Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, That they may enlarge their border.
The Ammonites were descended from the incestuous union of Lot with one of his daughters; and it would appear that the character of the people thus originated partook in every way of the shameful and unlawful deeds of their ancestors.  "What a marvel that Ammon and Moab retained the stamp of their origin, in a sensual and passionate nature?  Their choice of idols grew out of this original character and aggravated it."[42]  The chief god of this savage people was Milcom (or Malcam), worshipped as the principle of destruction, and appeased, "with sacrifices of living children, given to the fire to devour (1 Kings 11:7)."[43]  They, like the Edomites and the Moabites, despite their being physically related to Israel, exploited every opportunity within their reach for encroaching upon Israel or aiding aggressions against them.  "Their nation lay just east of Moab, and northward to the Jabbok river, and southward to the hills of Edom."[44] This area was altogether insufficient to their ambitions, and they were constantly attempting to "enlarge their border" by inroads against Israel.