Judges 11:13
“The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.””
What does Judges 11:13 mean?
The king of Ammon is claiming that Israel wrongfully seized his ancestors' land centuries earlier during their exodus from Egypt, and he's demanding it back as the price for peace. This reflects a real historical dispute: the Israelites had indeed conquered territory east of the Jordan River, and Ammon (Israel's neighbor) apparently felt that land belonged to them. What's important to notice is that the king is using a grievance from the distant past to justify current aggression, much like conflicts today often trace back to old wounds. Jephthah will respond to this claim in the verses that follow, but the core tension here shows how easy it is for nations (and people) to let old resentments fuel new conflicts, even when circumstances have changed dramatically over time.