Footnotes

1. Judges 11:8 tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (loʾ khen).
2. Judges 11:8 tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ʾel) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.
3. Judges 11:8 sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (roʾsh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward—rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.
4. Judges 11:8 tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”