So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Jephthah, and they went out with him.
- KJV Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
- NKJV Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.
- NASB So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless men gathered around Jephthah, and they went wherever he did.
- NLT So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him.
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
Jephthah flees to Tob, where a band of outlaws gathers around him. The rejected son becomes a leader of fighting men.
Overview
Exiled, Jephthah settles in Tob and attracts a company of restless men who follow his lead. There he hones the military reputation that Gilead will later need. God is quietly preparing his deliverer in obscurity, much as he prepared David in his outlaw years, working through hardship for his redemptive ends.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Judg 9:4So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.
- 1 Sam 22:2And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
- Job 30:1–10“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
- 2 Sam 10:6When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.
- 2 Sam 10:8The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.
- 1 Sam 27:2So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
- Acts 17:5The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
- 1 Sam 30:22–24but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”
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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 11:3 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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