Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, [and] in the midst of Manasseh.
Jephthah opened his mouth wisely again and replied that he had indeed requested their help, but they had not responded (Judges 12:2). This did not satisfy the Ephraimites, however, who mobilized a large fighting force to teach the Gileadites a lesson. These proud Israelites wanted to dominate, to control, and to receive recognition among their brethren. They evidently regarded the Gileadites as "fugitives" (Judges 12:4) because they had settled east of the Jordan River.