Jephthah keeps questioning the Ammonite king, trying to convince him to stop his attack against Israel. Here he asks the king why the Ammonites had never tried to recapture the land in the past three hundred years while the Israelites lived there. The rhetorical question here is very long and will probably need to be broken up into smaller units or rearranged.

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages …: After capturing the land east of the Jordan River from the Amorite king Sihon, the Israelites remained there. The places mentioned here were given to the tribe of Reuben when the land was divided. For Heshbon see verse 11.19. This city was on the King’s Highway in the middle of the area captured from the Amorites. Aroer was an important town on the northern rim of the Arnon River. For its villages (literally “its daughters”), see verse 1.27. They were smaller communities around the larger towns. Jephthah is making a point here, so he draws out his words by saying in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages. However, in some languages it will be better to say “in the towns of Heshbon and Aroer, and in all their surrounding villages.”

And in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon: The word cities may be rendered “towns,” since these settlements were not huge. Biblical cities were quite small and easily surrounded by an army. For the Arnon River, see verse 11.13. The banks of the Arnon is literally “the hands of the Arnon [river].” Translators can use any appropriate term for banks. As in many places around the world, the banks of a river are a good place to make a settlement, since there is easy access to outside commerce. Some of the banks on this river are high cliffs today, so the area referred to here is probably the eastern end of the river, where it would be possible to settle.

Three hundred years: As is usually the case in the Old Testament, the number three hundred is probably a round figure, representing approximately how long the Israelites lived in this area.

Why did you not recover them within that time?: This rhetorical question is a climax to all the others. Obviously the Ammonite king cannot answer it, because he knows that his ancestors were powerless to take the land back from the Israelites. For the Hebrew verb rendered recover, see verse 6.9, where it is translated “delivered.” The pronoun them refers to the towns just mentioned. This rhetorical question may be rendered as a statement by saying “you were powerless to recover them during all those years!”

A translation model for this verse is:

• You know we Israelites occupied the towns of Heshbon and Aroer and all their surrounding villages and the towns along the Arnon River for 300 years. You could have tried to regain the land during that time. Why didn’t you?

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .