Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them before me, shall I be your head?
Today we would say that Jephthah was an abused child (Judges 11:2). His half-brothers rejected him in violation of the Mosaic Law that commanded the Israelites to love one another, their neighbors, and outcasts (Leviticus 19:33-34; Deuteronomy 10:12-22). David may have suffered the same kind of hostility in his family (cf. Psalms 27:10). One also recalls Jesus’ rejection (cf. Isaiah 53:3), though we have no reason to believe His parents abused Him.