The verb at stake, yāraš, occurs about two dozen times in Judges, a third of them in this and the following section, as well as another third in Jephthah’s reflection on Sihon’s fate (at 11:19–28). In the Qal, it has to do with occupying a territory. When conjugated in the Hiphil and construed with min (from), it is about expelling from an area; with mippĕnê (someone), it names the group that benefits from the act. The Hiphil is also about emptying (when said of land) or replacing (when said of
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