Jephthah dismisses the charge made by the Ephraimites by claiming that they did not respond to his call for help. However, the previous text provides no evidence that Jephthah did, in fact, invite them to join in the battle against the Ammonites.

And Jephthah said to them: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “But” (Good News Translation) to introduce Jephthah’s disagreement with the Ephraimites, for example, “But Jephthah replied [to them, saying].”

I and my people had a great feud with the Ammonites is literally “I was a man of strife, I and my people with the sons/children of Ammon very much.” This construction is parallel to the ones seen in verse 11.37-38. Jephthah speaks as a tribal leader as he emphasizes his role with an emphatic pronoun I and speaks of my people. The Hebrew term for people (ʿam) is the one used often for all of Israel, but here it refers only to his clan. The Hebrew noun rendered feud comes from the root r-v, which is often found in the writings of the prophets. It is a legal term referring to the complaint one person makes against another. It can also be used to refer to family conflicts. Here, in its only occurrence in this book, it refers to a conflict between two peoples, though the nature of the feud is never made clear. Great feud may be rendered “serious conflict” (New Jerusalem Bible), “great struggle” (New International Version), or “big palaver.” Contemporary English Version says simply “trouble,” which may be too weak. We might say “I and my people, we had a great conflict with the Ammonites” or “My people and I had a serious conflict with the people of Ammon.”

And when I called you is an independent clause in Hebrew, which is literally “and I called you.” Here Jephthah claims to have invited the Ephraimites to come and help, but obviously he is lying or trying to confuse them. Called renders a different Hebrew verb than the ones translated “were called to arms” and “call” in verse 12.1 (see verse 4.10, where it is rendered “summoned”). NET Bible proposes “I asked for your help,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “I summoned you.”

You did not deliver me from their hand: This clause begins with a Hebrew waw conjunction, which may be rendered “but” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible), since it introduces an unexpected response from the Ephraimites. For the key Hebrew verb rendered deliver (yashaʿ), see the comments on verse 2.16, where it is translated “saved.” By saying you did not deliver me, Jephthah is once again personalizing the battle. Contemporary English Version uses the pronoun “us” instead of me. Their hand refers to the Ammonites. For the keyword hand, see verse 1.2. Good News Translation provides a good model: “but you would not rescue me from them.” Contemporary English Version‘s “and you wouldn’t do a thing to help us” seems too colloquial. We might say “but you did not deliver me from their threat [or, attack].”

A translation model for this verse is:

• But Jephthah replied to them, “My people and I, we were in a big conflict with the Ammonites. I called you to help, but you did nothing to deliver us from them.

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 .