10:1 After Abimelech’s death, 1 Tola son of Puah, grandson 2 of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar, 3 rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country. 10:2 He led 4 Israel for twenty-three years, then died and was buried in Shamir.
10:3 Jair the Gileadite rose up after him; he led Israel for twenty-two years. 10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and possessed thirty cities. To this day these towns are called Havvoth Jair 5 – they are in the land of Gilead. 6 10:5 Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
10:6 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 7 They worshiped 8 the Baals and the Ashtars, 9 as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, 10 Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. 11 They abandoned the Lord and did not worship 12 him. 10:7 The Lord was furious with Israel 13 and turned them over to 14 the Philistines and Ammonites. 10:8 They ruthlessly oppressed 15 the Israelites that eighteenth year 16 – that is, all the Israelites living east of the Jordan in Amorite country in Gilead. 10:9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. 17 Israel suffered greatly. 18
10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped 19 the Baals.” 10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 10:12 the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian 20 when they oppressed you? 21 You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power. 22 10:13 But since you abandoned me and worshiped 23 other gods, I will not deliver you again. 10:14 Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!” 24 10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, 25 but deliver us today!” 26 10:16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned 27 and worshiped 28 the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. 29
10:17 The Ammonites assembled 30 and camped in Gilead; the Israelites gathered together and camped in Mizpah. 10:18 The leaders 31 of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge 32 against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”
11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. 33 11:2 Gilead’s wife also gave 34 him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, 35 because you are another woman’s son.” 11:3 So Jephthah left 36 his half-brothers 37 and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. 38
11:4 It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel. 11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, 39 the leaders 40 of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back 41 from the land of Tob. 11:6 They said, 42 “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.” 11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave 43 my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?” 11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, 44 but now we pledge to you our loyalty. 45 Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader 46 of all who live in Gilead.” 47 11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! 48 If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, 49 I will be your leader.” 50 11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, 51 if we do not do as you say.” 52 11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement 53 before the Lord in Mizpah.
1 tn The word “death” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn Heb “son.”
3 tn Heb “a man of Issachar.”
4 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
5 sn The name Habboth Jair means “tent villages of Jair” in Hebrew.
6 tn Heb “they call them Havvoth Jair to this day – which are in the land of Gilead.”
7 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
8 tn Or “served;” or “followed.”
9 sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).
10 map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
11 tn Heb “the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines.”
12 tn Or “serve”; or “follow.”
13 tn Or “the
14 tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
15 tn Heb “shattered and crushed.” The repetition of similar sounding synonyms (רָעַץ [ra’ats] and רָצַץ [ratsats]) is for emphasis; רָצַץ appears in the Polel, adding further emphasis to the affirmation.
16 tn The phrase שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (shemoneh ’esreh shanah) could be translated “eighteen years,” but this would be difficult after the reference to “that year.” It is possible that v. 8b is parenthetical, referring to an eighteen year long period of oppression east of the Jordan which culminated in hostilities against all Israel (including Judah, see v. 9) in the eighteenth year. It is simpler to translate the phrase as an ordinal number, though the context does not provide the point of reference. (See Gen 14:4-5 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 191-92.) In this case, the following statement specifies which “Israelites” are in view.
17 tn Heb “the house of Ephraim.”
18 tn Or “Israel experienced great distress.” Perhaps here the verb has the nuance “hemmed in.”
19 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
20 tc The translation follows the LXX which reads “Midian”; the Hebrew text has “Maon.”
21 tn The words “Did I not deliver you” are interpretive. The Hebrew text simply reads, “Is it not from Egypt…when they oppressed you?” Perhaps the incomplete sentence reflects the
22 tn Heb “hand.”
23 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
24 tn Heb “in your time of trouble.”
25 tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”
26 sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”
27 tn Heb “from their midst.”
28 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
29 tn Heb “And his spirit grew short [i.e., impatient] with the suffering of Israel.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) also appears as the subject of the verb קָצַר (qatsar) in Num 21:4 (the Israelites grow impatient wandering in the wilderness), Judg 16:16 (Samson grows impatient with Delilah’s constant nagging), and Zech 11:8 (Zechariah grows impatient with the three negligent “shepherds”).
30 tn Or “were summoned;” or “were mustered.”
31 tn Heb “the people, the officers.”
32 tn Heb “Who is the man who will begin fighting.”
33 tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”
34 tn Heb “bore.”
35 tn Heb “in the house of our father.”
36 tn Or “fled from.”
37 tn Heb “brothers.”
38 tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”
39 tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”
40 tn Or “elders.”
41 tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”
42 tn Heb “to Jephthah.”
43 tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”
44 tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).
45 tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.
46 sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.
47 tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”
48 tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
49 tn Heb “places them before me.”
50 tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.
51 tn Heb “The
52 sn The
53 tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the