Jephthah

Judges 11-12

            We know we’re in for trouble almost immediately when Judges 11:1 identifies Jephthah as the son of a prostitute. A few verses later we are told he is chased off by his father’s legitimate sons and surrounds himself with scoundrels (NIV; v. 3). Other translations call them ‘vain,’ ‘worthless,’ ‘good-for-nothing,’ ‘lawless,’ and, my personal favorite, ‘rowdies’ (CJB). For a guy with a checkered past, Jephthah acquits himself pretty well: he tries diplomacy first. He rehearses Israel’s history to demonstrate that the king of Ammon’s claim to the Transjordan is spurious. That land was not originally taken from Ammon, and, frankly, Israel has been occupying it for 300 years. The king of Ammon is unimpressed, goes to war, and loses—badly. If only that was the whole story! Unfortunately, Jephthah makes a foolish—and completely unnecessary—vow and ends up killing his daughter. Ironically, child sacrifice was a practice associated with the god Molech, who was worshipped by the Ammonites!

            Now, remember a few chapters ago, when the Ephraimites were angry that Gideon hadn’t called them out against the Midianites? Well, they’re back at it with Jephthah. Jephthah says he did call them out—either a lie or an unrecorded part of the earlier story. Violence ensues, with Jephthah taking the lead and attacking Ephraim, although the Shibboleth incident suggests the fighting happened east of the Jordan. There’s an interesting hint here about the shifting sense of identity among the Israelites. The Ephraimites call the Gileadites “renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So, “Gilead” isn’t a tribe, but a place, a region on the east side of Jordan, and half of the tribe of Manasseh had inherited land on the east side of Jordan. It’s just a glimpse into the fact that in some cases tribal identities are being lost, and the Transjordan tribes are pulling away from the rest of Israel.

            Both aspects of the story make the same basic point: things are not going well for Israel. There is no national unity, no strong leadership. So she is easily victimized by her neighbors and internecine violence is creeping in. In some ways, Judges is a long preparation for 1 Samuel and the coming of the monarchy to Israel. In an even grander way, it is a long preparation for Jesus, who is finally Israel’s truly blameless king.