Jephthah and the Ephraimites: Lessons we can take from the Fellowcraft dialogue

By Bro. Christian Dubbs West Chester Lodge #322 A&FM of Pennsylvania

Masonic ritual in certain jurisdictions defines freemasonry as a “peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols” and we are constantly told that the goal of freemasonry is to make good men better. This morality however is not just limited to our symbols such as the working tools of a mason, the dialogue and lecture of the degrees are rife or filled with lessons that we can utilize to teach us how to make ourselves better and more moral men as well. Even small parts of the lectures or dialogues can have multiple moral lessons to teach us if they are examined thoroughly. One such example of this could be found the story of Jephthah and the Ephraimites.

In the dialogue of the Fellow Cra Degree, we are told of Jephthah, judge of Israel, and the di iculties had with the Ephraimites. Because the Ephraimites were rebellious people, Jephthah had sought to subdue them and lessen their angers. Initially he used mild and lenient (non- violent) measures, but when they became angered over not being involved in the Ammonitish wars, stronger measures were taken. Due to their anger the Ephraimites crossed the Jordan River to lay waste to Jephthah’s lands, Jephthah and the men of Gilead were forced to fight and smote (kill) 42,000 Ephraimites and thus suppress this rebellion.

As a part of this dialogue, we learn the fellow cra password and are gained admittance (entrance to a fellow cra lodge) and learn that due to this battle, our ancient brethren deemed it fitting. However, there are more lessons that can be taken from this dialogue. If you explore the history, the context, and the background of this area and the battle and uprising, the lessons embedded within can teach us how not only to be better masons, but also to be better men. To truly understand the lessons to be learned from this dialogue, the first question we must ask is, who were the Ephraimites?

Ephraim was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The tribe was named a er one of the younger sons of Joseph, who was himself as son of Jacob. In 930 BCE, the Tribe of Ephraim led the 10 northern tribes in a successful revolt or civil war against the south causing the Promised Land to split into the kingdoms of Israel in the North and Judah in the South. From the tribe of Ephraim came several Israelite leaders and Kings. Joshua, the man who led the conquest of Canaan and was the leader of the Israelites a er the death of Moses, was an Ephraimite. The first king of the united 10 tribes of Israel, Jeroboam the 1st, was an Ephraimite. As was the 7th king of Israel, Ahab, whose wife Jezebel attempted to lead the people of Israel into the worship of Baal, the sun god of the Phoenicians. In fact, the Ephraimites were so important in Israel that from 745 BCE until the land was conquered by the Assyrians in 721 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel was o en referred to as the Kingdom of Ephraim. How could such a prominent and important tribe in the land of Israel be led to such an uprising and revolt against Jephthah and the men of Gilead?

In the dialogue of the Fellow Cra Degree, we learn that the Ephraimites became incensed or angered in not being included in the Ammonitish war and thus being allowed to share in its rich spoils. In the Bible, in the book of Judges, Chapter 10, we learn that the Ammonites had crossed the Jordan River to fight against the houses of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Judah. This was following their oppression and brutal domination of the people of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the lands of Gilead for 18 years a er the passing of Ja’ir the Gileadite. The Ammonites were a Semitic people so like the Israelites they only believed in one God, and a er a long period of semi-nomadic (they were mostly a traveling people with no fixed cities or nation) existence, established a Kingdom North of Moab and East of Israel in the 13th century BCE. Rabbath Ammon was the principle city of the Ammonites. The Ammonites were in regular, although occasional and not constant, conflict with the Israelites. A er the passing of Ja’ir, the Israelites fell into the worship of the gods of their neighbors. Yahweh allowed the Ammonites and the Philistines to oppress the children of Israel for a span of one year until the children of Israel repented. Once the Israelites repented and turned away from the foreign gods, Yahweh once again had favor with them and became angry over the misery of Israel. The Ammonites were in conflict with Israel because they felt that Israel, upon their settlement of the Promised Land, had taken land that had belonged to the Ammonites. The Ammonites made an encampment in Gilead and the Israelites gathered in Mizpah to prepare for war. The Gileadites gathered to discuss who would lead them into battle and become head of all of Gilead. The answer was Jephthah the warrior.

Before Jephthah was Judge over Israel, it was said that he was a mighty warrior. Jephthah had been cast out of the land of Gilead and into the land of Tob, and Gilead’s sons by his wife were the ones who had cast Jephthah out as Jephthah was the son of Gilead and a harlot (the Catholic and King James versions of the bible use the word harlot, the NIV version says prostitute either way Jephthah was born from an a air that was had by his father) and not the son of Gilead and his wife. While in the land of Tob, Jephthah collected many worthless fellows around him who accompanied him on raids. It can be assumed that from the experience of these raids that Jephthah learned the arts of war and became a mighty warrior. When the Gileadites called to Jephthah to lead their armies against the Ammonites, he was at first reluctant and distrustful of the Gileadites saying, “Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now in trouble?” The elders of the Gileadites said they would make him the head of Gilead if he led their troops and gained victory over the Ammonites, a er which he accepted the charge. Jephthah made a pledge to Yahweh that if Yahweh delivered the Ammonites to his hand that whoever came forth from the doors of his house to meet him, he would sacrifice to Yahweh as a burnt o ering (Judges 11:32). Yahweh did deliver the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hands and he smote (killed) them and destroyed 20 of their cities. Upon returning home to Mizpah, his daughter who was his only child, came out to meet him. Jephthah explained to his daughter what he had promised to Yahweh. His daughter told him that he must keep his word. She only asked that she be allowed to go to the mountains and bewail (bemoan) that she would die a virgin. A er two months, his daughter returned to him and he kept his promise to Yahweh. He made a burnt o ering of his daughter.

