1.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Jephthah = He will deliver. Note the Fig, Epanadiplosis ( App-6 ), to call attention to the facts of this verse, introducing Jephthah. All was irregular: no king, no judge, no priest.
Gileadite = son of the man Gilead.
man. Hebrew. gibbor. App-14 .
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.
strange = foreign.
3.
Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
from. Hebrew "from the face of". Figure of speech Pleonasm. App-6 .
Tob = fruitful land. East of Syria.
vain = unemployed, or bankrupt.
4.
And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
children = sons.
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 Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
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.
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, shall I be your head?
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
10.
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
be witness = be a hearer.
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.
with. Some codices, with three early printed editions, read "unto".
before the LORD = in the presence of Jehovah.
in Mizpeh. Compare Judges 10:17 .
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 land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
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 Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
And said. A special reading ( Sevir , App-34 ) and some codices read "and they said". Hebrew text = he.
16.
But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
17.
Then Israel sent 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.
me. Most codices, with Syriac, read "us" as in Judges 11:19 . Compare Numbers 20:14 .
18.
Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed 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.
Went along = went on.
but came not. Compare Numbers 21:13 , Numbers 21:24 .
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.
Israel sent. Compare Deuteronomy 2:26 .
us. Compare Judges 11:17 and Deuteronomy 2:27 .
20.
But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
trusted = stayed or rested on. See App-69 .
coast = border.
21.
And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
22.
And they possessed all the coasts 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?
shouldest thou . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis.
it = him: i.e. Israel. Being masculine (in Hebrew), cannot refer to the land of Judges 11:21 ; and singular, so that it cannot refer to coasts of Judges 11:22 .
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.
Wilt not thou . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis . Jephthah does not recognize Chemosh as a god. The emphasis is on "thy" and "our", and is the argument a fortiori : and, taking them on their own ground, it is the argumentum ad hominem.
25.
And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
art thou. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. Compare Numbers 22:2 .Deuteronomy 23:4 .Joshua 24:9 .
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?
three hundred years. Not a "round number". See App-50 .
27.
Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge 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.
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.
the Spirit. Hebrew. ruach (feminine.) See App-9 .
unto. This word is read in the text of some codices with Aramaean, Syriac, and Vulgate.
30.
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
vowed a vow. Figure of speech Polyptoton ( App-6 ) = made a solemn vow. See notes on Leviticus 27:1-8 .
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.
whatsoever. This is masculine. But the issuer from his house was feminine. Thus his rash vow was impossible of fulfillment, and was to be repented of.
and = or. The Hebrew ( Vav ) is a connective Particle, and is rendered in many different ways. It is also used as a disjunctive, and is often rendered "or" (or, with a negative, "nor"). See Genesis 41:44 .Exodus 20:4 ; Exodus 21:15 , Exodus 21:17 , Exodus 21:18 . Numbers 16:14 ; Numbers 22:26 (Revised Version "nor"); Deuteronomy 3:24 . 2 Samuel 3:29 . 1Ki 18:10 , 1 Kings 18:27 . With a negative = "nor", "neither". Exodus 20:17 . Deu 7:25 . 2 Samuel 1:21 .Psalms 26:9 . Proverbs 6:4 ; Proverbs 30:3 , &c. See note on "but", 1 Kings 2:9 . Here, Jephthah's vow consisted of two parts: (1) He would either dedicate it to Jehovah (according to Leviticus 27 ); or (2) if unsuitable for this, he would offer it as a burnt offering. He performed his vow, and dedicated his daughter to Jehovah by a perpetual virginity (verses: Judges 11:36 , Judges 11:39 , Judges 11:40 ); but he did not offer her as a burnt offering, because it was forbidden by Jehovah, and could not be accepted by Him (Judges 18:21 ; Judges 20:2-5 ).
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 Minnith, 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.
34.
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
timbrels = drums. See note on Exodus 15:20 .
beside her. Figure of speech Pleonasm. App-6 . The fact is stated in two ways, in order to emphasize it.
35.
And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
opened my mouth. Hebraism for making a formal, prepared, and solemn statement.
36.
And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
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.
go up and down = wander about.
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.
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,
did with her according to his vow which he had vowed = He did not offer her as a burnt offering; for Jehovah could not accept th a t . Therefore Jephthah must have dedicated her to the LORD by a perpetual virginity. Such a vow was provided for in Leviticus 27 . See note on Judges 11:31 .
and she knew no man. This is conclusive. It has nothing to do with a sacrificial death, but it has to do with a dedicated life to Jehovah. Thus was Jephthah's vow fulfilled.
And it was = and it became.
40.
That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
to lament = to rehearse with, as in Judges 5:11 ; to celebrate [her dedication] in praises.
four days in a year. Thus annually her friends "went", evidently to Jephthah's daughter, to rehearse with her this great event of her life: not of her death.