Judges 11:24

 Judges 11:24

Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

a. NASB 1995:‘Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the LORD our God has driven out before us, we will possess it. [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: ‘Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the LORD our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all the Lord our God dispossessed before us, we will possess. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Rubin Edition: The Early Prophets: Joshua & Judges: Surely, whatever your god Chemosh will let you possess, that you shall possess; and whatever [people] God has driven away before us, that [land]  we shall possess.   [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.}

a. [Wilt] not [Strong: 3808 lôʼ, lo; or לוֹא lôwʼ; or לֹה lôh; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle; + not (the simple or abstract negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles:—× before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

b. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

c. [thou] possess [Strong: 3423 yârash, yaw-rash'; or יָרֵשׁ yârêsh; a primitive root; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin:—cast out, consume, destroy, disinherit,] dispossess, drive(-ing) out, enjoy, expel, × without fail, (give to, leave for) inherit(-ance, -or) magistrate, be (make) poor, come to poverty, (give to, make to) possess, get (have) in (take) possession, seize upon, succeed, × utterly.]

d. [that] which [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

e. Chemosh [Strong: 3645 Kᵉmôwsh, kem-oshe'; or (Jeremiah 48:7) כְּמִישׁ Kᵉmîysh; from an unused root meaning to subdue; the powerful; Kemosh, the god of the Moabites:—Chemosh.

1). Unger’s Bible Dictionary: Chemosh: The national deity of the Moabites, honored with horribly cruel rites like those of Molech, to whom children were sacrificed in the fire [Leviticus 20:1-5]. It is interesting archaeologically to note that the anger of Chemosh is said in the famous Moabite Stone to be the reason for Israel’s subjugation of Moab (Judges 11:24). Solomon made a fatal mistake, whatever his reason might have been , of rearing an altar to Chemosh in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7). This abomination was not destroyed until Josiah’s purge almost three centuries later (2 Kings 23:13). So infatuated were the Moabites with Chemosh that they were known as the “people of Chemosh” (Numbers 21:29). 

f. [thy] god [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

g. [giveth] thee [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

h. [to] possess [Strong: 3423 yârash, yaw-rash'; or יָרֵשׁ yârêsh; a primitive root; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin:—cast out, consume, destroy, disinherit, dispossess, drive(-ing) out, enjoy, expel, × without fail, (give to, leave for) inherit(-ance, -or) magistrate, be (make) poor, come to poverty, (give to, make to) possess, get (have) in (take) possession, seize upon, succeed, × utterly.]

i. So [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

j. whomsoever [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

k. [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

l. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

m. [our] God [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

n. [shall] drive out [Strong: 3423 yârash, yaw-rash'; or יָרֵשׁ yârêsh; a primitive root; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin:—cast out, consume, destroy, disinherit, dispossess, drive(-ing) out, enjoy, expel, × without fail, (give to, leave for) inherit(-ance, -or) magistrate, be (make) poor, come to poverty, (give to, make to) possess, get (have) in (take) possession, seize upon, succeed, × utterly.]

o. [from] before us [Strong: 6440 pânîym, paw-neem'; plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun פָּנֶה pâneh; from H6437); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):— accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, × as (long as), at, battle, because (of), beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, × him(-self), honourable, impudent, in, it, look(-eth) (-s), × me, meet, × more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), × on, open, out of, over against, the partial, person, please, presence, prospect, was purposed, by reason of, regard, right forth, serve, × shewbread, sight, state, straight, street, × thee, × them(-selves), through ( -out), till, time(-s) past, (un-) to(-ward), upon, upside ( down), with(-in, -stand), × ye, × you.]

p. them [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

q. [we will] possess [Strong: 3423 yârash, yaw-rash'; or יָרֵשׁ yârêsh; a primitive root; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin:—cast out, consume, destroy, disinherit, dispossess, drive(-ing) out, enjoy, expel, × without fail, (give to, leave for) inherit(-ance, -or) magistrate, be (make) poor, come to poverty, (give to, make to) possess, get (have) in (take) possession, seize upon, succeed, × utterly.]

1). Commentary From Rabbinic Writings, [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.] Jephthah’s debate with the king of Ammon. Ready for war but trying to avoid it. Jephthah tried to reach an understanding with Ammon, showing that Ammon had no historical claims to  Eretz Israel. Although all the kings’s factual claims were refuted, he persisted in his demands and war became unavoidable . The outcome of the dialogue is typical of much international discourse. Once all the diplomatic niceties have been refuted the truth comes out: Ammon wanted to expand and plunder at the expanse of a weaker neighbor and all the justifications were mere window dressing for naked aggression. Jephthah refuted Ammon's claim by summarizing the conquest of the eastern bank of the Jordan, where Ammon was located. The events are recounted in Deuteronomy 2 & 3. The thrust of his argument was that Israel had been commanded by God to avoid hostilities with Amon, Moab, and Edom; the only territories it conquered east of the Jordan were the kingdoms of the Ammorite kings Shihon and Og. Although part of Sihon’s kingdom had once belonged to Ammon, the Ammonites lost their claim to the land when Sihon conquered it (Numbers 21:26).