Jephthah claimed that he called Ephraim to help in the fight against Ammon, but they did not come. Is this true? Ephraim claimed the opposite, that Jephthah did not call them at all. The account itself does not answer, which seems strange since the two opposing claims ended up causing a civil war. But Jephthah’s claim is doubtful. There is no confirmation of it in the narrative. His claim sounds more like an excuse in order to brush off the Ephraimites.
2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand.