JUDGES 10-12

The locales of the judges in this section appear to form a symmetrical structure when plotted in their 

order of appearance.

Ephraim (Tola)

Gilead (Jair)

                                                Gilead (Jephthah)

Zebulun? (Ibzan)

                                                Zebulun (Elon)

Ephraim (Abdon)

If Jair is counted within the Jephthah Cycle, there results a total of 21 references to Gilead.

The mention of thirty sons of Jair is matched by the thirty sons and daughters of Izban and the thirty 

nephews of Abdon. Satterthwaite sees a deliberate contrast between these minor judges and their 

progeny with the situation of the central character in the cycle and his loss of his only child. The 

Jephthah story itself uses “Israel(ite)” 30 times.

 

A peace overture fails (11:12-29)

        Vow to God (11:30-31)

                Battle (11:32-33)

        Vow to God fulfilled (11:34-40)

A peace overture fails (12:1-7)

Judges 10:1-5 Why is there no discussion of Tola or Jair, who apparently ruled for a combined 40 

years, and seemed to do OK? Historical accounts in Bible are very selective. The same thing happens 

in Samuel-Kings. Dale Davis states that this says more about the Bible than about these characters. The 

emphasis is on God's actions, not man's. Look at the structure above. These minor judges are mainly 

there to bracket and contrast with the Jephthah account.

Why the specific mention of thirty donkeys for Jair in verse 4? First, it shows that he was rich enough 

for each of his sons to have one, a sign of wealth and prestige. Second, the number 30 will be 

important for the next account.

Judges 10:6 There is a seven-fold list of false gods. It is balanced by the seven nations that God saved 

the people from (vv. 11-12). Israel now goes beyond synchretism and abandons the worship of God 

altogether.

Judges 10:10 In this verse we see an obvious paraphrase of many conversations with God from 

various people. But when it mentions God speaking, it is not known how that message was given, 

perhaps through one or more prophets. We really don't know.

Judges 11:1-3 Since there is the same birth lineage issue with Jephthah, it seems that God is making a 

point that he chooses people without regard to their social status or perceived capabilities.

If his mother was a prostitute, how exactly do we know that Gilead was the father? I can’t imagine that 

too many men back then would be willing to claim children born of prostitutes, unless the word here is 

the same as that used for concubine.

She was not a concubine: that is a different Hebrew word, and he would then have had legal status. The 

mother also was a “strange” woman, i.e. not a Jew. Gilead must have been pretty sure he was the 

father. On the other hand, he may have only claimed him as a son once he became a famous warrior.

Another suggestion is that “Gilead” is also used to refer to the territory so that the statement could read 

that some unknown Gileadite had sired him. People in this territory were often mentioned without the 

name of their father, for some unknown reason.

Judges 11:4-11 It is interesting that Jephthah is suddenly needed when war came about; he’s 

mentioned as a great warrior in verse 1. Tribal affiliation had to be really strong for him to be willing 

to come back after being run out of town, even if they agreed to make him the head.

The outcast suddenly is needed. The characters in this story are pragmatic. Two titles, commander and 

head, are negotiated. “Head” is probably a more permanent title. Jephthah is a type of Yahweh who is 

rejected by his people until they are desperate and turn to him for help. This is the opposite of 

Abimelech in terms of brotherly persecution. David also gathered “outlaws” around him.

11:10-11 This whole story centers around the words that Jephthah speaks.

Judges 11:12-28 Consulting a Bible Atlas is helpful to understand the land dispute. Note the attempts 

at diplomacy before resorting to war. Tribes have a long memory. Back-and-forth messages may have 

been a way for Jephthah to buy enough time to assemble his army. There is an interesting contrast 

between the lengthy descriptions of Jephthah negotiating with the elders and later with the enemy. It 

implies that the vow was made in haste without reflection.

11:24 This verse again mentions another god; it is so weird as a modern Christian to see that. Would 

Jephthah have believed that other gods existed, and Jehovah was just theirs…..or would he ascribe to 

what we do today where we typically only believe in one Divine Creator? It either expresses Jephthah's 

belief in national gods or is perhaps another attempt at preserving the peace by using terms that the 

enemy could relate to.

11:27 Jephthah is hailed as a man of faith in Hebrews 11:32.

