While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
Israel has been living in Heshbon and its surrounding towns, in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon River for three hundred years. So why didn't you try to take them back during all that time?
Jephthah is arguing that if the Ammonites truly owned these lands, they would have fought to reclaim them during the 300 years Israel lived there peacefully.
📚 Historical Context
Jephthah, Israel's judge, is responding to the Ammonite king who claimed Israel had stolen their land. The Ammonites were demanding back territories east of the Jordan River that Israel had occupied since conquering them from the Amorites centuries earlier. Jephthah uses this legal argument about the passage of time to justify Israel's right to the land.
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