Wesley Corpus

Chapter XI The birth of Jephthah, rejected by his brethren, ver. 1 - 3. The Gileadites chuse him for their general, ver. 4 - 11. His treating with the king of Ammon, ver. 12 - 28. His war with, and victory over the Ammonites, ver. 29 - 33. His vow and the performance of it, ver. 34 - 40. Gileadite - So called, either from his father Gilead, or from the mountain, or city of Gilead, the place of his birth. Son of a harlot - That is, a bastard. And though such were not ordinarily to enter into the congregation of the Lord, Deut 23:2. Yet God can dispense with his own laws, and hath sometimes done honour to base - born persons, so far, that some of them were admitted to be the progenitors of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Gilead - One of the children of that ancient Gilead, Numb 32:1. Of Tob - The name either of the land, or of the man who was the owner or ruler of it. This place was in, or near Gilead, as appears by the speedy intercourse which here was between Jephthah and the Israelites. Vain men - Idle persons, who desired rather to get their living by spoil and rapine, than by honest labour. These evil persons Jephthah managed well, employing them against the enemies of God, and of Israel, that bordered upon them; and particularly upon parties of the Ammonites, which made the Israelites more forward to chuse him for their chieftain in this war. Went out - When he made excursions and attempts upon the enemy. Made war - The Ammonites had vexed and oppressed them eighteen years, and now the Israelites begin to make opposition, they commence a war against them. Went - By direction from God, who both qualified him for, and called him to the office of a judge, otherwise they might not have chosen a bastard. Expel me - And deprive me of all share in my father's goods, which, though a bastard, was due to me.