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.”
Parallel translations
- WEB I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. May Yahweh the Judge be judge today between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”
- KJV 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.
- BSB I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
- 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.’ ”
- NASB So I 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.’ ”
- NLT Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon.”
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jephthah declares he has not wronged Ammon and calls the LORD the Judge to decide between them. He rests Israel's cause on God's justice.
Overview
Concluding his case, Jephthah insists the wrong lies with Ammon's aggression, not Israel, and appeals to the LORD as the righteous Judge over the dispute. Committing the matter to God acknowledges that he ultimately vindicates the just. This appeal to the divine Judge reflects faith that the LORD will rightly settle the conflict.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Gen 18:25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
- 1 Sam 24:15May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.”
- 1 Sam 24:12May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.
- Gen 16:5Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you.”
- Gen 31:53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac.
- Rom 14:10–12But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
- Ps 94:2Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve.
- Eccl 11:9Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
- Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
- Ps 75:7But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another.
- Ps 82:8Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.
- 1 Sam 2:10Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. “Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
- 2 Cor 5:10For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
- 2 Tim 4:8From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.
- Job 23:7There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.
- Ps 7:11God is a righteous judge, yes, a God who has indignation every day.
- John 5:22–23For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
- Job 9:15Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.
- Ps 7:8–9Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me.
- Ps 50:6The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.
- Eccl 12:14For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
- 2 Cor 11:11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.
- Heb 12:23to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 11:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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