Jephthah: Civil War in Israel and His Death · This final episode in the Jephthah cycle depicts the most serious breakdown in communal relations to this point in the book. While there have been signs of friction brewing (5:15b–17, 23; 8:1–3; 11:1–3), here the breakdown reaches crisis proportions and ultimately eventuates in full-blown civil war. The Ephraimites, the largest and leading tribe, complain that Jephthah had not included them in the battle against Ammon. But Jephthah has little patience left to stroke inflated Ephraimite egos and does nothing to diplomatically resolve the crisis. There is a great difference of style between him and Gideon, who in a similar crisis was able to negotiate a peaceful settlement by skillful diplomacy. The fact that Jephthah does not attempt to solve th…