Judgeschapter 11

Jephthah's Daughter Comes to Meet Her Father — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

A.The outcast son called back to leadvv. 1-11

1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. 2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him. 4 Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel 5 and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.” 7 Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?” 8 They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.” 9 But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.

B.Jephthah's case against Ammon, three centuries oldvv. 12-28

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?” 13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites. 16 But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh. 18 Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border. 19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’ 20 But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. 21 Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country, 22 seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it? 24 Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us. 25 Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them? 26 For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time? 27 I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.

C.The vow, and whatever comes out of the doorsvv. 29-40

29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand. 33 With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites. 34 And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her. 35 As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.” 36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.” 38 “Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains. 39 After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

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Chapter summary

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Jephthah the Gileadite, a mighty man of valor and the son of a harlot, is driven out by his brothers and gathers vain fellows in the land of Tob, until Gilead's elders need him and make him head and chief, the compact sworn before Jehovah at Mizpah. He first tries diplomacy, sending the Ammonite king a careful history of the Exodus route and three hundred years of undisputed possession, closing past all argument: 'Jehovah, the Judge, be judge this day.' Then the Spirit comes upon him, and with it the vow, whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of his house to meet him. His daughter comes out with timbrels and dances, his only child.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Samuel — Judges overview

A. 1–11 The outcast son called back to lead
B. 12–28 Jephthah's case against Ammon, three centuries old
C. 29–40 The vow, and whatever comes out of the doors

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Deuteronomy 27 verses
- Deuteronomy 2:1Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.
- Deuteronomy 2:4and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.
- Deuteronomy 2:9Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
- Deuteronomy 2:19But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
- Deuteronomy 2:26So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,
- Deuteronomy 2:36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
- Read Deuteronomy 2: 1 more there →
Numbers 214 verses
- Numbers 21:4Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey
- Numbers 21:21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
- Numbers 21:24And Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok—but only up to the border of the Ammonites, because it was fortified.
- Numbers 21:29Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
- Read Numbers 21 →
Numbers 202 verses
- Numbers 20:1In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
- Numbers 20:14From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,
- Read Numbers 20 →
Deuteronomy 232 verses
- Deuteronomy 23:2No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.
- Deuteronomy 23:3No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
- Read Deuteronomy 23 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Judges 92 verses
- Judges 9:4So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.
- Judges 9:22After Abimelech had reigned over Israel for three years,
- Read Judges 9 →
Judges 102 verses
- Judges 10:9The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and Israel was in deep distress.
- Judges 10:18And the rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Whoever will launch the attack against the Ammonites will be the head of all who live in Gilead.”
- Read Judges 10 →
Joshua 132 verses
- Joshua 13:8The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them:
- Joshua 13:15This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Reuben:
- Read Joshua 13 →
1 Samuel 12 verses
- 1 Samuel 1:6Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously.
- 1 Samuel 1:11And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”
- Read 1 Samuel 1 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.