¹ tn Heb “Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.”

³ sn Through battle. This probably refers to the battle against Jabesh Gilead, which only produced four hundred of the six hundred wives needed.

⁴ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

² tn Heb “they call them Havvoth Jair to this day – which are in the land of Gilead.”

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

³ tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”

² sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

¹ sn Apparently the people of Gilead remained on the other side of the river and did not participate in the battle.

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

³ tc Many interpreters reject the MT reading “and leave Mount Gilead” for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, “So Gideon tested them” (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).

² 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.

³ 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 Jabesh+Gilead+AND+book%3A7&tab=notes" ver="">10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. Jabesh+Gilead+AND+book%3A7&tab=notes" ver="">6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

² tc Heb “Refugees of Ephraim are you, O Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” The LXX omits the entire second half of the verse (beginning with “because”). The words כִּי אָמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם (ki ’amru pÿlitey ’efrayim, “because they said, ‘Refugees of Ephraim’”) may have been accidentally copied from the next verse (cf. כִּי יֹאמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם, ki yo’mÿru pelitey ’efrayim) and the following words (“you, O Gilead…Manasseh”) then added in an attempt to make sense of the verse. See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 307-8, and C. F. Burney, Judges, 327. If the Hebrew text is retained, then the Ephraimites appear to be insulting the Gileadites by describing them as refugees who are squatting on Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s land. The present translation assumes that “Ephraim” is a genitive of location after “refugees.”