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Judges 11
Legacy Standard Bible

Jephthah Delivers Israel

11 Now (A)Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead [a]became the father of Jephthah. 2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of (B)Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves [b]about Jephthah, and they went out with him.

4 Now it happened after a while that (C)the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. 5 So it happened that as the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; 6 and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.” 7 Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “(D)Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and (E)become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and Yahweh gives them up [c]to me, will I become your head?” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “(F)Yahweh is [d]witness between us; surely we will do [e]as you have said.” 11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at (G)Mizpah.

12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 Then the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel (H)took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the (I)Jabbok and the Jordan; so now, return them peaceably.” 14 But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, 15 and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. 16 For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel (J)went through the wilderness to the [f]Red Sea and (K)came to Kadesh, 17 then Israel (L)sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. (M)And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel remained at Kadesh. 18 Then they went through the wilderness and (N)around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came to the east toward the sunrise of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they (O)did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 And Israel sent (P)messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” 20 But Sihon did not believe Israel to allow them to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 Then Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they (Q)struck them down; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. 22 (R)So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. 23 So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel. Are you then to possess it? 24 Do you not possess what (S)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever Yahweh our God has taken possession of before us, we will possess it. 25 So now are you any better than (T)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? 26 (U)While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns and in Aroer and its towns and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them for yourself within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me evil by making war against me; (V)may Yahweh, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” 28 But the king of the sons of Ammon did not listen to the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah Vows a Burnt Offering

29 Now (W)the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. 30 Then Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 31 then 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, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer [g]to the entrance of (X)Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

34 Then Jephthah came to his house at (Y)Mizpah. And behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him (Z)with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. 35 So it happened that when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me. But I have opened my mouth to vow to Yahweh, and (AA)I cannot take it back.” 36 So she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to vow to Yahweh; (AB)do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may [h]go to the mountains and weep because of (AC)my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her companions and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. 39 And it happened at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she did not know a man. Thus it became a [i]custom in Israel, 40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to [j]commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 11:1 Lit begat
  2. Judges 11:3 Lit to
  3. Judges 11:9 Lit before
  4. Judges 11:10 Lit hearer
  5. Judges 11:10 Lit according to your word
  6. Judges 11:16 Lit Sea of Reeds
  7. Judges 11:33 Lit even until you are coming to
  8. Judges 11:37 Lit go and go down on
  9. Judges 11:39 Lit statute
  10. Judges 11:40 Lit recount; ancient versions lament
Close ISV

Judges 11
International Standard Version

Jephthah, Israel’s Eighth Judge

11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant soldier, but he was also the son of a prostitute and Jephthah’s father Gilead. 2 Gilead’s wife bore two sons through him, but when his wife’s sons grew up, they expelled Jephthah and declared to him, “You won’t have an inheritance in this[a] house, since you’re the son of a different woman.” 3 So Jephthah escaped from his brothers and lived in the territory of Tob, where worthless men gathered themselves around him and went out on raiding parties with him.

4 Later on, the Ammonites attacked Israel. 5 When this happened,[b] the elders of Gilead went to the territory of Tob to find Jephthah. 6 They told him, “Come and be our commander so we can fight the Ammonites!”

7 But Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Weren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me out of my father’s house? And you come to me now that you’re in trouble?”

8 So the elders of Gilead told Jephthah, “Well, we’re coming back to you now so you can accompany us, fight the Ammonites, and become the head of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

9 Then Jephthah asked the elders of Gilead, “If you all send me to fight against the Ammonites and the Lord hands them over right in front of me, will I really become your head?”

10 The elders of Gilead responded to Jephthah, “May the Lord serve[c] as a witness that we’re making this agreement between ourselves to do as we’ve said.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head and military commander over them. Jephthah uttered everything he had to say with the solemnity of an oath[d] in the Lord’s presence at Mizpah.

Jephthah’s Dialogue with the Ammonites

12 Afterwards, Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to ask him, “What’s your dispute between us that prompted you to come and attack my land?”

13 The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “We’re here[e] because Israel took away my land from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and as far as the Jordan River when they came up from Egypt! So restore it as a gesture of good will.”[f]

14 But Jephthah sent additional messengers again to the king of the Ammonites 15 and they informed him, “This is Jephthah’s response:

‘Israel didn’t seize the land of Moab nor the land of the Ammonites. 16 Here’s what happened:[g] When Israel came up from Egypt, passed through the desert to the Red[h] Sea, and arrived at Kadesh, 17 Israel sent a delegation to the king of Edom and asked him, “Please let us pass through your territory.”

