Hakim-hakim 11:3

11:3 So Jephthah left ¹  his half-brothers ²  and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 11:5

11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, ⁴  the leaders ⁵  of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back ⁶  from the land of Tob.

Hakim-hakim 11:25

11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? ⁷ 

¹ tn Or “fled from.”

² tn Heb “brothers.”

³ tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”

⁴ tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”

⁵ tn Or “elders.”

⁶ tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which “really” and “dare to” are intended to express in the translation.

sn Jephthah argues that the Ammonite king should follow the example of Balak, who, once thwarted in his attempt to bring a curse on Israel, refused to attack Israel and returned home (Num 22-24).