Page 17 - April 2025 - Truth & Tidings

Introduction cally: they occupy the same latitude either

There is no character in Judges so deni- side of the Jordan – Abimelech in Shechem
grated and misunderstood as Jephthah. on the west, Jephthah in Mizpah on the
east. They also contrast chronologically:
The usual caricatures of rashness and
semi-paganism have been heaped on Abimelech was three years in the limelight
Jephthah enough times so that his true (9:22), Jephthah was “some time” in the
character is buried under the rubble of shade (11:4 JND).
misinterpretation and defamation. The They both had questionable births.
biblical data clears such rubble; Jephthah Abimelech was illegitimate by birth (8:31)
earns the endorsement of Samuel (1Sa and lived an illegitimate life. His birth
12:11) and is enlisted in the hall of faith determined his life, as it often does in the
(Heb 11:32). Both Testaments agree that biblical record. Jephthah, by parallel, had
in Jephthah we have a hero, not a villain. a shameful birth (11:1), but lived as an
The chapter dedicated to Jephthah honourable judge. Abimelech resented
opens with his being “a mighty man of his brothers and executed them (9:5);
valour” (11:1); he sits alongside worthies Jephthah forgave his brethren and was
1
like Gideon (6:12), David (1Sa 16:18) and reconciled to them (11:7-8,11). Abimelech
Boaz (Rut 2:1), who all receive the same actively hired vain men (9:4); Jephthah,
epithet. like David, attracted vain men in the days
Jephthah occupies rarefied space with of exile (1Sa 30:22), turning the rabble into
Othniel (Jdg 3:10), Gideon (6:34) and a band that carried out exploits on the en-
Samson (14:6) as the only men who were emy (Jdg 11:3). His exploits in Tob clearly
empowered by the Spirit of God in their marked him out as a leader and man of
service (11:29). courage. This is why the elders summoned
him back to fight Ammon (vv5-6). Abimel-
Contrast with Abimelech ech is the archetypal villain that destroys
Interestingly, the author of Judges his own people; Jephthah is the exiled
draws many parallels of contrast between hero that saves his people from Ammon.
him and Abimelech. If the latter was a “When the righteous are in authority,
godless sinner, the former, by contrast, the people rejoice: but when the wicked
was a God-fearing saint. Abimelech and beareth rule, the people mourn” (Pro 29:2).
Jephthah parallel one another geographi- Abimelech was a self-made dictatorial
king in contravention of biblical law (Deu
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV 17:14); Jephthah was a tribal chief, acting
unless otherwise noted. as a faithful head (Exo 18:25; Num 1:4)
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