‘But the king of Edom wouldn’t listen. So they also sent word to the king of Moab, but he wouldn’t consent, either. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. 18 Then they went through the desert, circumventing the territory belonging to Edom and Moab. They encamped on the other side of the Arnon River, but never entered the territory of Moab because the Arnon River is the border of Moab.

19 ‘Then Israel sent a delegation to Sihon, king of the Amorites and king of Heshbon. Israel requested of him, “Please let us pass through your territory to our place.” 20 But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his territory, so he assembled his entire army, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his entire army into the control of Israel, and defeated them. As a result, Israel took control over the entire land of the Amorites, who were living in that country. 22 They took possession of the entire territory of the Amorites from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and from the desert as far as the Jordan River.

23 ‘Now then, since the Lord God of Israel expelled the Amorites right in front of his people Israel, are you going to control their territory? 24 Don’t you control what your god Chemosh gives you? In the same way, we’ll take control of whomever the Lord our God has driven out in front of us. 25 Also ask yourselves:[i] do you have a better case[j] than Zippor’s son Balak, king of Moab? Did he ever have a quarrel with Israel or ever win a[k] fight against them? 26 When Israel was living in Heshbon and its surrounding villages, in Aroer and its surrounding villages, and in all the cities that line the banks of the Arnon River these past three hundred years, why didn’t you retake them during that time? 27 I haven’t sinned against you, but you are acting wrongly against me by declaring war on me. May the Lord, the Judge, sit in judgment today between the Israelis and the Ammonites.’”

28 But the king of the Ammonites wouldn’t heed the message that Jephthah had sent to him.

Jephthah’s Vow

29 The Spirit of the Lord came[l] on Jephthah, so he swept through Gilead and the territory of[m] Manasseh, then swept through Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead he proceeded toward where the Ammonites were encamped. 30 Jephthah made this solemn vow to the Lord: “If you truly give the Ammonites into my control, 31 then if I return from the Ammonites without incident,[n] whatever comes[o] out the doors of my house to meet me will become the Lord’s, and I will offer it[p] up as a burnt offering.”

32 Then Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites and attacked them. The Lord gave them into his control. 33 He attacked them from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith—twenty cities in all[q]—even as far as Abel-keramim. As a result, the Ammonites were subdued right in front of the Israelis. 34 When Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah—surprise!—it was his daughter who came out to meet him, playing tambourines and dancing. She was his one and only child. Except for her, he had no other son or daughter. 35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and cried out, “Oh no! My daughter! You have terribly burdened me! You’ve joined those who are causing me trouble, because I’ve given my word[r] to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.[s]

36 She told him, “My father, you have given your word[t] to the Lord. Do to me according to what has come out of your own mouth, considering that the Lord has paid back your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 Then she continued talking with her father, “Do this for me: leave me alone by myself for two months. I’ll go up to the mountains and cry there because I’ll never marry.[u] My friends and I will go.”[v]

38 So he said, “Go!” He sent her away for two months. She left with her friends and cried there on the mountains because she would never marry.[w] 39 Later, after the two months were concluded, she returned to her father, and he fulfilled what he had solemnly vowed—and she never married.[x] That’s how the custom arose in Israel 40 that for four days out of every year the Israeli women would go to mourn the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite in commemoration.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 11:2 Lit. in our father’s
  2. Judges 11:5 Lit. When the Ammonites attacked Israel
  3. Judges 11:10 Lit. hear
  4. Judges 11:11 Lit. uttered all his words
  5. Judges 11:13 The Heb. lacks We’re here
  6. Judges 11:13 Lit. restore them in peace
  7. Judges 11:16 Lit. Because
  8. Judges 11:16 Lit. Reed
  9. Judges 11:25 Lit. And now
  10. Judges 11:25 Lit. are you better
  11. Judges 11:25 The Heb. lacks ever win a
  12. Judges 11:29 Lit. was
  13. Judges 11:29 The Heb. lacks the territory of
  14. Judges 11:31 Lit. Ammonites in peace
  15. Judges 11:31 MT participle is masculine
  16. Judges 11:31 MT suffix is masculine
  17. Judges 11:33 The Heb. lacks in all
  18. Judges 11:35 Lit. I’ve opened my mouth
  19. Judges 11:35 The Heb. lacks on it
  20. Judges 11:36 Lit. You’ve opened your mouth
  21. Judges 11:37 Lit. there on behalf of my virginity; i.e. terminating the genealogy of Jephthah
  22. Judges 11:37 The Heb. lacks will go
  23. Judges 11:38 Lit. there for her virginity
  24. Judges 11:39 Lit. she did not know a man
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