His ignoring of Jephthah’s message is not at all surprising. He is not impressed, not with Jephthah’s argument or with his proposal. If the Israelites refuse to buckle under—refuse to do it the easy way—then war it will be. They will have to learn firsthand what military conquest means. The king does not even bother to reply to Jephthah’s message. Jephthah’s envoys return to Israel empty-handed.
28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.