Following its description of the outstanding work performed by Gideon, the book of Judges records briefly the activities of various minor individuals who delivered Israel from time to time. It lays stress upon the important contribution of Jephthah in meeting the needs of his times, in spite of the opposition, unkind criticism, and domestic tragedy which fell to his lot.
Gideon had encouraged and inspired his compatriots; but as time went by, they lapsed into idolatry. Such apostasy brought about dire consequences, expressed through the oppression of the Ammonites. In this new emergency the Israelites offered verbal repentance to the Lord, only to learn that this was insufficient. Indeed it was not until they manifested active reformation, "put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord" (Judg. 10:16) that they discovered a champion already in their midst, Jephthah, "a mighty man of valour"
During his early days in Gilead, to the east of the Jordan River, Jephthah had been widely scorned as "the son of a strange woman" (11:2), and, somewhat like David at a later period, he became the successful leader of a band of outlaws in the vicinity of Tob, not far from Gilead.
