שופטים, פרק י״א, פסוק י״ט

In a diplomatic exchange with the Ammonite king, Jephthah presents a historical review to prove the peaceful intentions the Israelites held when they first arrived at the eastern side of the Jordan River. Their appeals to the surrounding nations were never driven by a desire for conquest. Instead, they merely sought safe passage toward their final destination. This destination was the land of Canaan [מצודת דוד], located on the western side of the Jordan [ביאור שטיינזלץ], a land specifically designated for Israel and given to them by God [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל].

The primary approach among commentators is that the Israelites' request to Sihon was rooted in a pure desire for peace. Although the city of Heshbon was under Sihon's control, the Israelites had no intention of taking it; they only asked to pass through his borders [אלשיך, אברבנאל]. However, Sihon was not satisfied with simply refusing their request. He chose to act with hostility, launching an unprovoked attack against an innocent people [אברבנאל].

Sihon’s refusal to trust the Israelites stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation. He assumed that while the Israelites might spare his original territory, they intended to conquer the lands he had previously captured from the Ammonites. Driven by this fear, he quickly sealed off his borders. For Jephthah, Sihon's reaction serves as decisive historical proof that at the time of the conflict, the disputed territory no longer belonged to Ammon at all, but was entirely under Sihon's rule [אהבת יהונתן].

In response to Sihon's aggression, God intervened miraculously. The subsequent victory and the inheritance of the land were not the result of natural warfare or an Israeli campaign of conquest. Rather, God Himself took the land from Sihon and delivered it to the Israelites [אלשיך, אברבנאל]. Furthermore, had the Israelites violated God's instructions by attempting to conquer Moab and Ammon without divine permission, God would never have handed Sihon and his territory over to them [אלשיך]. Ultimately, Jephthah's central argument rests on this reality: the Israelites did not steal the land from Ammon. They received it directly from God following a forced defensive war against the Amorites.