Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 12:4

"Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim, ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, [and] in the midst of Manasseh." — Judges 12:4 (ASV)

All the men of Gilead. — This probably implies the Eastern tribes generally.

And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim because they said ... — The translation and the meaning here are highly uncertain. It seems to be implied that in spite of Jephthah’s perfectly reasonable answer, the Ephraimites advanced to attack Gilead and goaded the Gileadites to fury by intolerable taunts, which prevented the Gileadites from giving any quarter when they had won the victory.

You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim. — If the English Version is correct here, the meaning is, “You people of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh are a mere race of runaway slaves, who belong neither to Ephraim nor to Manasseh” (1 Samuel 25:10). It is very possible that fierce jealousies may have sprung up between the Eastern Manassites and their tribal brethren of the West. These jealousies may have mainly originated from the fact that the Eastern Manassites less and less acknowledged the lead of Ephraim but, changing their character and their habits, threw in their lot more and more with the pastoral tribes of Reuben and Gad.

The taunt sounds as if it had sprung from a schism in clanship, a contemptuous disclaimer by Ephraim of any ties with this Eastern half-tribe. Indeed, the taunt may have been true to the extent that very probably anyone who fell into debt or disgrace in Ephraim and Eastern Manasseh might just as likely flee to Western Manasseh as an English defaulter might escape to New York. And if the Ephraimites indulged in such shameful jibes, it might well be considered sufficient to account for the ruthless character of the fighting.

But the rendering of the English Version is very uncertain, and the versions vary in their interpretation of the meaning, punctuation, and even the reading of the passage. On the whole, the best view is to translate the words as follows: The men of Gilead struck Ephraim [not only in the battle, but in the far more fatal pursuit] because they [the men of Gilead] said, You are fugitives of Ephraim (see commentary on Judges 12:5).

Then follows the geographical explanation and historical illustration of the clause. This explanation suggests that it was possible for the Gileadites to inflict this vengeance because of two main factors:

1. Gilead [lies] between Ephraim and [Eastern] Manasseh. [Part, at any rate, of Gilead belonged to Gad, and lies geographically between the district of Eastern Manasseh and the district of Ephraim, as is sufficiently clear since Ephraim has advanced “northwards,” or towards Tsaphon (Judges 12:1), for the attack.]

2. The seizure of the fords then occurred, which led to the total slaughter of all these Ephraimite fugitives.

One slight circumstance that adds probability to this view is that “fugitives” is a term that could hardly be applied to a whole tribe.