Judges 11

Jephthah

1 Now *Heb. 11:32Jephthah the Gileadite was *Judg. 6:12; 2 Kin. 5:1a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, "You shall have *Gen. 21:10; Deut. 23:2no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman." 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of *2 Sam. 10:6, 8Tob; and *1 Sam. 22:2worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.

4 It came to pass after a time that the *Judg. 10:9, 17people of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 Then they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon."

7 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, *Gen. 26:27"Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?"

8 *Judg. 10:18And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have *(Luke 17:4)turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be *Judg. 10:18our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?"

10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, *Gen. 31:49, 50; Jer. 29:23; 42:5"The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words." 11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him *Judg. 11:8head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words *Judg. 10:17; 20:1; 1 Sam. 10:17before the Lord in Mizpah.

12 Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, *2 Sam. 16:10"What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?"

13 And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, *Num. 21:24–26"Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from *Josh. 13:9the Arnon as far as *Gen. 32:22the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably."

14 So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, 15 and said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: *Deut. 2:9, 19‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; 16 for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and *Num. 13:26; 20:1came to Kadesh. 17 Then *Num. 20:14Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let me pass through your land." *Num. 20:14–21But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the *Josh. 24:9king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel *Num. 20:1remained in Kadesh. 18 And they *Deut. 2:9, 18, 19went along through the wilderness and *Num. 21:4bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 Then *Num. 21:21; Deut. 2:26–36Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, "Please *Num. 21:22; Deut. 2:27let us pass through your land into our place." 20 *Num. 21:23; Deut. 2:27But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21 And the Lord God of Israel *Josh. 24:8delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they *Num. 21:24, 25defeated them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 They took possession of *Deut. 2:36, 37all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

23 ‘And now the Lord God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? 24 Will you not possess whatever *Num. 21:29; 1 Kin. 11:7; Jer. 48:7Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever *(Deut. 9:4, 5; Josh. 3:10)the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. 25 And now, are you any better than *Num. 22:2; Josh. 24:9; Mic. 6:5Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? 26 While Israel dwelt in *Num. 21:25, 26Heshbon and its villages, in *Deut. 2:36Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? 27 Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the Lord, *Gen. 18:25the Judge, *Gen. 16:5; 31:53; (1 Sam. 24:12, 15)render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ " 28 However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah’s Vow and Victory

29 Then *Judg. 3:10the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah *Gen. 28:20; Num. 30:2; 1 Sam. 1:11made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, *Lev. 27:2, 3, 28; 1 Sam. 1:11shall surely be the Lord’s, *Ps. 66:13and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

32 So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. 33 And he defeated them from Aroer as far as *Ezek. 27:17Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Jephthah’s Daughter

34 When Jephthah came to his house at *Judg. 10:17; 11:11Mizpah, there was *Ex. 15:20; 1 Sam. 18:6; Ps. 68:25; Jer. 31:4his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she washis only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he *Gen. 37:29, 34tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I *Eccl. 5:2, 4, 5have given my word to the Lord, and *Num. 30:2I cannot go back on it."

36 So she said to him, "My father, if you have given your word to the Lord, *Num. 30:2do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because *2 Sam. 18:19, 31the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon." 37 Then she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I."

38 So he said, "Go." And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39 And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he *Judg. 11:31carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man.

And it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.