And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
Parallel translations
- WEB When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
- BSB and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
- NKJV And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
- NASB When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;
- NLT When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob.
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
When war comes, the elders of Gilead go to fetch Jephthah from Tob. The ones who tolerated his exile now need him.
Overview
Facing the Ammonites, Gilead's elders travel to Tob to bring back the very man their community had cast off. Their reversal shows how crisis exposes the worth of the rejected. God orchestrates events so that his chosen deliverer is sought out by those who had no use for him before.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Cor 1:27–29But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
- 1 Sam 11:12And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.
- Ps 118:22–23The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
- Acts 7:35–39This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
- Judg 10:17–18Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.
- 1 Sam 10:27But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.
- Judg 10:9Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
- 1 Sam 11:6–7And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 11:5 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.