Judges 11:5-8

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 

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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.”