Judges 12:1

1 And, lo! dissension (a)rose in Ephraim; for they, that passed toward the north (who crossed over to Zaphon), said to Jephthah, Why wentest thou to battle against the sons of Ammon, and wouldest not call us, (so) that we should go with thee. Therefore we shall burn (down) thine house.

Judges 12:1 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 12:1

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together
Or "cried" ^F18; got together by a cry or proclamation made: in the Hebrew text it is, "a man of Ephraim"; not a single man, but a body of men, who met together and joined as one man. It is highly probable that there were no less than 50,000 of them; for 42,000 of them were slain, ( Judges 12:6 )

and went northward;
or, "went over northward ^F19"; that is, over the river Jordan, which lay between Gilead and Ephraim; and when they had crossed the river, they turned northward; for Mizpeh, where Jephthah lived, was in the north of the land, near Hermon and Lebanon, ( Joshua 11:3 )

and said unto Jephthah, wherefore passedst thou over to fight against
the children of Ammon?
not over Jordan, but over that part of the land of Israel from the plain where Jephthah dwelt, to the country of the children of Ammon:

and didst not call us to go with thee?
they quarrel with him just in the same manner as they did with Gideon: these Ephraimites were a proud and turbulent people, and especially were very jealous of the tribe of Manasseh, of which both Gideon and Jephthah were; the one of the half tribe on this side Jordan, and the other of the half that was on the other side; and they were jealous of both, lest any honour and glory should accrue thereunto, and they should get any superiority in any respect over them, since Jacob their father had given the preference to Ephraim; and this seems to lie at the bottom of all their proceedings:

we will burn thine house upon thee with fire;
that is, burn him and his house, burn his house and him in it; which shows that they were in great wrath and fury, and argued not only the height of pride and envy, but wretched ingratitude, and a cruel disposition; who, instead of congratulating him as Israel's deliverer, and condoling him with respect to the case of his only child, threaten him in this brutish manner.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (qeuy) (ebohsen) , Sept. "clamatus", i.e. "clamando convocatus", Piscator. "mnellius", Pimcator.
F19 (rbey) "transivit", Pagninus, Montanus; "transiverunt", Junius et Tremellius, Piscator.

Judges 12:1 In-Context

1 And, lo! dissension (a)rose in Ephraim; for they, that passed toward the north (who crossed over to Zaphon), said to Jephthah, Why wentest thou to battle against the sons of Ammon, and wouldest not call us, (so) that we should go with thee. Therefore we shall burn (down) thine house.

2 To which he answered, Great strife was to me and to my people against the sons of Ammon, and I called you, that ye should give help to me, and you would not do so. (To whom he answered, There was great strife between me and my people and the Ammonites, and I called on you, to give me help, but ye would not do so.)

3 Which thing I saw, and putted my life in mine hands; and I passed (forth) to the sons of Ammon, and the Lord betook them into mine hands; what have I (done that I) deserved, that ye rise together against me into battle? (so what have I done that I deserve that ye rise up against me in battle?)

4 Therefore when all the men of Gilead were called to Jephthah, he fought against Ephraim; and [the] men of Gilead smote Ephraim; for he said (for they said), Gilead is fugitive, either exiled, from Ephraim, and in the midst of Ephraim, and of Manasseh.

5 And the men of Gilead occupied the fords of (the) Jordan, by which Ephraim should turn again. And when a man, fleeing of the number of Ephraim, had come to the fords, and had said, I beseech, that ye suffer me pass; men of Gilead said to him, Whether thou art a man of Ephraim? And when he had said, I am not (And when a man, fleeing from the Ephraimites, had come to the crossing, and had said, I beseech thee, that ye allow me to cross over; the men of Gilead said to him, Art thou a man of Ephraim? And when he had said, I am not),