The son of an harlot. — The words are so rendered in all the versions, and can hardly have any other meaning. If an inferior wife had been meant, the word used would not have been zonah, but pilgesh, as in Judges 8:31. The word may, however, be used in the harsh sense of the brethren of Jephthah, without being strictly accurate. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 2:26.)
Gilead begat Jephthah. — We are here met by the same questions as those which concern Tola and Jair. That Gilead is a proper name, not the name of the country mythically personified, may be regarded as certain. But is this Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, or some later Gilead? or does “begat” mean “was the ancestor of?” The answer to these questions depends mainly upon the insoluble problem of the chronology; but we may note (1) that since no other Gilead is mentioned, we should naturally infer that this is the grandson of Manasseh; and (2) that the fact referred to in the obscure genealogy of 1 Chronicles 7:14-17 seems to show that the family of Manasseh had Syrian (Aramean) connections, and Jephthah’s mother may have been an Aramitess from the district of Tob. The name Jephthah means “he opens” (the womb).