Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee
to possess?
&c.] Chemosh was the idol of the Moabites, see ( Numbers 21:29 ) , which has led some to think, that the present king of Ammon was also king of Moab, and who insisted on that part of the country, which formerly belonged to Moab, to be delivered to him, as well as that which had belonged to Ammon. Now since the land, which they now inhabited, as well as what they had lost, they had taken away from others, ( Deuteronomy 2:10 Deuteronomy 2:11 Deuteronomy 2:20 Deuteronomy 2:21 ) , having conquered them, and which they ascribed to the help and assistance they had from their idol, and possessed as his gift; Jephthah argues with them "ad hominem", from the less to the greater:
so whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them
will we possess;
we have surely as good a claim to what the Lord our God gives to us in a way of conquest, as you have, or can think you have, to what your idol, as you suppose, has given you: however, what we have got, or get this way, we are determined to possess, and keep possession of.