Judges 11:5-15

11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, ¹  the leaders ²  of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back ³  from the land of Tob. 11:6 They said, ⁴  “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 ⁵  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, ⁶  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ⁷  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ⁸  of all who live in Gilead.” ⁹  11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ¹⁰  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ¹¹  I will be your leader.” ¹²  11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, ¹³  if we do not do as you say.” ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  before the Lord in Mizpah.

Jephthah Gives a History Lesson

11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have ¹⁶  you come against me to attack my land?” 11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ¹⁷  my land when they ¹⁸  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ¹⁹  Now return it ²⁰  peaceably!”

11:14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king 11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal ²¹  the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.

---

¹ tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”

² tn Or “elders.”

³ tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”

⁴ tn Heb “to Jephthah.”

⁵ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

⁶ 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).

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

¹⁰ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹¹ tn Heb “places them before me.”

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Heb “The Lord will be the one who hears between us.” For the idiom שָׁמַע בַּיִן (shama’ bayin, “to hear between”), see Deut 1:16.

¹⁴ sn The Lord will judge…if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.

¹⁵ 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 Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

¹⁶ tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”

¹⁷ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).

¹⁹ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

²⁰ tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

²¹ tn Or “take”; or “seize.”