332 Bernard P. Robinson as to how to read the story of Jephthah. Like the rest of the Book of Judges it is about the deplorable state of affairs posited as existing before the beginning of the monarchy. As 2,7-23 has indicated, the obedience to the will of YHWH that characterized the lifetime of Joshua broke down afterwards. Israel was forever lapsing into rebellion, and YHWH was, under protest, intervening to rescue it by the hand of Judges. The tribes failed to pull together, and civil war ensued. Towards the end of the book, one is told why this was so: “There was no king in Israel in those days, and every man did what was right in his own eyes” (17,6; 21,25; cf. 18,1; 19,1). In the absence of a king, or an equivalent unifying figure such as Joshua, there was no chance of the Torah revealed to Moses being implemented, so pagan ways prevailed. Although the Book of Judges does not pass moral verdicts on the lives of the Judges, there can be little doubt that the Deuteronomist will have regarded some of them as morally flawed. The fact that YHWH is represented as being with, and as using, a Gideon or a Jephthah does not mean that one is supposed to take him for a saint. 2. Judg 10,17–11,11: Jephthah – from Outcast to Leader and Head The reader is here introduced to Jephthah and told of his flight from the family home and his subsequent rise to a leadership role within Gilead. In 11,3, “There gathered around him some worthless [“empty”] men, and they went out with him”, Jephthah is presented as an opportunist. In 11,6-9 Jephthah is represented as a tough schemer: Then they said to Jephthah, ‘Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon’ … Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ‘If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and YHWH gives them before me, I shall indeed be your head’. The elders ask him to be their ˆyxq, their leader in the campaign, but he holds out for a more permanent and a broader position, that of being their çar, head (this in fact is what the elders originally had in mind: 10,17), and he prevails. They agree that provided Jephthah succeeds as ˆyxq in defeating Ammon he will be their permanent çar. With Gideon’s words ringing in one’s ears, “I shall not rule over you, and my son shall not rule over you; YHWH shall rule over you” —————— into my hand”, also probably betrays Deuteronomic redaction (cf. Deut 1,8.21; 2,31.33.36; 7,2.23; 23,15; 31,5; Josh 10,12; 11,6; 1 Kgs 8,46. The only non- Deuteronomic occurrence seems to be at Isa 41,2).