Judges 11:27

 Judges 11:27

 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

a. NASB 1995: ‘I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the LORD, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: ‘Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the LORD, the Judge, render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ” [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong to war against me. The Lord, the [righteous] Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Rubin Edition: The Early Prophets: Joshua & Judges: I have not sinned against you; but you do me wrong to make war against me! Let HASHEM, the Judge, decide today between the Children of Israel and the Children of Ammon!”  [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” [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. “Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”

a. [Wherefore] I [Strong: 595  ʼânôkîy, aw-no-kee'; sometimes, אָנֹכִי ʼânôkîy; a primitive pronoun; I:—I, me, × which.] 

b. [have] 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.

c. sinned [against thee] [Strong: 2398 châṭâʼ, khaw-taw'; a primitive root; properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn:—bear the blame, cleanse, commit (sin), by fault, harm he hath done, loss, miss, (make) offend(-er), offer for sin, purge, purify (self), make reconciliation, (cause, make) sin(-ful, -ness), trespass.]

d. [but] 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.]

e. doest [Strong: 6213 ʻâsâh, aw-saw'; a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application:—accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, × sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

f. [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).]

g. me] [Strong: 854 ʼêth, ayth; probably from H579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:—against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

h. wrong [Strong: 7451 raʻ, rah; from H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), + exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Including feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.)]

i. [to] war [against me] [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).]

j. [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.]

k. judge [Strong: 8199 shâphaṭ, shaw-fat'; a primitive root; to judge, i.e. pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication, to vindicate or punish; by extenssion, to govern; passively, to litigate (literally or figuratively):— avenge, × that condemn, contend, defend, execute (judgment), (be a) judge(-ment), × needs, plead, reason, rule.]

l. [to] judge [Strong: 8199 shâphaṭ, shaw-fat'; a primitive root; to judge, i.e. pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication, to vindicate or punish; by extenssion, to govern; passively, to litigate (literally or figuratively):— avenge, × that condemn, contend, defend, execute (judgment), (be a) judge(-ment), × needs, plead, reason, rule.]

m. [this] day [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

n. between [Strong: 996 bêyn, bane; (sometimes in the plural masculine or feminine); properly, the constructive form of an otherwise unused noun from H995; a distinction; but used only as a preposition, between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles); also as a conjunction, either...or:—among, asunder, at, between (-twixt...and), + from (the widest), × in, out of, whether (it be...or), within.]

o. [the] children [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.]

p. [of] 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.]

q. and [Strong: 996 bêyn, bane; (sometimes in the plural masculine or feminine); properly, the constructive form of an otherwise unused noun from H995; a distinction; but used only as a preposition, between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles); also as a conjunction, either...or:—among, asunder, at, between (-twixt...and), + from (the widest), × in, out of, whether (it be...or), within.]

r. [the] children [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.]

s. [of] Ammon 5983 ʻAmmôwn, am-mone'; from H5971; tribal, i.e. inbred; Ammon, a son of Lot; also his posterity and their country:—Ammon, Ammonites.]

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).