And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.
Parallel translations
- WEB Gilead’s wife bore him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You will not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
- BSB And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
- NKJV Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
- NASB Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
- NLT Gilead’s wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a prostitute.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Gilead's legitimate sons drive Jephthah out, denying him any inheritance because of his mother. He is rejected by his own family.
Overview
When the half-brothers come of age, they expel Jephthah to protect their inheritance, casting him out for circumstances beyond his control. The rejection by his own kin parallels the experience of later deliverers and of Christ himself. God's purposes for Jephthah advance even through the injustice he suffers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 23:2A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
- Gen 12:10And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
- Prov 2:16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
- Gal 4:30Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
- Prov 5:3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
- Prov 5:20And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
- Prov 6:24–26To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 11:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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