11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father.
Jephthah means “he will open." He was a Gileadite, meaning that he was living in Manasseh of the Transjordan. He was living in Gilead at the time of the Ammonite invasion. His mother was a prostitute, so he was looked down upon by Jewish society. His father was from Gilead.
11:2 Gilead’s wife also gave him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, because you are another woman’s son.”
Gilead’s wife eventually gave him other sons. Usually, a son of a prostitute would receive no inheritance. However, it seems that Gilead wrote him into his will. His half-brothers did not want to share their inheritance with him, so they contested the will, disinherited him, and kicked him off of the land.
11:3 So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him.
Left without land and career, Jephthah gathered others like him and became a gang of nomadic raiders in the land of Tob. He gained his military experience from raiding and plundering.
11:4 It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel.
Eighteen years later, the Ammonites began crushing Israel.
11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob.
Some of the elders of Gilead were the half-brothers of Jephthah. Israel was devoid of military leadership. They were getting their heads crushed by the Ammonites. They either had to humble themselves and ask Jephthah to lead them, or they would be crushed.
11:6 They said, “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.”
Jephthah was asked to be their Commander-in-Chief.
11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”
Jephthah reminded these elders that they did not help him in his earlier court case. Why should he help them now?
11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, but now we pledge to you our loyalty. Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader of all who live in Gilead.”
If Jephthah is successful, then he would be made leader of Gilead.
11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader.”
Notice that Jephthah is counting on Jehovah to help him.
11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say.”
Jehovah was listening. Jehovah would judge any grievances among them.
11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the Lord in Mizpah.
Jephthah was made the leader of the people publicly.
Jephthah Gives a History Lesson
11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have you come against me to attack my land?”
Jephthah moved quickly. He first sent messengers to secure peaceful measures.
11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. Now return it peaceably!”
The Ammonite king had no problem believing in the Exodus, although it had occurred three centuries earlier. This land never belonged to the Ammonites. The Ammonite king used the Exodus as an excuse to accuse Israel of stealing land that never belonged to the Ammonites.
11:14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king
Jephthah responded with another message. These exchange of messages was giving Jephthah time to recruit and train his army.
11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.
The mention of Moab by Jephthah was a crucial part of his return message. The Moabites had an even stronger historical claim to the land than the Ammonites, yet they did not dispute Israel’s possession of the land.
Moab lost this territory to the Ammonites. The Ammonites lost this same territory to Israel. According to Numbers 21:24, Israel made no claim to Ammonite territory. In Deuteronomy 2:9, God told Israel to respect the borders of Moab, Edom, and Ammon.
11:16 When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh.
Jephthah pointed out that when Israel left Egypt, they traveled for forty years through the wilderness until they reached Kadesh.
11:17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
Israel requested travel through Edom and Moab, but were denied.
11:18 Then Israel went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border).
Israel honored these requests with the highest integrity and took an alternate route.
11:19 Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.”
Israel requested travel through King Sihon’s Amorite territory.
11:20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He assembled his whole army, camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
King Sihon not only denied the request, but he attacked Israel. Israel was not interested in this land, but they were attacked and had to defend themselves.
11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.
Jehovah decided the outcome of the war before the foundations of the world were created. This divine information was communicated to Israel. Israel attacked and won. Israel took the land from the Amorites. The land belonged to Israel by conquest. The Ammonites had no claim on this land.
11:22 They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west.
Jephthah gave the exact borders of the land which Israel took from the Amorites.
11:23 Since the Lord God of Israel has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them?
Jephthah began his theological argument. Since Jehovah Himself drove out the Amorites and gave the land to Israel, why do you Ammonite humans think that you can undo this divine grant of land that was given by Jehovah?
11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us.
Chemosh was not the god of the Ammonites. Chemosh was the god of the Moabites. At one time, this land belonged to the Moabites. The Moabites were defeated by the Amorites. The Amorites were defeated by the Israelites. There was syncretism among the pagan nations and their gods.The Ammonites' main god was Milcom, but according to the Moabite stone, this land was dedicated to Chemosh. The point of the argument was that Jehovah took the land away from Chemosh and gave it to Israel. If the Ammonites want to claim this land, then Chemosh needs to take it back and give it to the Ammonites. This was a message of heavy sarcasm against the idolatry of these pagan nations. There is nothing wrong with a believer using sarcasm as a weapon of language in order to stress a theological point.
