1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a woman of prostitution; and Gilead begot Jephthah. 2Gilead's wife bore sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, You shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman. 3And Jephthah fled from before his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men collected around Jephthah and went out with him. 4It came to pass after a time that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel. 5And so it was, when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6And then they said to Jephthah, Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the sons of Ammon. 7So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress? 8And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. 9And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and Jehovah delivers them up before me, shall I be your head? 10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Jehovah is witness between us, if we do not do according to your words. 11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah. 12And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against my land? 13And the king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably. 14And Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, 15and said to him, Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon; 16for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass through your land. But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained in Kadesh. 18And they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Please let us pass through your land into our place. 20But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21And Jehovah the God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that land. 22They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23And now Jehovah the God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites before His people Israel; should you then possess it? 24Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? Thus, whatever Jehovah our God dispossesses before us, we will possess. 25And now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? 26While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why have you not recovered them within that time? 27Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you are wronging me by fighting against me. May Jehovah, the Judge, render judgment this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon. 28However, the king of the children of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah had sent him. 29Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on over toward the sons of Ammon. 30And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If You will give over to deliver up the sons of Ammon into my hands, 31then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, shall surely be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering. 32So Jephthah passed over toward the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah delivered them into his hands. 33And he struck them from Aroer as far as Minnith; twenty cities; and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel. 34And when Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35And it came to pass when he saw her, that he tore his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back on it. 36So she said to him, My father, if you have opened your mouth unto Jehovah, do unto me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because Jehovah has taken vengeance upon your enemies, the sons of Ammon. 37And she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I. 38And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow which he had vowed. She had known no man. And it became a custom in Israel, 40that the daughters of Israel went four days each year, year after year, to recount the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 JEPHTHAH. (
Judg 11:1-
Judg 11:3)
Jephthah--"opener."
son of an harlot--a concubine, or foreigner; implying an inferior sort of marriage prevalent in Eastern countries. Whatever dishonor might attach to his birth, his own high and energetic character rendered him early a person of note.
Gilead begat Jephthah--His father seems to have belonged to the tribe of Manasseh (
1Chr 7:14,
1Chr 7:17).
2 Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house--As there were children by the legitimate wife, the son of the secondary one was not entitled to any share of the patrimony, and the prior claim of the others was indisputable. Hence, as the brothers of Jephthah seem to have resorted to rude and violent treatment, they must have been influenced by some secret ill-will.
3 Jephthah . . . dwelt in the land of Tob--on the north of Gilead, beyond the frontier of the Hebrew territories (
2Sam 10:6,
2Sam 10:8).
there were gathered vain men to Jephthah--idle, daring, or desperate.
and went out with him--followed him as a military chief. They led a freebooting life, sustaining themselves by frequent incursions on the Ammonites and other neighboring people, in the style of Robin Hood. The same kind of life is led by many an Arab or Tartar still, who as the leader of a band, acquires fame by his stirring or gallant adventures. It is not deemed dishonorable when the expeditions are directed against those out of his own tribe or nation. Jephthah's mode of life was similar to that of David when driven from the court of Saul.
4 THE GILEADITES COVENANT WITH JEPHTHAH. (
Judg 11:4-
Judg 11:11)
in process of time--on the return of the season.
the children of Ammon made war against Israel--Having prepared the way by the introduction of Jephthah, the sacred historian here resumes the thread of his narrative from
Judg 10:17. The Ammonites seem to have invaded the country, and active hostilities were inevitable.
5 the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah--All eyes were directed towards him as the only person possessed of the qualities requisite for the preservation of the country in this time of imminent danger; and a deputation of the chief men was despatched from the Hebrew camp at Mizpeh to solicit his services.
7 Jephthah said, Did not ye hate me?--He gave them at first a haughty and cold reception. It is probable that he saw some of his brothers among the deputies. Jephthah was now in circumstances to make his own terms. With his former experience, he would have shown little wisdom or prudence without binding them to a clear and specific engagement to invest him with unlimited authority, the more especially as he was about to imperil his life in their cause. Although ambition might, to a certain degree, have stimulated his ready compliance, it is impossible to overlook the piety of his language, which creates a favorable impression that his roving life, in a state of social manners so different from ours, was not incompatible with habits of personal religion.
10 the elders of Israel said unto Jephthah, The Lord be witness between us--Their offer being accompanied by the most solemn oath, Jephthah intimated his acceptance of the mission, and his willingness to accompany them. But to make "assurance doubly sure," he took care that the pledge given by the deputies in Tob should be ratified in a general assembly of the people at Mizpeh; and the language of the historian, "Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord," seems to imply that his inauguration with the character and extraordinary office of judge was solemnized by prayer for the divine blessing, or some religious ceremonial.
