, but he used bronze instead of gold. And he ordered the royal palace guards at the front door to keep them safe. Whenever the king went to the Temple, the guards who escorted him brought the shields with them. When they returned, they stored the shields in a guarded room." (1 Kings 14:25-28)This could have been when the Israelites lost their most sacred relic, the chest with the stones of the Ten Commandments. The gold-covered chest is also known as the Ark of The Covenant. King Shishak, usually linked with Pharaoh Shoshenq I, allied himself with King Jeroboam of Israel instead of Rehoboam of Judah. Some of his war records were found, with lists of Judean cities he conquered. Jerusalem isn’t among them. Bible writers say he attacked with too many soldiers to count, a cavalry of 60,000, and a chariot corps of 1,200 (2 Chronicles 12).
On the Egyptian record
Egyptian records are more involved than the short snippet in the Bible. An ancient inscription on the Amon temple in the Egyptian city of Luxor reports a military campaign that took him throughout both nations of Judah and Israel. The inscription identifies many target cities by name.For more Bible features
Stephen M. Miller's website , The Casual English Bible, and Bible YouTube channel3D Bible map of the Battle of Jabesh Gilead