The Ephraimites were angry about not being called to participate in the Ammonitish war, as their lands were also attacked and besieged by the Ammonites just as those of Gilead had been. They felt they had just as much rite to participate in the war and to share in the spoils of the war. They crossed to Zaphon to threaten Jephthah and asked him, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” But Jephthah had called the Ephraimites to battle the Ammonites and they had not responded. When he saw that the Ephraimites were not coming to deliver him, he made his promise to Yahweh to gain victory over the Ammonites. It seems logical that he would blame the Ephraimites for the death of his daughter as it was only a er the Ephraimites had not come to his aide that he made his promise to God. He gathered all of the men of Gilead and fought the Ephraimites, both those that stood to fight and those that fled the fighting and became fugitives. Jephthah and the Gileadites killed 42,000 Ephraimites before the conflict came to an end.

42,000 Ephraimites. A mighty number of people lost. To put those numbers in context and perspective: 42,000 Canadian soldiers died in combat during all of World War II. In 1099 CE, 40,000 soldiers died in the siege of Jerusalem during the first crusade. The army of Egypt in the New Kingdom era (1539-1075 BCE) numbered 20,000 fighting soldiers (the total size of the army has been estimated at 100,000 mean, but most were forced non-fighting soldiers completing various public works projects similar to the Army corps of engineers). The Gileadites killed a number of people twice as large as what the Pharaoh could gather for a military campaign and the size of what was needed to sack and defend Jerusalem almost 2,000 years later. Jephthah was judge of Israel for six years, and Chabad.org has estimated that he was judge over Israel between 982-976 BCE (Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad- Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It serves its own members and Jews worldwide. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites and the first and largest virtual congregation). The Ephraimites led the ten northern tribes in a revolt against the south in 930 BCE, so we can surmise and assume due to the dates provided, that it took at least one whole generation for the Ephraimites to regain their numbers, strength, and political influence a er 42,000 members of their tribe being killed by Jephthah and the Gileadites.

Now that we have the background to the story of Jephthah and the Ephraimites, what lessons on morality can we take from it?

The first lesson is to never underestimate a man because of his upbringing or his station in life. Jephthah was born of an a air between his father and a harlot (prostitute). He rose to be the leader of Gilead, a conqueror of tribes and nations, and a judge of Israel. Jephthah was cast out into Tob by the legitimate sons of Gilead, who later had to swallow their pride and ask him to lead their people against the Ammonites. He was surrounded by worthless fellows and became a raider of lands and properties. Yet from these experiences, he became a strong warrior and learned the ways that would help him prevail over the Ammonites. A er his victory over the Ammonites, he was still underestimated by his fellow Israelites when the Ephraimites threatened to burn his house over him. From the most humble of beginnings, each man has the ability to rise by his own actions to places of respect and honor and each man deserves to be treated as such.

Secondly, a lesson of inclusion should be learned. The Gileadites and Ephraimites were both sons of Israel (Gilead being a mountainous region occupied by the tribes of Gad and Rueben). The waring between the two weakened Israel as a whole. The Ephraimites were angry about not being included in the Ammonitish war, the Gileadites angry about being abandoned to fight the war alone, and Jephthah most especially. As we are too far removed from the events, we cannot say with clarity who was truly responsible for the first wrong in this conflict. We can say with certainty that the slaughtering of 42,000 Ephraimites surely weakened the Israelites as a whole. If the Ephraimites had been included in the Ammonitish war (or if they had answered the call to arms, depending on whose side of the story you take), the eventual splintering of the land of Israel into the northern and southern kingdoms and the resulting diaspora (scattering) of the northern tribes might not have come to happen. Thirdly, think long on your oaths before you make them as you cannot always foresee the end result of oaths made in haste. I am certain that Jephthah never could have envisioned having to kill his only child and o ering her as a burnt o ering to Yahweh when he made his promise and oath during the battle with the Ammonites, but none the less that is what we are told happened. Whether you tell a friend that you will help him move a couch or you take an oath never to reveal any part or parts of a ritual, a man is only as good as his word and his word should never be given without contemplation on what that word or oath could mean.

Fourthly, do not expect spoils from a war you have not fought. In the dialogue of the fellow cra degree we are told that the reason the Ephraimites became incensed is that they were not invited to participate in the war and this share in its rich spoils. The full story from the book of Judges leaves much to be desired in if this was actually the case or if they had been invited and did not reply, but regardless the spoils of the war seem to be the main reason for their disagreement. Everything in this life is earned, every breath we take it is because our bodies struggle to draw in the air. Every penny that we use to feed, clothe, and shelter our families is either by the sweat of our brow or the sharpness of our minds. While many may or may not help you on your way the path taken is yours and the e ort is yours to move forward. No rewards should be expected without the battle being fought or the work being done.