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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 11
Jephthah chosen captain of armies of Israel—Ammonites assail Israel
in war—Jephthah is guided by Spirit and defeats Ammon sith a great
slaughter—He makes a rash vow which leads to sacrifice of his only
daughter.
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1 NOW
aJephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he
was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.
3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in
the land of Tob: and there were gathered avain men to
Jephthah, and went out with him.
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4 ¶ And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
6 And they said unto aJephthah,
Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
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7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
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9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye
bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD
deliver them before me, ashall I be your head?
10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
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12 ¶ And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered
unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my
aland, when they came up out of Egypt, from
bArnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore
restore those lands again peaceably.
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14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel
took not away the land of aMoab, nor the land of the
children of Ammon:
16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
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17 Then Israel asent messengers
unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land:
but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner
they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel
abode in Kadesh.
18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and
acompassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came
by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon,
but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of
Moab.
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19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.
20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his
acoast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and
pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and
all his people into the hand of Israel, and they asmote
them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of
that country.
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22 And they possessed all the
acoasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and
from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
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25 And now art thou any thing better than
aBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive
against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
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27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but
thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the aJudge
be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of
Ammon.
28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
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29 ¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah avowed a vow unto
the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon
into mine hands,
31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
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32 ¶ So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come
to aMinnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain
of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon
were subdued before the children of Israel.
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34 ¶ And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house,
and, behold, his adaughter came out to meet him with
btimbrels and with dances: and she was his
only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he
rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! athou hast
brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have
bopened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
36 And she said unto him, My
fathera, if thou hast
opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy moutha;
forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies,
even of the children of Ammon.
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36a My father ... do to me according to
that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth The daughter of
Jephthah's allegiannce to her father rivals that which the Lord Jesus Christ
did covenant in heaven and later in Gethsemane and upon the cross di fulfill.
A 'will' oath and fulfillment, a sacrifice for not merely the people, but
for and unto the word of the Father as well. It is fitting that the daughters
of Israel yearly do consider the daughter of Jephthah and honor her memmory.
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37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
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39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
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