Judges 12:4

4. The men of Gilead smote Ephraim This was the first actual tribal war, and was brought about by a rash tribal jealousy. Ephraim wasin every sense to blame.

Because they said That is, the men of Ephraim said.

Fugitives of Ephraim This taunting charge from the men of Ephraim is given as a further reason why the victorious Gileadites dealt so severely with the Ephraimites who fell into their hands. To the rash arrogance of their language, as given in Judges 12:1, they also added this insult to those who rallied to the support of Jephthah.

Among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites The meaning of Ephraim’s insulting charge will be seen by regarding it as an allusion to Jephthah’s early history. He was an outlaw and fugitive from the tribe of Manasseh, (Judges 11:1-3,) and for most of his life had been the leader of a band of border ruffians, who resorted to him from various tribes. The men of Ephraim would insinuate that all who followed Jephthah were of this class, and now, by making him judge in Israel, they meant to settle down among the ancient and honoured tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and thus monopolize the dominion of all Israel. Thus the words Ye Gileadites are equivalent to Jephthah’s clique of ruffians. Another rendering of this passage is, Fugitives of Ephraim are ye; Gilead is in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh. The meaning then would be, that Jephthah’s warriors were fugitives from the Ephraimites, and a set of rebels wishing to form a rival government on the east of Jordan, and pretending to be Gileadites. But Gilead, the true descendants of Manasseh’s grandson, (Numbers 26:29,) Ephraim urges, is altogether swallowed up in the great tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, which join each other in the centre of Israel on the west of the Jordan.