1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. His wife’s sons grew up and drove Jephthah away. They said to him, “You will not inherit anything from our father’s house because you are the son of another woman.”
3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Men of ill repute gathered around Jephthah and went out with him.
4 Some time passed, then the Ammonites waged war with Israel.
5 When the Ammonites waged war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the land of Tob.