DB 4 – Judges - GBST103
Jephthah Delivers Israel Judges 11:1 Now dJephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior,
but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 And Gilead's wife
also 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 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and
worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him. 4 After a time the
Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel,
the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 And they said to
Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7 But
Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my
father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the
elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may
go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of
Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight
against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.” 10 And
the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not
do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him
head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you
have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of
the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up
from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now
therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the
Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of
Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went
through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent
messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the
king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not
consent. So, Israel remained at Kadesh.
23 So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people
Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh
your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before
us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab?
Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel
lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are
on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I
therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The
LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.”
28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to
him.
Jephthah's Tragic Vow Judges 11:29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he
passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from
Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the
LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever1 comes
out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites
shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it2 up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over
to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he
struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-
keramim, with a great blow. So, the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet
him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither
son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my
daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great
trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, mand I cannot take back my
vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, 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 avenged you
on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done
for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and
weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away
for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on
the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with
her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a
custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter
of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
Jephthah did not think he had a chance to defect the Ammonites, and made a statement
unknowingly to God Judges 11:30-31 “that whatever passes through is doors at home to
meet him if I return in peace shall be the Lord’s and offer it up for a burnt offering.” Then
after the Lord gave the Ammonites to him he returned home victorious and saw his only
child, his daughter come out to greet him with tambourines and dancing. As soon as
Jephthah saw his daughter and realized the vow he made and tore his clothes. Telling his
daughter all the trouble he caused making unknowingly stupid vow to God he could not
take back. The seemed willing to accept her fate. However, Jephthah allowed her
daughter to go out in the mountains and weep for her virginity and for her companions
for 2 months and then returned to her father as promised where she was “did to her
according to his vow that he made” It became a tradition four days a year in Israel that
the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah.
Nowhere in scripture does it mention anything about a temple sacrifice, it simple states
that he did to her according to his vow that he made in Judges 11:39. Which is simply a
sacrifice to keep a promise or a vow made to and with God! Neither does the scripture
mention anything about a place or location of her sacrifice. It is of my humble observation
that any reference to a sacrifice being done at the temple at Shiloh is someone making
an assumption. In fact, I see no references of Shiloh in Judges 11, only the city of the only
reference of her at his home of Mizpah in Judges 11:34. I saw several commentaries or
opinions that give alternatives of which are simply not true if not in the word of God. The
Torah does give choices, but his vow was that being very serious and is not to be taken
for granted as he made a promise to God and fulfilled it. Unlike Abraham, the angel
stopped his from sacrificing his son Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14? And told him he would be a
nation as abundant as the stars. However, there are no references to any angels or God
