I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 11-13.

    The story of Jephthah is a great contrast to the story of Abimelech. Jephthah was driven away by his half-brothers because his mother was a prostitute (I do not know if this was because their mother was jealous of Jephthah’s mother, or just because of a social attitude towards prostitutes). We have nothing in the Abimelech story which suggests that his brothers ostracized him as was done to Jephthah. However, the method by which they obtained followers, and the method by which they rose to power, differed. Abimelech sought power, then went out, hired mercenaries, and used them to enforce his rule. Jephthah, on the other hand, accepted his exile and a group of men chose to become his followers. Then, when trouble arose, the people of Gilead sought him out and requested that he lead them in their resistance against aggression. The writer thinks poorly of the men who formed the basis of both Abimelech’s and Jephthah’s military force. The difference being that Abimelech went out and chose his men, while Jephthah’s men chose him. To put it another way, men followed Jephthah because they liked the way he led them, men only followed Abimelech because he paid them. Finally, since Jephthah did not seek power over others he did not need to eliminate those who could potentially compete with him for that power.