The OlD JePhThAh TAle IN JuDGeS 15 early Jacob story, the Jephthah tale, too, was committed to writing in the first half of the 8th century, when the Northern kingdom collected its foundation myths, early royal traditions, and heroic tales. Tel Aviv university Israel Finkelstein Gilman Building Tel Aviv 69978 (Israel) SuMMARY In this article I intend to reveal the old, orally-transmitted heroic tale that lies behind the Jephthah story in the Book of Judges, which is obscured by massive Deuteronomistic and post-Deuteronomistic additions and redactions. The old story deals with a conflict on the settlement boundary between Israelites and Ammonites in Transjordan, around the towns of Gilead and Mizpah. It probably reflects realities before, or in the early days of the Northern kingdom.