Jephthah's account of Israel's encounter with Sihon of the Amorites establishes that it was Sihon who initiated the military conflict by gathering forces against Israel, not Israel who aggressively attacked an innocent neighbor. The phrase "refused to let us pass through" indicates that Sihon, like Edom and Moab, chose military confrontation over peaceful coexistence, thus bearing responsibility for the ensuing battle. This narrative framing positions Israel as a reluctant warrior forced into military conflict by the refusals and hostility of surrounding kingdoms, and presents the conquest of Sihon's territory as justified military response rather than aggressive imperialism. The victory over Sihon at Jahaz is presented as the culmination of a process where Israel exhausted diplomatic options and only engaged in warfare when other kingdoms made such engagement inevitable. This rhetorical strategy attempts to establish that Israel's possession of the Transjordanian territories is both divinely ordained and justified by the actions of those who occupied the land previously.

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