Judges 11:30-40

11:30-31 Vows should never be made as bargains with God. “Jephthah is not responding to Yahweh 

[and his giving of the Spirit] but is still trying to prevail upon Yahweh to respond to him” – Barry 

Webb  The Hebrew can be translated “whoever” or “whatever.” He probably thought he would first 

encounter one of the animals in his compound. However, the use of the word “greet” implies intelligent 

purpose, and some scholars feel that the pronoun has to be translated as “whoever.” It was quite 

possible that Jephthah was a half-Canaanite who would have been accustomed to the idea of human 

sacrifices. God's approval of a person in one area should not be taken as approval of all that person's 

actions (David and Rahab, for example).

11:32-33 The victory itself is passed over quickly. The main emphasis of chapter will be on the 

consequences of the oath.

11:35 “You have brought me low.” He actually blames her. It is somewhat like the earlier story of Jael 

greeting Sisera and bringing him low.

11:37 It has been asked: Why did God allow the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter? This seems 

incongruous with what we would expect today, or with the story of Abraham and Isaac. Honestly, 

stories like this are used as fodder for people trying to discredit the Bible, not that it didn’t happen, but 

would you want to serve a god that required this?

(a) There is a great difference between God allowing and requiring it.

Note that she only regrets that she will never have children. Thus, there is a controversy as to whether 

she was sacrificed or alternatively dedicated to serve God in the temple for the rest of her life. If the 

former, then the irony is that Jephthah has conquered the Ammonites who worshiped Molech by 

sacrificing their children.

Human sacrifice is strongly condemned in Laws of Moses (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31) and 

later by the prophets. One passage even states, “I would have never dreamed of requiring it!” Human 

sacrifice in Israel is only noted in II Chronicles 28:3; 33:6. Remember that the overall theme of Judges 

is that everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

We are warned against making rash vows (Proverbs 20:25; Ecclesiastes 5:2-6) but also told to fulfill 

the vows we have made (Numbers 36:2-13; Psalms 15:4; 66:14; 76:11; Acts 5:1-4). But does that also 

apply to vows that would involve grave sins? Probably not.

11:40 Even though she will leave no children to remember her, she will still be remembered. Today.

There are a number of similarities and contrasts between the stories of Jephthah and Abimelech:

Abimelech                                             Jephthah

son of a concubine                               son of a prostitute

hired worthless and reckless men     attracted worthless men

killed his half-brother                      exiled by his half-brothers

forced himself into leadership        accepted leadership reluctantly (“if God wills”)

evil spirit sent                                      Holy Spirit sent

dies in disgrace                     remembered as a hero of the faith (Hebrews 11:30)

Judges 12:1-9

12:1 Ephraim goes to war because they believe Jephthah went to war without asking them to join. That 

is fully in keeping with their complaint to Gideon in Chapter 8.

12:6 Although they all spoke a common language, apparently accents varied from location to location, 

just as they do today. The actual meaning of the test word, shibboleth, is unknown. Perhaps it refers to 

an ear of wheat or current of water, but the meaning is not really germane to the story. There is a WW2 

story of the Dutch underground screening out German spies by asking them to pronounce the name of a 

certain Dutch city. The Hebrew word has passed into the English language to mean a password or word 

used by a particular group of people to distinguish them.

12:9 Intermarriage outside the clan helped to secure a person's power base. It fits in with the apparent 

wealth and prestige of Abdon in the next verses.

Discussion Exercises

1. Apply the following verses to the story of Jephthah:

Numbers 30:1-2

Deuteronomy 23:21-23

Proverbs 20:25

Matthew 5:33-37

2. Find as many parallels as you can between Jephthah's life and the life of Christ:

issue of illegitimacy raised with both

Spirit came upon them at start of ministry

left no heirs

saved the people

rejected by his brothers

teaching precedes actions

victory accompanied by sacrifice

“worthless” people gathered around him

Jephthah's reply (why do you come to me?) in 11:7 is like Jesus' question: Why do you call me good?

“Why did you not complain earlier?” is similar to Jesus' comment at his arrest.

Jephthah as a judge separating the sheep from the goats (chapter 12)

left everything up to God's will

comparison of Ephraim vs. Ammonites indicates that Jephthah treats his own people harsher than the 

enemy. Similarly, Jesus is harsher with the Pharisees than the common folk since they should know 

better.

3. Compare Jephthah's actions in Judges 11:30-40 with Saul's actions in I Samuel 14:24-30,36-40. 

What lessons do you draw from this comparison?