And said to him: This clause introduces Jephthah’s response through his envoys. The subject of the verb said is Jephthah, and the pronoun him refers to the Ammonite king.

Thus says Jephthah uses the well-known formula from the prophetic speeches when the prophet announces the words of the LORD, so there may be some irony here. At the very least, this expression shows the messengers have great esteem for their “master” Jephthah. Many languages will have a special style for introducing the words of another person, especially a superior: “Jephthah says this,” “So speaks Jephthah,” “Here are the words of Jephthah,” or simply “Jephthah declares.”

Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites: Here Jephthah strongly denies the accusation of the Ammonite king, using his same words. For take away, see verse 11.13. The land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites refers to the territory east of the Jordan River. For Moab see verse 3.12. This is Jephthah’s statement of denial. A fuller explanation is given in the following verses.

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 .