And Gilead's wife bare him sons
It seems that, after the birth of Jephthah, Gilead took him a lawful wife, who bore him sons:
and his wife's sons grew up;
to the estate of men:
and they thrust out Jephthah:
out of his father's house, his father in all likelihood being dead, or he would not have suffered it, and what follows confirms it that he was dead:
and said unto him, thou shalt not inherit in our father's house:
as he might not, if the son of an harlot, or of a woman of another tribe, or of a concubine; though as Kimchi, from their Rabbins, observes, the son of such an one might, provided his mother was not an handmaid nor a stranger. And it looks as if this was not rightly done, but that Jephthah was injuriously dealt with by his brethren, of which he complains:
for thou art the son of a strange woman:
or of another "woman" F5, that was not their father's lawful wife; or of a woman of another tribe, as the Targum; or of another nation, as others, prostitutes being used to go into foreign countries to get a livelihood, and hide the shame of their families; hence a strange woman, and a harlot, signified the same F6, see ( Judges 11:1 ) .