Judges 11:16

But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) When Israel came up from Egypt.—Compare with this narrative Numbers 20, 21.

Walked through the wilderness.—In the second year of the wanderings (Deuteronomy 1:19).

Unto the Red sea.—Numbers 14:25. The name for this sea in the Old Testament is Yam sooph, “the sea of weeds.” They reached Kadesh Barnea from Ezion Geber (“the Giant’s backbone”), in the Gulf of Akaba (Numbers 33:36).

To Kadesh.—Numbers 20:1; Numbers 33:16.

Benson Commentary

Jdg 11:16-17. Unto the Red sea — Unto which they came three times; once, Exodus 13:18; again, a little after their passage over it; and a third time, long after, when they came to Ezion-geber, which was upon the shore of the Red sea, from whence they went to Kadesh; of this time he speaks here. In the like manner they sent to the king of Moab — We do not read of such a message sent to the Moabites; but when the Israelites came from Ezion-geber into the wilderness of Moab, we find a command of God given to them not to distress the Moabites, nor contend with them in battle. This intimates there was some occasion for such a command, which was probably their refusing to grant them some common civility.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:12-28 One instance of the honour and respect we owe to God, as our God, is, rightly to employ what he gives us to possess. Receive it from him, use it for him, and part with it when he calls for it. The whole of this message shows that Jephthah was well acquainted with the books of Moses. His argument was clear, and his demand reasonable. Those who possess the most courageous faith, will be the most disposed for peace, and the readiest to make advances to obtain; but rapacity and ambition often cloak their designs under a plea of equity, and render peaceful endeavours of no avail.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Consult the marginal references. If the ark with the copy of the Law Deuteronomy 31:26 was at Mizpeh, it would account for Jephthah's accurate knowledge of it; and this exact agreement of his message with Numbers and Deuteronomy would give additional force to the expression, "he uttered all his words before the Lord" Judges 11:11.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. the king of Ammon …, Because Israel took away my land—(See on [221]De 2:19). The subject of quarrel was a claim of right advanced by the Ammonite monarch to the lands which the Israelites were occupying. Jephthah's reply was clear, decisive, and unanswerable;—first, those lands were not in the possession of the Ammonites when his countrymen got them, and that they had been acquired by right of conquest from the Amorites [Jud 11:21]; secondly, the Israelites had now, by a lapse of three hundred years of undisputed possession, established a prescriptive right to the occupation [Jud 11:22, 23]; and thirdly, having received a grant of them from the Lord, his people were entitled to maintain their right on the same principle that guided the Ammonites in receiving, from their god Chemosh, the territory they now occupied [Jud 11:24]. This diplomatic statement, so admirable for the clearness and force of its arguments, concluded with a solemn appeal to God to maintain, by the issue of events, the cause of right and justice [Jud 11:27].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Unto the Red Sea; unto which they came three times; once, Exodus 13:18; again, a little after their passage over it, Exodus 15:22; and a third time, long after, when they came to Ezion-gaber, Numbers 33:35 Deu 2:8, which was upon the shore of the Red Sea, 1 Kings 9:26 2 Chronicles 8:17, from whence they went to Kadesh, Num 20: of this time he speaks here.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But when Israel came up from Egypt,.... In order to go to the land of Canaan, which was higher than the land of Egypt, which lay low (k):

and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea; which is to be understood not of their walking to it; when they first came out of Egypt, they indeed then came to the edge of the wilderness of Etham, and so to the Red sea, and walked through it as on dry land, and came into the wilderness of Shur, Sin, and Sinai; and after their departure from Mount Sinai they came into the wilderness of Paran, in which they were thirty eight years; and this is the wilderness meant they walked through, and came to Eziongaber, on the shore of the Red sea, Numbers 33:35.

and came to Kadesh; not Kadeshbarnea, from whence the spies were sent, but Kadesh on the borders of Edom, from whence messengers were sent to the king of it, as follows.

(k) Theocrit. Idyll. 17. ver. 79.

Geneva Study Bible

But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. the wilderness … the Red Sea … Kadesh] The route is generalized, perhaps from reminiscences of Numbers 14:25; Numbers 20:14 (JE), as Moore suggests. It is now generally held that Kadesh is to be identified with ‘Ain Ḳadîs, 50 m. S. of Beer-sheba. Jdg 11:16-18 agree with JE’s narrative in Num., according to which the Israelites journeyed straight from Sinai to Kadesh, and abode in Kadesh (Jdg 11:17, Numbers 20:1 b) apparently till the fortieth year of the Exodus (Numbers 20:14; Numbers 20:16). D and P give divergent accounts; see Gray, Numbers, p. 260.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - When Israel came up, etc. In this and the following verses there is a distinct reference to the history in Numbers and Deuteronomy, and in some instances verbal quotations. Thus in this verse the words below which are put in italics are found in Numbers 13:26; Numbers 14:25: Israel... walked through the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh. Judges 11:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

On leaving Egypt, Israel passed through the desert to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh (Numbers 20:1). They then sent messengers to the king of Edom, to obtain permission to pass through his land; and this the king of Edom refused (Numbers 20:14-21). They also sent to the king of Moab, who sent back a similar refusal. The embassy to the king of Moab is not mentioned in the Pentateuch, as it had no direct bearing upon the further course of the Israelites (see Pentateuch, p. 741, note 1). "And Israel abode in Kadesh" (word for word, as in Numbers 20:1), and "then passed through the desert," namely to Mount Hor, then down the Arabah to the Red Sea, and still farther past Oboth to Ijje-abarim in the desert (Numbers 20:22-21:11). In this way they went round the land of Edom and the land of Moab (יסב, like סבב in Numbers 21:4); and came from the east to the land of Moab (i.e., along the eastern boundary, for Ijje-abarim was situated there, according to Numbers 21:11); and encamped on the other side of the Arnon (Numbers 21:13), i.e., on the upper course of the Arnon where it still flows through the desert (see Pent. p. 749). On this march, therefore, they did not enter the territory of Moab, as the Arnon formed the boundary of Moab, i.e., the boundary between Moab and the territory of the Amorites (Numbers 21:13).