Milcom was the national god of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5, 33), not Chemosh. Chemosh was the god of the Moabites. The use of “Chemosh” here has been explained by the fact that at this time the king of Ammon may have ruled over both Moab and Ammon. The two nations were of kindred blood and institutions (see Gen. 19:37, 38; Judges 3:12, 13). The mention of Chemosh was particularly appropriate in that the territory in question had once belonged to the Moabites, but Chemosh had been unable to save it from the invading Amorites. In the Moabite Stone inscription, Mesha, king of Moab (2 Kings 3:4, 5), ascribes all Moabite victories to the good will of Chemosh, and all defeats to his anger.

Jephthah pointed out that if Ammon refused to recognize the rights of Israel to its territory, he at the same time undermined, in principle, his own right to the country he inhabited.

Jephthah was trying to arrange peace by diplomacy. He did not intend, under these circumstances, to claim universal dominion for the God of Israel. It is of course possible, on the other hand, that inasmuch as Jephthah had grown up in exile among heathen people, he did not understand fully that Jehovah was the God of the whole earth.