What is the meaning of Judges 11:7? Did you not hate me? • Jephthah puts the elders on the spot, reminding them of their open hostility (Judges 11:1-2). • The language mirrors other biblical moments when God’s chosen servant was despised by his own: Joseph by his brothers (Genesis 37:4), David by Saul (1 Samuel 18:29), and ultimately Christ by His own nation (John 15:24-25). • This question exposes the elders’ sin before any negotiation begins, just as Nathan exposed David’s sin before offering grace (2 Samuel 12:7). and expel me from my father’s house? • Their hatred moved from feeling to action: they drove Jephthah away, cutting him off from inheritance and community (Deuteronomy 21:15-17 shows how serious loss of inheritance was). • The pattern repeats throughout Scripture—God’s instruments are often pushed out before they are called back: Moses fled from Egypt (Exodus 2:15), David hid in the wilderness (1 Samuel 23:14), Paul was sent away to Tarsus (Acts 9:30). • Being expelled prepared Jephthah for leadership; God used exile to shape many leaders (James 1:2-4). Why then have you come to me now? • Jephthah highlights their sudden change of heart. His question forces the elders to admit motive—desperation, not affection (compare Proverbs 17:17). • It underscores human tendency to seek help only when personal resources run out, as Israel repeatedly did with the LORD (Judges 3:9; 4:3; 10:10). • The scene foreshadows the way people later sought Jesus’ miracles without embracing His message (John 6:26). when you are in distress? • “Distress” points to the Ammonite threat (Judges 10:9). Crisis pushed the elders to the man they once rejected, just as famine drove Jacob’s sons to Joseph (Genesis 42:1-2). • God often allows pressure so His people will recognize the deliverer He has already prepared (Psalm 18:6; 2 Chronicles 15:4). • Jephthah’s question invites repentance. True deliverance in Scripture is tied to a heart shift, not mere relief (Psalm 51:17; Joel 2:12-13). summary Jephthah’s fourfold question exposes the elders’ past sin, reveals their present motive, and sets the stage for God’s redemptive pattern: the rejected deliverer becomes the rescuer in Israel’s hour of need. The verse reminds us that God can turn rejection into preparation, that crisis can open eyes to the servant God has chosen, and that genuine repentance, not convenience, is what He seeks. |
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