Judges 12:7

12:7 Jephthah led ¹  Israel for six years; then he ²  died and was buried in his city in Gilead. ³ 

Judges 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ⁴ 

Judges 11:3

11:3 So Jephthah left ⁵  his half-brothers ⁶  and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. ⁷ 

Judges 11:6

11:6 They said, ⁸  “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.”

Judges 11:14

11:14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king

Judges 11:28

11:28 But the Ammonite king disregarded ⁹  the message sent by Jephthah. ¹⁰ 

Judges 11:30

11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me,

Judges 11:32

11:32 Jephthah approached ¹¹  the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.

Judges 11:40

11:40 Every year ¹²  Israelite women commemorate ¹³  the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. ¹⁴ 

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 ¹⁵  before the Lord in Mizpah.

Judges 11:5

11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, ¹⁶  the leaders ¹⁷  of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  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, ²⁰  if we do not do as you say.” ²¹ 

Judges 11:12

Jephthah Gives a History Lesson

11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have ²²  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 ²³  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. ²⁴  I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. ²⁵ 

[12:7]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

[12:7]  ² tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:7]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.

[11:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Or “fled from.”

[11:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “brothers.”

[11:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”

[11:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to Jephthah.”

[11:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “did not listen to.”

[11:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Jephthah’s words which he sent to him.”

[11:32]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “passed over to.”

[11:40]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”

[11:40]  ²⁰ tn Heb “go to commemorate.” The rare Hebrew verb תָּנָה (tanah, “to tell; to repeat; to recount”) occurs only here and in 5:11.

[11:40]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in the year.” This is redundant (note “every year” at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[11:11]  ²² 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.

[11:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”

[11:5]  ²⁶ tn Or “elders.”

[11:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”

[11:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:10]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³⁴ tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”

[11:15]  ³⁷ tn Or “take”; or “seize.”

[12:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”

[12:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “hand.”