12 HIS EMBASSY TO THE KING OF AMMON. (Jdg. 11:12-28)
Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon--This first act in his judicial capacity reflects the highest credit on his character for prudence and moderation, justice and humanity. The bravest officers have always been averse to war; so Jephthah, whose courage was indisputable, resolved not only to make it clearly appear that hostilities were forced upon him, but to try measures for avoiding, if possible, an appeal to arms: and in pursuing such a course he was acting as became a leader in Israel (
Deut 20:10-
Deut 20:18).
13 the king of Ammon . . ., Because Israel took away my land--(See on
Deut 2:19). The subject of quarrel was a claim of right advanced by the Ammonite monarch to the lands which the Israelites were occupying. Jephthah's reply was clear, decisive, and unanswerable;--first, those lands were not in the possession of the Ammonites when his countrymen got them, and that they had been acquired by right of conquest from the Amorites [
Judg 11:21]; secondly, the Israelites had now, by a lapse of three hundred years of undisputed possession, established a prescriptive right to the occupation [
Judg 11:22-
Judg 11:23]; and thirdly, having received a grant of them from the Lord, his people were entitled to maintain their right on the same principle that guided the Ammonites in receiving, from their god Chemosh, the territory they now occupied [
Judg 11:24]. This diplomatic statement, so admirable for the clearness and force of its arguments, concluded with a solemn appeal to God to maintain, by the issue of events, the cause of right and justice [
Judg 11:27].
28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah--His remonstrances to the aggressor were disregarded, and war being inevitable, preparations were made for a determined resistance.
29 HIS VOW. (
Judg 11:29-
Judg 11:31)
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah--The calm wisdom, sagacious forethought, and indomitable energy which he was enabled to display, were a pledge to himself and a convincing evidence to his countrymen, that he was qualified by higher resources than his own for the momentous duties of his office.
he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh--the provinces most exposed and in danger, for the purpose of levying troops, and exciting by his presence a widespread interest in the national cause. Returning to the camp at Mizpeh, he then began his march against the enemy. There he made his celebrated vow, in accordance with an ancient custom for generals at the outbreak of a war, or on the eve of a battle, to promise the god of their worship a costly oblation, or dedication of some valuable booty, in the event of victory. Vows were in common practice also among the Israelites. They were encouraged by the divine approval as emanating from a spirit of piety and gratitude; and rules were laid down in the law for regulating the performance. But it is difficult to bring Jephthah's vow within the legitimate range (see on
Lev 27:28).
31 whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me--This evidently points not to an animal, for that might have been a dog; which, being unclean, was unfit to be offered; but to a person, and it looks extremely as if he, from the first, contemplated a human sacrifice. Bred up as he had been, beyond the Jordan, where the Israelitish tribes, far from the tabernacle, were looser in their religious sentiments, and living latterly on the borders of a heathen country where such sacrifices were common, it is not improbable that he may have been so ignorant as to imagine that a similar immolation would be acceptable to God. His mind, engrossed with the prospect of a contest, on the issue of which the fate of his country depended, might, through the influence of superstition, consider the dedication of the object dearest to him the most likely to ensure success.
shall surely be the Lord's; and [or] I will offer it up for a burnt offering--The adoption of the latter particle, which many interpreters suggest, introduces the important alternative, that if it were a person, the dedication would be made to the service of the sanctuary; if a proper animal or thing, it would be offered on the altar.
32 HE OVERCOMES THE AMMONITES. (
Judg 11:32-
Judg 11:33)
Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon . . . and the Lord delivered them into his hands--He met and engaged them at Aroer, a town in the tribe of Gad, upon the Arnon. A decisive victory crowned the arms of Israel, and the pursuit was continued to Abel (plain of the vineyards), from south to north, over an extent of about sixty miles.
34 Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances--The return of the victors was hailed, as usual, by the joyous acclaim of a female band (
1Sam 18:6), the leader of whom was Jephthah's daughter. The vow was full in his mind, and it is evident that it had not been communicated to anyone, otherwise precautions would doubtless have been taken to place another object at his door. The shriek, and other accompaniments of irrepressible grief, seem to indicate that her life was to be forfeited as a sacrifice; the nature of the sacrifice (which was abhorrent to the character of God) and distance from the tabernacle does not suffice to overturn this view, which the language and whole strain of the narrative plainly support; and although the lapse of two months might be supposed to have afforded time for reflection, and a better sense of his duty, there is but too much reason to conclude that he was impelled to the fulfilment by the dictates of a pious but unenlightened conscience.