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Did God forbid Israel to fight Moab and Ammon, and then have Israel fight them?

Hard question · The law of Moses · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate

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The passages

Deuteronomy 2:9

On the way to Canaan, God tells Moses not to distress Moab or fight it, because he has given Ar to the children of Lot.

And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.

Deuteronomy 2:19

Israel is not to meddle with Ammon either, for God has given its land to Lot’s children.

And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.

Judges 3:12–14

Eglon king of Moab, with Ammon and Amalek, attacks Israel, takes the city of palm trees and rules Israel for eighteen years.

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

Judges 3:28–30

Ehud leads Israel against Moab at the fords of the Jordan; Moab is subdued and the land has rest.

And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

Judges 11:12–15

The king of Ammon comes to fight Israel, claiming that Israel took his land; Jephthah replies that Israel took neither Moab’s land nor Ammon’s.

And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:

Judges 11:32–33

When the king of Ammon will not listen, Jephthah fights, and the Lord delivers Ammon into his hand.

So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Jeremiah 48:1–2

Jeremiah foretells Moab’s ruin: in Heshbon its enemies plot to cut it off from being a nation.

Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.

Jeremiah 49:1–2

Jeremiah foretells war on Rabbah of Ammon, because Ammon’s king has taken over the land of Gad.

Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities? Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord.

The objection

Deuteronomy says that God told Israel, “Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle”, and not to meddle with the Ammonites, because he had given their lands to the children of Lot. Yet in Judges Ehud kills ten thousand Moabites and Jephthah defeats Ammon “with a very great slaughter”, both with God’s help, and Jeremiah announces war on both nations. Did God forbid war with Moab and Ammon or not?

The answer

Deuteronomy 2 belongs to Israel’s march to Canaan. God told Israel not to attack Moab or Ammon or take any of their land on the way, because he had given those lands to Lot’s descendants (2:9, 19), and Israel obeyed: “Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not” (2:37). This forbade a war of conquest against them. It was not a promise that Israel would never fight them, whatever they did. The same book also told Israel not to seek a treaty of friendship with them, because they had hired Balaam to curse Israel (23:3-6).

The wars in Judges were started by Moab and Ammon, generations later. Eglon king of Moab, with Ammon and Amalek, “went and smote Israel”, took the city of palm trees and ruled Israel for eighteen years (Judges 3:12-14). Ehud’s victory set Israel free; nothing says Israel took Moab’s land. Later “the children of Ammon made war against Israel” (11:4). Jephthah first sent messengers and argued from the very history Deuteronomy tells: “Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon” (11:15). The land in dispute had been taken from Sihon king of the Amorites, who had come out to fight Israel (11:19-23; Numbers 21:21-26). Only when the king of Ammon would not listen did Jephthah fight, to defend Gilead. Far from breaking Deuteronomy 2, Judges shows Israel keeping it.

Jeremiah’s oracles are God’s judgments on both nations, centuries later again, for their own deeds. Ammon is judged for seizing Israel’s land: “why then doth their king inherit Gad?” (Jeremiah 49:1). Its closing promise, “then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs” (49:2), is most naturally read as Israel recovering its own land from those who had seized it, not taking Ammon’s. In Jeremiah 48:2 those who plot in Heshbon to cut Moab off “from being a nation” are Moab’s invaders, whom Gill takes to be the Babylonians, not Israel.

Other answers Christians give

‘Not yet’

Gill reads Deuteronomy 2:9 as meaning that Moab’s land was not given to Israel at that time; in David’s day Moab and Ammon were subdued (2 Samuel 8:2, 12). Ammon began that war too, by shaming David’s envoys and hiring Syrian armies against him (2 Samuel 10:1-6).

From the classic commentators

for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; at least not as yet, the measure of their sins not being fully up, and the time of their punishment not come; otherwise in David's time they were subdued, and became tributaries to himJohn Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Deuteronomy 2 (1746–1763), at Bible Hub

Sources

Further reading

Raised by: The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible. Only the verse references come from these lists.

Checked 2026-10-22. All hard questions