Jephthah and the Conflict with Ephraim

After the battle with Ammon, the men of Ephraim came to Jephthah in anger. They asked why he had gone to fight without calling them, and they threatened to burn his house with fire. This was not a small disagreement. It was a dangerous challenge from one group of people to another.

Jephthah answered that he and his people had been in serious conflict with the Ammonites. He said that he had called for help, but Ephraim had not rescued him. So he had risked his life and gone to battle, and Yahweh had given him victory. Then he asked why they had now come to fight him.

The argument did not end peacefully. Jephthah gathered the men of Gilead, and they fought against Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim after Ephraim had spoken against them. What began as angry words became deadly conflict.

The Gileadites took control of the river crossings of the Jordan. When a fugitive from Ephraim tried to cross, the men of Gilead questioned him. They used a word as a test. If he could not pronounce it as they expected, they identified him as an Ephraimite and killed him at the river crossings.

In that conflict, forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell. Jephthah judged for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in the cities of Gilead. It is a sad episode, showing how threats and anger led to great loss.