Judges 11:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.”

NIV: Jephthah answered, 'Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me--will I really be your head?'

NASB: So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, 'If you bring me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord gives them up to me, will I become your head?'

CSB: So Jephthah said to them, "If you are bringing me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader."

NLT: Jephthah said to the elders, 'Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if the Lord gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?'

KJV: And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

NKJV: So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?”

For the first time in this discussion (Judges 11:4–8), Jephthah introduces the topic of the Lord's will over Israel's defeats and victories. In the previous chapter, the people of Israel asked God to deliver them from their oppressors. The Lord said no, but then the people put away all their idols and began to serve the Lord again (Judges 10:10–16). Jephthah, at least, expresses that whether he succeeds or fails in leading Gilead to victory over Ammon will be the Lord's doing, not his.

Still, he wants the leaders of Gilead to be clear. If he returns to Gilead and the Lord gives him victory over the Ammonites, he intends to be leader over the elders of Gilead, as well as the inhabitants, as they had said in the previous verse. In short, Jephthah expects to become governor—or a local king, though no such label is attached. Regardless of the term used, he wants a guarantee that he will rule over all of them, despite how they helped drive him away and that he has been a leader over "worthless" men up to this point.

Judges 11:1–11 introduces Jephthah as the unlikely answer to the dilemma of the previous chapter (Judges 10:17–18). Jephthah is a warrior called to lead Gilead against the Ammonites. Though he had been driven from Gilead by his people, he agrees to return if the elders will make him their leader.

A man named Jephthah is driven away from his home in Gilead by jealous brothers. He settles in Tob, where he becomes warrior chief of a criminal band. Gilead's elders later recruit Jephthah to lead the fight against their Ammonite oppressors. After a failed negotiation attempt, Jephthah vows to make a burnt offering to the Lord of whatever comes to meet him if God gives him victory over the Ammonites. Israel thoroughly defeats Ammon, and Jephthah's daughter, his only child, greets him. Jephthah carries out his vow after his daughter grieves never marrying or having children.

Judges 11 answers the question raised at the end of the previous chapter: who could lead Gilead's fight against the Ammonites? The elders recruit Jephthah, a warrior driven away by his family in Gilead. Jephthah agrees to return and is appointed leader of Gilead. Jephthah raises an army and makes a foolish vow to the Lord in exchange for victory. Israel defeats Ammon, but Jephthah's vow costs him his only child, his daughter. His victory also creates civil strife in Israel, leading to a minor civil war.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).