Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah.
The elders of Gilead made a formal public agreement with Jephthah at Mizpah in northern Gilead, contracting the conditions of his leading Israel in battle (Judges 11:10-11). They pinned the sheriff’s badge on him. Evidently Jephthah told the Lord about this covenant in prayer.