Judges 11:11

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 ¹  before the Lord in Mizpah.

Judges 12:7

12:7 Jephthah led ²  Israel for six years; then he ³  died and was buried in his city in Gilead. ⁴ 

Judges 12:1

Civil Strife Mars the Victory

12:1 The Ephraimites assembled ⁵  and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight ⁶  with the Ammonites without asking ⁷  us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” ⁸ 

Judges 17:1

Micah Makes His Own Religion

17:1 There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country.

¹ 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.

² tn Traditionally, “judged.”

³ tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.

⁵ tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”

⁶ tn Heb “cross over to fight.”

⁷ tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”

⁸ tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”