10:6
We now come to Jephthah. He is a major figure in Judges, receiving three chapters worth of attention. However, he is not well known. While almost every Christian has heard of Gideon and Samson, and many of Deborah, far fewer are aware of Jephthah.
The section starts with the oft repeated refrain “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord”. Sin was the biggest problem that Israel had. This is also true for every human being, and every nation on earth, and the Bible is an account of the problem and of how God addresses the problem through Jesus Christ. The Israelites served the gods of the various nations around them. They would serve any god except the one True God. At this time there was no one dominant power, such as there would be in later years, such as Assyria, Babylon, Persia.
10:7
“He became angry with them” because they no longer served the Lord. And so they were “sold into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites”. The use of the term “sold” is interesting, and is perhaps relevant in terms of “ransom” terminology sometimes being used in terms of salvation. The narrative of Jephthah is concerned almost entirely with the Ammonites, whereas the Samson story concerns the Philistines.
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