Judges 11:25

 Judges 11:25

And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

a. NASB 1995: ‘Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: ‘And now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel or did he ever go to war with them? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Rubin Edition: The Early Prophets: Joshua & Judges:And now, are you any bett3er than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he pursue any grievance against Israel, or did he make war against them?  [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? [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. And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

a. [And] now [Strong: 6258 ʻattâh, at-taw'; from H6256; at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletive:—henceforth, now, straightway, this time, whereas.]

b. [art] thou [Strong: 859 ʼattâh, at-taw'; or (shortened); אַתָּ ʼattâ at-taw'; or אַת° ʼath, ath; feminine (irregular) sometimes אַתִּי ʼattîy, at-tee'; plural masculine אַתֶּם ʼattem, at-tem'; feminine אַתֶּן ʼatten, at-ten'; or אַתֵּנָה ʼattênâh, at-tay'-naw; or אַתֵּנָּה ʼattênnâh, at-tane'-naw; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you:—thee, thou, ye, you.]

c. anything [Strong: 2896 ṭôwb, tobe; from H2895; good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well):—beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, × fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, -liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, × most, pleasant, pleaseth, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well(-favoured).]

d. better [Strong: 2896 ṭôwb, tobe; from H2895; good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well):—beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, × fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, -liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, × most, pleasant, pleaseth, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well(-favoured).]

e. [than] Balak [Strong: 1111 Bâlâq, baw-lawk'; from H1110; waster; Balak, a Moabitish king:—Balak.] 

f. [the] son [Strong: 1121 bên, bane; from H1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.):—afflicted, age, (Ahoh-) (Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-) ite, (anoint-) ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-) ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, × came up in, child, colt, × common, × corn, daughter, × of first, firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, × in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, rebel, + robber, × servant born, × soldier, son, + spark, steward, + stranger, × surely, them of, + tumultuous one, valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

g. [of] Zippor [Strong: 6834 Tsippôwr, tsip-pore'; the same as H6833; Tsippor, a Moabite:—Zippor.]

h. king [Strong: 4428 melek, meh'-lek; from H4427; a king:—king, royal.]

i. [of] Moab [Strong: 4124 Môwʼâb, mo-awb; from a prolonged form of the prepositional prefix m- and H1; from (her [the mother's]) father; Moab, an incestuous son of Lot; also his territory and descendants:—Moab.]

j. [did] he [Strong: 7378 rîyb, reeb; or רוּב rûwb; a primitive root; properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend:—adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, × ever, × lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, × thoroughly.]

k. ever strive [Strong: 7378 rîyb, reeb; or רוּב rûwb; a primitive root; properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend:—adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, × ever, × lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, × thoroughly.]

l. against [Strong: 5973 ʻim, eem; from H6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):—accompanying, against, and, as (× long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-) to, with(-al).]

m. Israel [Strong: 3478 Yisrâʼêl, yis-raw-ale'; from H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisraël, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity:—Israel.]

n. or [Strong: 518 ʼim, eem; a primitive particle; used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogative, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not:—(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), + but, either, + except, + more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, + save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, + surely (no more, none, not), though, + of a truth, + unless, + verily, when, whereas, whether, while, + yet.]

o. [did he] ever [Strong: 3898 lâcham, law-kham'; a primitive root; to feed on; figuratively, to consume; by implication, to battle (as destruction):—devour, eat, × ever, fight(-ing), overcome, prevail, (make) war(-ring).]

p. fight [against them] [Strong: 3898 lâcham, law-kham'; a primitive root; to feed on; figuratively, to consume; by implication, to battle (as destruction):—devour, eat, × ever, fight(-ing), overcome, prevail, (make) war(-ring).]

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). ]