THE news of Jephthah’s bravery in that battle found its way above the dusky clouds of Israel’s defeat. Soon the fleeing soldiers of Gilead caught the wisp of that travelling news.
Now Jephthah rode back to join his shattered fellows as they matched back to the army base.
In no time, that bold warrior had raced his horse to catch up with his chief commander. So now he was riding side by side with him.
But Jephthah’s frame was dwarfing his superior with that fame he’d just earned. Yes, that moment that he rode beside his lord, Elar became as small as a tiny elf.
Yet Elar wasn’t a dwarf in his own place. But when his deputy was standing anywhere close, his place suddenly looked as low as the footstool.
And that battle that Jephthah fought alongside him, it only made him feel smaller than he could bear. For it hurt him too hard that he was lesser than his associate.
Indeed, Elar was a young vibrant war chief. Commander of the defenders of Israel’s borders in Gilead.
And while many had earned their names in battle with blood and sweat, Elar had won his place with words and wit.
For the young man was a weaver of sweet words. And a schemer at best.
But battles were not fought with talks and flamboyant words. And so that ride on the high horse of power had been a tough one for the young man.
Particularly when he had a combatant like Jephthah to rival.
So, Elar’s glory waned and dwindled by and by. His honour and pride were being trampled on by the achievement of his deputy.
And now he wasn’t going to let it be.
Right there, the crushed commander halted his horse amid its strutting strides. Jephthah’s horse cantered past in that instant and Elar watched as he rode before him.
The commander’s gaze was intense there and then. He’d wondered for years why Jephthah could be successful with battles since he’d been fighting.
He’d thought to find his secret, too. And so he’d sent men to spy on that deputy of his.
But every time Elar tried to search Jephthah out, he saw that the gentleman’s waters were as clear beneath as its surface were.
And that frustrated him even more.
Yet Elar and Jephthah were more than a commander-deputy pair. For the two stout men were sons of the same father.
Their father was the man called Gilead.
So then, as Elar gazed intently at his brother, he wished his eyes could now find the answer his spies failed to fetch him.
But just that instant Jephthah halted and turned about to observe his master.
And there ahead of the army was their camp already. So he thought to quickly ask something.
‘Oh we’re here, sir. Should I get set to dismiss the men? Or do you have any word for them?’
Elar looked ahead and just now noted that they were close. He’d been lost in ponder and wonder over his brother; so he wouldn’t know anything else now other than Jephthah.
Now Elar looked at that rival in front of him and did as if he heard nothing.
Jephthah reiterated, as his brother’s lingering eyes seemed to demand for a repeat.
‘Should I prepare to dismiss the army. Or do you have any word for them?’
Yet in that moment that Jephthah repeated himself, Elar was stuck on figuring how best to answer his clever kin.
He remembered then that when Gilead’s defenders lost to the lords of Philistia, no one was interested in listening to his words. He recalled also how the soldiers grumbled beneath their breath when he began with lofty speeches.
So now, Elar wondered if Jephthah was mocking him by asking him that kind of question. And he was careful not to appear beaten before him now.
Thus the man replied: ‘Dismiss the army. But tell your men to wait behind.’
Jephthah was at loss about why his brother must address his own soldiers.
‘My men?’ he queried.
‘Yes, your entire regiment! Are they no longer fighters under my ultimate command?’
That answer seemed to knock Jephthah off. And he was quick to snap out of that messed-up drama.
He simply replied: ‘They are yours, sir. I’ll tell them to wait when we get to base.’
Then the valiant deputy turned about to head down to their camp. But Elar quickly added a few words to counter.
‘When you dismiss the other regiments, you can go home as well. I want to have a word with your men alone.’
Now Jephthah was struck hard by that nagging stick. He glanced back at his brother, looking baffled and frustrated.
He didn’t know what to make of the whole thing now. And he regretted he poked an envious brother first.
So now, the warrior of that night’s battle rode down to base trotting all too slow. For neither skill nor bravery mattered here.
For Jephthah was knifed, and wounded, and knocked out.
It was by the blade of a brother enemy.
Copyright © April 2022 by Kayode & Tola Olla
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