Judges 11:1

THE TRAGIC STORY OF JEPHTHAH (Judges 11:1-40)

VIII. JEPHTHAH

JEPHTHAH'S EARLY LIFE (Judges 11:1-3)

"Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of another woman. Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him."

"And Gilead begat Jephthah" (Judges 11:1). "The word `Gilead' has two meanings: (1) the name of the country so-called, and (2) the name of an individual."[1] However, this presents no problem to this writer, since he has never heard of "a country" begetting a son. Gilead is here, of course, the name of an individual. As Keil noted, "We are forced to this conclusion by the fact that the wife of Gilead and his other sons are mentioned in Judges 11:2."[2]

"Jephthah" (Judges 11:1). This name means, "God opens the womb,"[3] which might have been founded upon the fact of his unexpected birth to a harlot.

"Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house" (Judges 11:2). Jephthah was, "a half-Canaanite and was not acknowledged by his father's clan."[4] In Judges 11:7, below, it is learned that the expulsion of Jephthah from his father's house by his brothers was backed up and enforced by all the Gileadites.

The justice and lovingkindness of God appear in the contrast between Abimelech (Judges 10) and Jephthah here. Even the son of a harlot became the charismatic leader of Israel in a time of danger. The Spirit of God came upon him.

"Jephthah fled ... dwelt in Tob ... gathered vain fellows, and they went out with him" (Judges 11:3). "Tob may be tentatively identified with et-Taiyibeh, some fifteen miles east of Ramoth-Gilead."[5] The "vain fellows" here were probably, as were the men who gathered around David, various characters whom society had rejected. "`Went out' was a well-understood term meaning, `went out on raids.'"[6] However, "It seems improper, in view of what we later learn of Jephthah's character, to ascribe to him and his men the lawless plundering of villages. More than likely, he, like David, protected settlements from marauders.[7]