Judges 11:29-40
Christian Standard Bible
Jephthah’s Vow and Sacrifice
29 The Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, who traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead. He crossed over to the Ammonites from Mizpah of Gilead. 30 Jephthah made this vow(A) to the Lord: “If you in fact hand over the Ammonites to me, 31 whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering.”(B)
32 Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord handed them over(C) to him. 33 He defeated twenty of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued(D) before the Israelites.
34 When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing!(E) She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought great misery on me.[a] I have given my word to the Lord and cannot take it back.”
36 Then she said to him, “My father, you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me as you have said, for the Lord brought vengeance on your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
38 “Go,” he said. And he sent her away two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity as she wandered through the mountains. 39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he kept the vow he had made about her. And she had never been intimate with a man. Now it became a custom in Israel 40 that four days each year the young women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
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- 11:35 Lit have been among those who trouble me
Judges 11:29-40
International Standard Version
Jephthah’s Vow
29 The Spirit of the Lord came[a] on Jephthah, so he swept through Gilead and the territory of[b] 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,[c] whatever comes[d] out the doors of my house to meet me will become the Lord’s, and I will offer it[e] 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[f]—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[g] to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.[h]
36 She told him, “My father, you have given your word[i] 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.[j] My friends and I will go.”[k]
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.[l] 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.[m] 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.
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- Judges 11:29 Lit. was
- Judges 11:29 The Heb. lacks the territory of
- Judges 11:31 Lit. Ammonites in peace
- Judges 11:31 MT participle is masculine
- Judges 11:31 MT suffix is masculine
- Judges 11:33 The Heb. lacks in all
- Judges 11:35 Lit. I’ve opened my mouth
- Judges 11:35 The Heb. lacks on it
- Judges 11:36 Lit. You’ve opened your mouth
- Judges 11:37 Lit. there on behalf of my virginity; i.e. terminating the genealogy of Jephthah
- Judges 11:37 The Heb. lacks will go
- Judges 11:38 Lit. there for her virginity
- Judges 11:39 Lit. she did not know a man
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