Jueces 12:2

2 Jefté respondió:
—¡Yo los convoqué cuando comenzó el conflicto, pero ustedes se negaron a venir! No quisieron ayudarnos a luchar contra Amón.

Jueces 12:2 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 12:2

And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at a great
strife with the children of Ammon
As to the cause of the war, or the reason of his going over to fight the children of Ammon, it was a strife or contention between the Gileadites and them, concerning their country; which the children of Ammon claimed as theirs, and the Gileadites insisted on it they had a just right to it; by which it appeared that this was not a personal contention between Jephthah and them; and therefore the Ephraimites had no reason to fall so furiously upon him particularly; and it was a contention which chiefly concerned the two tribes and a half, and not the rest; and so could not be blamed for defending themselves alone if they could, without interesting others in the quarrel: but this is not all he has to say, he adds,

and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands;
it seems he had called them to assist in driving the enemy out of their boarders when there, and they refused to help him; though it is not elsewhere said, and it is not denied by them, so that it was false what they alleged; or however, since they declined giving him any assistance, when the children of Ammon were in his country, he could not expect they would join him in an expedition into theirs.

Jueces 12:2 In-Context

1 Efraín lucha con Jefté
Luego los hombres de Efraín movilizaron a un ejército y cruzaron el río Jordán hasta Zafón. Entonces enviaron el siguiente mensaje a Jefté:
—¿Por qué no nos llamaste para que te ayudáramos a luchar contra los amonitas? ¡Quemaremos tu casa contigo adentro!

2 Jefté respondió:
—¡Yo los convoqué cuando comenzó el conflicto, pero ustedes se negaron a venir! No quisieron ayudarnos a luchar contra Amón.

3 De modo que, al ver que no vendrían, arriesgué mi vida y salí a combatir sin ustedes, y el Señor
me dio la victoria sobre los amonitas. Así que, ¿por qué vienen ahora a pelear conmigo?

4 La gente de Efraín contestó:
—Ustedes, los de Galaad, no son más que fugitivos de Efraín y de Manasés.
Entonces Jefté reunió a todos los hombres de Galaad, atacó a los hombres de Efraín y los derrotó.

5 Jefté tomó control de los vados del río Jordán y, cada vez que un fugitivo de Efraín trataba de cruzar para volver a su tierra, los hombres de Galaad lo desafiaban preguntándole: «¿Eres miembro de la tribu de Efraín?». Si decía el hombre: «No, no lo soy»,