Now we are introduced to Jephthah, the man God chose to lead Israel to victory. What kind of man was he?
The unwanted brother (vv. 1–3). Jephthah wasn’t to blame for his birth. His father, Gilead, had only one wife, but he consorted with a prostitute and fathered a son. At least Gilead acknowledged the boy and took him into his home, but his other sons didn’t accept this “son of a strange woman.” When Gilead died and the inheritance was to be divided, the legitimate sons drove Jephthah away. Little did they realize they were rejecting a future judge of Israel.
Jephthah left his father’s territory and went north to the land of Tob, which was near Syria, and there he became captain of a band of “adventurers” (v. 3 niv). The Hebrew word means “to make empty” and refers to idle people looking for something to do. (See 9:4, the “vain and light persons” who followed Abimelech. Here the word means “to be reckless.”) Jephthah was already known as “a mighty man of valor” (v. 1). Thus he had no trouble forming a band of brigands.
The unopposed leader (vv. 4–11). Jephthah’s brothers didn’t want him, but the elders of Israel needed him and sent a deputation eighty miles to the land of Tob to ask him to take charge. Jephthah’s reply sounds a good deal like what the Lord had said to the people when they turned to Him for help (10:13–14). Apparently the Jewish leaders had cooperated with Gilead’s sons in expelling the unwanted brother from the land, but Jephthah listened to them and made sure their offer was valid. He was willing to lead them against the enemy if the elders would name him ruler of Gilead.
You can’t help but appreciate the way Jephthah emphasized the Lord in all his negotiations with the leaders of Israel. It was the Lord who would give the victory (11:9), not Jephthah, and the agreement between him and the elders must be ratified before the Lord at Mizpah (v. 11; see 1 Sam. 11:15). Jephthah didn’t see the challenge as a political opportunity for himself but as an occasion for trusting the Lord and serving Him. In addition, the writer of Hebrews makes it clear that Jephthah was a man of faith, not simply an opportunist (Heb. 11:32).
We can’t help but wonder how his brothers felt when the man they renounced returned home as the captain of the army and the leader of the land! More than one “underdog” in Scripture had the same experience. Joseph was rejected by his brothers and later became their savior. It also took King David seven years to gain the full support of the twelve tribes of Israel. For that matter, the Lord Jesus Christ was rejected by His people but will be received by them when He comes again.
The unsuccessful diplomat (vv. 12–28). Before declaring war, Jephthah tried peaceful negotiations with the Ammonites, but the negotiations failed. Nevertheless, this section does tell us two things about Jephthah: (1) He knew the Scriptures and the history of his people, and (2) he was not a hothead who was looking for a fight. Being a military man himself, Jephthah knew that a war could result in thousands of Jewish men being killed, and he wanted to avoid that if at all possible.
The king of Ammon declared that he and his men were only reclaiming land that the Jews, under the leadership of Moses, had stolen from them. If Israel would restore that land, he would call off his troops. But Jephthah presented four compelling arguments that should have convinced the Ammonites that they were wrong.
First, he presented the facts of history (vv. 14–22). Moses and his people had asked the Ammonites for safe passage through their territory, a request that the Ammonites would not grant. This led to war, and God gave the Jews the victory. Israel didn’t steal any land; they captured it from the Ammonites and the Amorites (Num. 21:21–35). Furthermore, the Amorites had originally taken the land from the Moabites (Num. 21:29), so if Israel’s claims to ownership by conquest weren’t valid, neither were the claims of the Amorites!
His second argument was that the Lord had given Israel the land (vv. 23–24). Jephthah was always careful to give the Lord the glory for any victories Israel won (vv. 9, 21, 23–24). When the other nations captured enemy territory, they claimed that it was “the will of their god” that they take the land; and they gave their idols credit for the victory. Jephthah declared that the God of Israel was the true God and that His will had been fulfilled in allowing Israel to take the land. It was Jehovah who gave Israel the victory.
Jephthah’s third argument was that Israel had lived on the land for centuries (vv. 25–26). “Three hundred years” is a round figure, but it comes close to the total number of years given in the book of Judges for the periods of oppression and of peace. Israel had dwelt in the Transjordan area for three centuries, and that was reason enough to claim title to the land as their own. Why was the king of Ammon making his claims now? During those three centuries, the people of Ammon didn’t try to reclaim their territory. In fact, back in the days of Moses, even the king of Moab hadn’t tried to get his land back! If the Ammonites had a legitimate claim to the territory, they should have said something centuries ago!
Jephthah’s final argument was that the Ammonites were actually fighting against the Lord (vv. 27–28). Jephthah hadn’t declared war on Ammon; it was Ammon that declared war on Israel. But if God gave Israel the land, then the Ammonites were declaring war on the Lord God, and that could only mean disaster and defeat for Ammon. Jephthah had tried to reason with the king of Ammon, but he wouldn’t listen.
The undefeated warrior (vv. 29–33). Empowered by the Spirit of God (see 3:10; 6:34), Jephthah called for volunteers (12:1–2) and mustered his army. In order to be certain of victory, he foolishly made a bargain with God, a subject we shall take up later. The Lord gave him victory over the Ammonites, and he captured twenty of their strongholds as he pursued the fleeing enemy army. This would guarantee freedom and safety for the Jews as they traveled in the Gilead territory.
The writer of Hebrews wrote that Jephthah was a man of faith and his victory was a victory of faith (Heb. 11:32). The circumstances of birth or of family are not a handicap to the person who will live by faith. In his message to the king of Ammon, Jephthah revealed his knowledge of the Word of God; and this Word was the source of His faith. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10: nkjv). “And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5: nkjv). Thanks to the faith and courage of Jephthah, the Ammonites didn’t threaten the Israelites for another fifty years (1 Sam. 11:1ff.).