6 ISRAel FINkelSTeIN ing, “and the men of Gilead smote ephraim, because they said, ‘You are fugitives of ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of ephraim and Manasseh’” (12,4b), is difficult to understand. The Deuteronomistic parts in the Jephthah narrative are relatively easy to identify: ▪ 10,6-16 is the typical frame of sin, punishment and cry to YhWh that serves the overall ideology of the Deuteronomist in Judges. here it is mixed with later, post-Deuteronomistic additions (below). unlike other cycles in Judges, the selection of a savior by YhWh is missing here 24. ▪ Gilead as the father of Jephthah in 11,1-2. The author no longer understands that Gilead is the name of a town and connects Jephthah to the Manasseh genealogy. This can either be a Deuteronomistic, or post-Deuteronomistic redaction. ▪ The discussion between Jephthah and the elders of the town (below) of Gilead in 11,7-10 is not part of the old narrative. YhWh plays a major role here. ▪ 11,11b, “and Jephthah spoke all his words before the lORD at Mizpah”, also does not belong to the old tale. Interestingly, the author seems to know about a temple of YhWh at Mizpah (for the town see below) and does not reject it; similar to references to patriarchal altars in Genesis, countryside altars had been accepted “before” the rule of the Davidic Dynasty in Jerusalem. Or, the author no longer knew about Mizpah of the Gilead and confused it with Mizpah north of Jerusalem (see Judg 20,3). ▪ Intervention of the deity in 11,29a, 32b also belongs to this layer. ▪ The summary and reference to the death of Jephthah in 12,7 is typically Deuteronomistic. Note that the author no longer under- stands that Gilead is a town. The term d[lg yr[ also appears in Josh 13,25. The volume of post-Deuteronomistic materials in the Jephthah story is significant. They include 25: • expansion of the Deuteronomistic opening in 10,1-16. I refer to 24 SOGGIN, Judges, 205-206. 25 Becker (Richterzeit und Königtum), identified four expansions of the old tradition: the dialogue between YhWh and Israel in 10,10b-16, the Bible-based arguments in 11,12-28, Jephthah’s vow in 11,30-31.34-40 and the fight with ephraim in 12,1-6.