Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Didn't you hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? and why are you come to me now when you are in distress?
Jephthah fled to Israel’s frontier on the edge of civilization. Tob (Judges 11:3) stood between Ammon and Syria northeast of Gilead (cf. 2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Samuel 10:8). The Hebrew term translated "worthless fellows" in the NASB is more accurately "adventurers," as in the NIV. These men were not necessarily evil, but they were wild. Jephthah evidently lived a Robin Hood style of existence. One writer likened him to a guerrilla fighter or terrorist. [Note: McCann, p. 80.] 