LB

Jephthah was the son of Gilead and his mother was a prostitute. Once Gilead's real wife had sons, they kicked Jephthah out of the house saying "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you're the son of another woman." So Jephthah fled to Tob.

Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. "Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites."

Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?"

The elders of Gilead said to him, "Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be our head over all who live in Gilead."

Jephthah answered, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me—will I really be your head?"

The elders of Gilead replied, "The LORD is our witness; we will certainly do as you say." So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah. It said in the very beginning of the chapter that Jephthah was a mighty warrior. So the Elders of Gilead were scared an called on him. So he tried to negotiate , but that did'nt work. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." So the Lord gave him victory, and he came back to his house. Who should come out to meet him but his daughter! Did I mention it was his only child daughter? So he gave her two weeks to mourn with her freinds and then he sacrificed her. Poor guy. Think about it. I mean, he won a battle single handed, and then to come back home and sacrifice his only child.The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head." Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?" So they fought and Jephthah's people won. They took over some springs and if anyone wanted to cross They would ask "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he replied, "No," 6 they said, "All right, say 'Shibboleth.' " He said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time. Strange.