Despite the length and strength of Jephthah’s arguments, the Ammonite king refuses to give in to his point of view. This is not surprising, especially since all these negotiations took place through messengers!

But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message of Jephthah: But renders well the Hebrew waw conjunction, since contrary to expectation, the king does not agree with Jephthah. Heed renders the Hebrew verb shamaʿ meaning “listen” or “obey” (see verse 2.17). It is not simply that the Ammonite king did not hear or listen to Jephthah’s message, but that he rejected it. Thus Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version say “paid no attention,” but a better rendering is “rejected.”

Which he sent to him: The pronoun he refers to Jephthah, and the pronoun him to the king. These pronouns will not pose any problem in most translations. If there is some difficulty, either or both referents may be made explicit. We may say “that Jephthah sent.” Another solution would be to render the whole verse as follows:

• But the king of the Ammonites rejected Jephthah’s message.

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 .