JEMIMAH

(Je·miʹmah) [likely, dove].

The first of Job’s three daughters born after his great test. Jemimah and her sisters, the most beautiful women in all the land, received an inheritance in among their seven brothers.—Job 42:13-15.

JEMUEL

(Jem·uʹel) [day of God, daylight of God].

The first-named son of Simeon and one of the “seventy” numbered among Jacob’s household “who came into Egypt.” (Gen. 46:10, 27; Ex. 6:15) In other accounts he is called Nemuel.—Num. 26:12; 1 Chron. 4:24; see NEMUEL No. 1.

JEPHTHAH

(Jephʹthah) [he will open or set free].

A judge of Israel, of the tribe of Manasseh. (Num. 26:29; Judg. 11:1) He administered justice over the territory of Gilead for six years perhaps during the judgeship of Eli and the early life of Samuel. (Judg. 12:7) Jephthah’s reference to “three hundred years” of Israelite control E of the Jordan would seem to place the start of his six-year judgeship around 1173 B.C.E.—Judg. 11:26; See CHRONOLOGY, p. 337.

JEPHTHAH A LEGITIMATE SON

Jephthah’s mother was “a prostitute woman,” not meaning, however, that Jephthah was born of prostitution or was illegitimate. His mother had been a prostitute prior to her marriage as a secondary wife to Gilead, just as Rahab had once been a prostitute but later married Salmon. (Judg. 11:1; Josh. 2:1; Matt. 1:5) That Jephthah was not illegitimate is proved by the fact that his half brothers by Gilead’s primary wife drove him out so that he would not share in the inheritance. (Judg. 11:2) Additionally, Jephthah later became the accepted leader of the men of Gilead (of whom Jephthah’s half brothers seemed to be foremost). (Judg. 11:11) Moreover, he offered a sacrifice to God at the tabernacle. (Judg. 11:30, 31) None of these things would have been possible for an illegitimate son, for the Law specifically stated: “No illegitimate son may come into the congregation of Jehovah. Even to the tenth generation none of his may come into the congregation of Jehovah.”—Deut. 23:2.

Jephthah was evidently the firstborn of Gilead. Consequently he would normally have inherited two portions in the property of his father Gilead (who apparently was dead at the time Jephthah’s half brothers drove him out) and would also have been the head of the family. Only by illegally driving him away could Jephthah’s half brothers deprive him of his rightful inheritance, for even though the firstborn son of a father was the son of a secondary wife, or even a less-favored wife, he was, nevertheless, to receive the firstborn’s rights.—Deut. 21:15-17.

“IDLE MEN” GATHER TO JEPHTHAH

When Jephthah was driven away by his half brothers he took up dwelling in the land of Tob, a region E of Gilead, apparently outside the borders of Israel. Here Jephthah would be on the frontier, exposed to Israel’s foreign enemies, particularly Ammon. “Idle men,” that is, men evidently made idle or put out of employment by Ammonite harassment, and revolting against servitude to Ammon, came to Jephthah and put themselves under his command. (Judg. 11:3) The people living in the territory E of the Jordan River (the tribes of Manasseh, Reuben and Gad) were mainly cattle raisers, and the forays of the Ammonite raiders (who even crossed the Jordan at times) had apparently taken away the possessions and the means of livelihood from many of the inhabitants of Gilead.—Judg. 10:6-10.

AMMONITES THREATEN WAR

For eighteen years the oppression of the Ammonites continued. This was permitted by God because the Israelites had unfaithfully turned to serving the gods of the nations round about. But now the sons of Israel were brought to their senses, repenting of their folly and calling on Jehovah for help. They began to do away with their idols and to serve Jehovah. At this point Ammon gathered together in Gilead for large-scale warfare. (Judg. 10:7-17; 11:4) This fact indicates that it was actually the great invisible enemy of God, Satan the Devil, who incited the pagan nations against Israel, and that the real issue was worship of the true God.—Compare Revelation 12:9; Psalm 96:5; 1 Corinthians 10:20.

Israel gathered its forces at Mizpah. The half brothers of Jephthah were evidently prominent among the older men of Gilead. (Judg. 10:17; 11:7) They saw the need for proper leadership and direction. (Judg. 10:18) They realized that they must be under the headship of a God-appointed man if they were to defeat Ammon. (Judg. 11:5, 6, 10) Undoubtedly Jephthah and his men had been performing exploits in Tob, suggesting that he was God’s designated choice. (Judg. 11:1) The men of Gilead decided to go to Jephthah, whom they had despised, to ask him to be their head.

JEPHTHAH BECOMES HEAD OF GILEAD

Jephthah agreed to lead them in the fight against Ammon on one condition: if Jehovah gave him victory he would continue as head after returning from the fight. His insistence on this was not a selfish demand. He had shown himself concerned with the fight in behalf of God’s name and his people. Now, if he defeated Ammon, it would prove that God was with him. Jephthah wanted to make sure that God’s rule would not be forsaken again once the crisis had passed. Also, if he was indeed Gilead’s firstborn son, he was only establishing his legal right as head of the house of Gilead. The covenant was then concluded before Jehovah in Mizpah. Here again Jephthah showed that he looked to Jehovah as Israel’s God and King and their real Deliverer.—Judg. 11:8-11.

Jephthah, a man of action, lost no time in exercising vigorous leadership. He sent a message to the king of Ammon, pointing out that Ammon was the aggressor in invading Israel’s land. The king replied that it was land Israel had taken from Ammon. (Judg. 11:12, 13) Here Jephthah showed himself to be, not a mere rough, uncultured warrior, but a student of history and particularly of God’s dealings with his people. He refuted the Ammonite argument, showing that (1) Israel did not molest Ammon, Moab or Edom (Judg. 11:14-18; Deut. 2:9, 19, 37; 2 Chron. 20:10, 11); (2) Ammon had not possessed the disputed land at the time of the Israelite conquest, because it was in the hands of the Canaanitish Amorites, whose king, Sihon, and his land God had given into Israel’s hand; (3) Ammon had not disputed Israel’s occupation for the past 300 years; therefore, on what valid basis could they do so now?—Judg. 11:19-27.

Jephthah got at the heart of the matter when he showed that the issue revolved around the matter of worship. He declared that Jehovah God had given Israel the land and that for this reason they would not give an inch of it to worshipers of a false god. He called Chemosh the god of Ammon. Some have considered this to be an error. But, although Ammon had the god Milcom, and though Chemosh was a god of Moab, those related nations worshiped many gods. Solomon even wrongly brought the worship of Chemosh into Israel, because of his foreign wives. (Judg. 11:24; 1 Ki. 11:1, 7, 8, 33; 2 Ki. 23:13) Furthermore, “Chemosh” may mean “subduer, vanquisher,” according to some scholars. (See Gesenius’ Hebrew and English Lexicon.) Jephthah may have called attention to this god as being given credit by the Ammonites for ‘subduing’ or vanquishing’ others and giving them land.

JEPHTHAH’S VOW

Jephthah now saw that a fight with Ammon was God’s will. With God’s spirit energizing him he led his army to the fight. Similar to Jacob’s action some 600 years previously, Jephthah made a vow, demonstrating