Judges 11:1-11

The choice of Jephthah as Gilead’s leader 11:1-11

Judges 11:1-3 provide information about Jephthah’s personal background. His name means "He [an unspecified deity] has opened [the womb]." Jephthah lived on the east side of the Jordan River. Unlike Gideon, he was a courageous and valiant warrior. He was, however, the product of his father’s sexual liaison with a prostitute, another clue to the moral level in Israel. Evidently Jephthah’s grandparents named his father in honor of an ancestor named Gilead, perhaps the man from whom the region of Gilead derived its name.

Today we would say that Jephthah was an abused child (Judges 11:2). His half-brothers rejected him in violation of the Mosaic Law that commanded the Israelites to love one another, their neighbors, and outcasts (Leviticus 19:33-34; Deuteronomy 10:12-22). David may have suffered the same kind of hostility in his family (cf. Psalms 27:10). One also recalls Jesus’ rejection (cf. Isaiah 53:3), though we have no reason to believe His parents abused Him.

Jephthah fled to Israel’s frontier on the edge of civilization. Tob (Judges 11:3) stood between Ammon and Syria northeast of Gilead (cf. 2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Samuel 10:8). The Hebrew term translated "worthless fellows" in the NASB is more accurately "adventurers," as in the NIV. These men were not necessarily evil, but they were wild. Jephthah evidently lived a Robin Hood style of existence. One writer likened him to a guerrilla fighter or terrorist. [Note: McCann, p. 80.]

Jephthah’s personal background was quite similar to Abimelech’s (Judges 8:31 to Judges 9:4). His character, though, seems to have been considerably purer in view of what follows. Unlike Abimelech, he was more sensitive and submissive to Yahweh.

Jephthah was such a gifted warrior that when the Ammonites threatened Gilead, the elders of that region overcame their personal dislike for Jephthah, humbled themselves, and begged him to defend them (Judges 11:4-6). This story reminds me of a theme that is common in western movies. The townsfolk drive the young misfit who has grown up among them away because his love of violence makes them uneasy. However when a gang of outlaws threatens the town they send for the gunslinger to save them.

Jephthah’s complaint about being appealed to as a last resort reminds us of God’s similar words in Judges 10:14. To persuade Jephthah to accept their invitation, the elders promised that he would be their leader (sheriff?) and that they would follow his directions in the battle (Judges 11:8). He acknowledged that if he defeated the Ammonites it would be because the Lord gave them over to him (Judges 11:9). Interestingly, Jephthah used the name of Yahweh more frequently than any other person in Judges. He was a man of faith even though he was a rough character.

The elders of Gilead made a formal public agreement with Jephthah at Mizpah in northern Gilead, contracting the conditions of his leading Israel in battle (Judges 11:10-11). They pinned the sheriff’s badge on him. Evidently Jephthah told the Lord about this covenant in prayer.

Notice how the writer of Judges constructed these first 11 verses parallel to Judges 10:6-16. The elders of Gilead had treated Jephthah exactly as Israel had treated Yahweh.

". . . where is God in this complex process of engaging Jephthah? Far from playing the decisive role, as he had in the provision of all the other judges, God is relegated to the role of silent witness to a purely human contract between a desperate people and an ambitious candidate." [Note: Block, Judges . . ., p. 356.]