Verse 3:[1] Then Jephthah fled from (Heb. from the face of[2]) his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered (Judg. 9:4; 1 Sam. 22:2) vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
[He, fleeing them, וַיִּבְרַ֤ח יִפְתָּח֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י אֶחָ֔יו] And he fled from the face of his brethren (Montanus), that is, on account of fear of his brethren (Vatablus).
[In the land of Tob (thus Pagnine, Montanus, Junius and Tremellius)] Tob is the name of a man (Munster). In the province of Tob, that is, over which a certain man by the name of Tob was in charge (Vatablus). Or Tob is the name of a region (Drusius out of Eusebius, Lapide, Junius). It was situated in the land of Gilead. Thus Josephus[3] and Adrichomius (Lapide, Bonfrerius). Not far from the Ammonites was the entry to the desert of Arabia. See 2 Samuel 10:6, 8; 1 Maccabees 5:13[4] (Piscator out of Junius).
[בְּאֶ֣רֶץ ט֑וֹב] In a good land (Syriac). This land was certainly good to Jephthah, because it benignly received and nourished him fleeing (Lapide). In a certain fertile region (Arabic).
The land of Tob, the name either of the land or territory, or of the man who was the owner or ruler of it. This place was in or near Gilead, as appears by the speedy intercourse which here was between Jephthah and the Israelites.
[And there were gathered unto him needy men, אֲנָשִׁ֣ים רֵיקִ֔ים] Men empty, or vain (most interpreters), that is, idle (Vatablus).
Vain men; idle persons, who desire to get their living rather by spoil and rapine, than by honest and diligent labour. These evil-minded persons Jephthah managed well, employing them against the enemies of God and of Israel that bordered upon them; and particularly, upon parties of the Ammonites, which made the Israelites more forward to choose him for their chieftain in this war.
[They were following] They made for his regions (Vatablus). Hebrew: they went out with him,[5] suppose, for military expeditions, which Jephthah, a man exiled and fugitive, was compelled to undertake for a tolerable life: by the report of which sallies and excursions the Gileadites were induced to put him in charge over them (Piscator out of Junius). They were taking booty, but only just booty, suppose, from the Ammonites and Philistines; like those that were following David, 1 Samuel 22; 23 (Lapide, Lyra, Bonfrerius, Estius). There is not anything said here of Jephthah that is not elsewhere said of David (Estius). They went out with him, either, to battle, or, from the city of Gilead, to seek new habitations (Drusius).
Went out with him, when he made excursions and attempts upon his and their enemies.
[1] Hebrew: וַיִּבְרַ֤ח יִפְתָּח֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י אֶחָ֔יו וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב בְּאֶ֣רֶץ ט֑וֹב וַיִּֽתְלַקְּט֤וּ אֶל־יִפְתָּח֙ אֲנָשִׁ֣ים רֵיקִ֔ים וַיֵּצְא֖וּ עִמּֽוֹ׃
[2] Hebrew: מִפְּנֵי.
[3] Antiquities 5:8.
[4] 1 Maccabees 5:13: “Yea, all our brethren that were in the places of Tobie are put to death: their wives and their children also they have carried away captives, and borne away their stuff; and they have destroyed there about a thousand men.”
[5] Hebrew: וַיֵּצְא֖וּ עִמּֽוֹ׃.
Matthew Henry: 'He had, in his exile, headed a rabble, Judges 11:3. Being driven out by his brethren, his great soul would not suffer him either to dig or beg, but by his sword he must live; and, being soon noted for his bravery, those that were reduced to such straits, and animated by such a spirit, enlisted themselves under him. Vain men they are here called, that is, men that had run through their estates and had to seek for a livelihood. These went out with him, not to rob or plunder, but to hunt wild beasts, and perhaps to make incursions upon those countries which Israel was entitled to, but had not as yet come to the possessio…