In this verse and what follows (11.16-22), Jephthah gives the Ammonite king a summary of Israel’s history. Every Israelite, even someone with origins like Jephthah, learned this history from childhood. Traditions, in the form of hymns or stories, were handed down orally before taking written form (see, for example, Psalm 105–106).

But when they came up from Egypt: But renders the Hebrew particle ki, but here the particle is introducing a relevant comment, so better renderings are “In fact,” “In effect,” and “This is what happened” (Good News Translation). However, it is also possible that ki has a causal meaning here, introducing an explanation, so New American Bible says “For.” The pronoun they refers to the people of Israel, even though Israel appears in its singular form in the next clause. Jephthah is obviously considering the Israelite ancestors as the main actors here, so he says they rather than “we.” For came up from Egypt, see verse 2.1.

Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh: This is a very brief summary of the early events of the Exodus. The people of Israel first went through the wilderness. Went renders the Hebrew verb meaning “go” or “walk.” The Hebrew preposition for through can also mean “in” (Contemporary English Version). For the Hebrew word rendered wilderness (midbar), see verse 1.16. It refers to a dry sandy “desert” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) with very little vegetation. In this context the wilderness refers to the Sinai Desert (see Num 1.1).

The Red Sea is literally “the Sea of Reeds” (New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), which should be used if possible. This body of water should not be confused with the present-day Red Sea. The Sea of Reeds was a marshy region north of the Red Sea, where the Suez Canal is currently located. “Reeds” are water plants that can grow quite high and can be used for many purposes, including making baskets and even some types of boats. In some areas “reeds” are not known, but usually there is some term for water plants. Good News Translation says “the Gulf of Aqaba” (see also Num 14.25), but this is misleading since “the Sea of Reeds” was on the border of Egypt. It was a long way from the modern-day Gulf of Aqaba, which lies south of Jordan between Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula.

Kadesh was an oasis to the south of Israel, in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. It was here that the Israelites camped for a long time during their wanderings in the desert (Deut 1.46). From here they sent spies to survey the land of Canaan.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .