then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass through your land; but the king of Edom didn't listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
Second, he emphasized the fact that Yahweh had given Israel this land. Thus it would have been wrong theologically to allow the Ammonites to take it from them (Judges 11:23-25).