Judges 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ¹ 

Judges 11:5

11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, ²  the leaders ³  of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back ⁴  from the land of Tob.

Judges 11:7

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?”

Judges 11:10

11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, ⁶  if we do not do as you say.” ⁷ 

Judges 11:12

Jephthah Gives a History Lesson

11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have ⁸  you come against me to attack my land?”

Judges 11:15

11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal ⁹  the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.

Judges 12:2

12:2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. ¹⁰  I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. ¹¹ 

[11:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:5]  ² tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”

[11:5]  ³ tn Or “elders.”

[11:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:10]  ⁴ 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.

[11:10]  ⁵ 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.

[11:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”

[11:15]  ⁶ tn Or “take”; or “seize.”

[12:2]  ⁷ tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “hand.”