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Jephthah’s Vow

29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.(A) 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever[a] comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 He inflicted a massive defeat on them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty towns, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.(B)

Jephthah’s Daughter

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah, and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her.(C) 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.”(D) 36 She said to him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.”(E) 37 And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months, so that I may go and wander[b] on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my companions and I.” 38 “Go,” he said, and he sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that 40 for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

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Footnotes

  1. 11.31 Or whoever
  2. 11.37 Cn: Heb go down

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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Footnotes

  1. Judges 11:29 Lit. was
  2. Judges 11:29 The Heb. lacks the territory of
  3. Judges 11:31 Lit. Ammonites in peace
  4. Judges 11:31 MT participle is masculine
  5. Judges 11:31 MT suffix is masculine
  6. Judges 11:33 The Heb. lacks in all
  7. Judges 11:35 Lit. I’ve opened my mouth
  8. Judges 11:35 The Heb. lacks on it
  9. Judges 11:36 Lit. You’ve opened your mouth
  10. Judges 11:37 Lit. there on behalf of my virginity; i.e. terminating the genealogy of Jephthah
  11. Judges 11:37 The Heb. lacks will go
  12. Judges 11:38 Lit. there for her virginity
  13. Judges 11:39 Lit. she did not know a man