11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them?
Jephthah began his personal argument. This land belonged to the Moabites before it belonged to the Amorites. However, when Israel took this land from the Amorites, King Balak of the Moabites did not falsely claim the land, as the Ammonites were now doing. King Balak of the Moabites did not dare to fight Israel on this issue.
11:26 Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?
Jephthah began his chronological argument. Israel had lived in this land for the last 300 years. Why had not any of the other Ammonite kings challenged this divine land grant?
11:27 I have not done you wrong, but you are doing wrong by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”
Jephthah ended his message with the fact that Israel had been wronged and Jehovah would decide this case.
11:28 But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah.
The Ammonite king ignored the message and prepared for war.
A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter
11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites.
The Holy Spirit empowered Jephthah to make supernatural decisions. Instead of waiting for the Ammonites to attack the Transjordan area, Jephthah marched into Ammonite territory to begin a pre-emptive strike.
11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me,
Jephthah made a vow that has been debated by scholars for centuries. The meaning of the vow can be solved simply by using Hebrew grammar.
11:31 then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”
If Jehovah would give Israel victory over the Ammonites, then Jephthah vowed to offer the first to come out of his house to Jehovah (and he would also offer a burnt offering). Jephthah had no sons and only one daughter. The only other person in his house would have been his wife.
The Hebrew word for "whoever" is אֲשֶׁ֨ר (asher), which can mean "whoever" or "whatever".
The Hebrew word for "he will belong" is וְהָיָה֙ (vav-hayah), a vav-conjunctive with a qal imperfect third masculine singular verb. The vav-conjunctive can be translates as "and" or "or". The Hebrew for "hayah" is a qal imperfect third masculine singular verb, meaning "he will continually exist as" or "he will continually belong". Notice that this very of being is masculine. If Jephthah would have been considering a human sacrifice, then he would have used a feminine form instead of a masculine form (since his wife and daughter were females). The use of the masculine form implied that Jephthah had an animal sacrifice in mind.
The best Hebrew translation of this verse would be "Then whoever (or whatever) is the first to come out of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites--he (masculine, not plural) will belong to Jehovah or (not 'and') I will offer him as a burnt sacrifice".
The first floor of ancient Israelite houses usually contained four rooms, with one room dedicated to housing of the animals.
11:32 Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.
Humans were to begin the battle. Jehovah was to finish the battle. Jehovah handed the Ammonites over to Israel. There was always the human and divine method of battle under the Mosaic Covenant.
11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.
The Ammonites had violated the Abrahamic Covenant. They lost twenty of their cities. This victory was a decisive rout.
The Hebrew word for "wiped them out" is מַכָּ֖ה (machah), a feminine noun, meaning "one inflicted by plague" or "slaughter". Literally, it is possible that Jehovah destroyed the Ammonites by a literal plague.
11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.
It was common for Jewish women to welcome their victorious soldiers home with music and dance. This daughter was the only child of Jephthah. She was excited that her father came back alive, victorious, and a hero. If she died childless, then Jephthah would have no heirs to carry on his family line. Childlessness was considered a great curse in biblical Israel.
11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! You have brought me disaster! I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”
If the oath was to be a human sacrifice, then according to Leviticus 27:1-8, it was an invalid vow. The Mosaic Law would have nullified it. Jephthah made a vow. Unlike many unbelievers and carnal Christians today, Jephthah keeps his word. Today, man is do depraved, evil, and biblically ignorant, that man does not keep his word. The leaders of the satanic world system have created contracts and notary republics, because man cannot keep his word.
It is wise for a believer to not make promises, especially to God. The believer's "yes should be yes and his no should be no". God keeps his promises, but man does not.
11:36 She said to him, “My father, since you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. After all, the Lord vindicated you before your enemies, the Ammonites.”
Jephthah’s daughter recognized the seriousness of this vow and asked her father to keep it.
11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
Notice that she did not mourn her coming death, but she did mourn her virginity. She would die without a husband and childless. This was a major source of grief in ancient Israel.
11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills.
Jephthah’s daughter mourned her virginity for two months. She spent time with her friends in the mountains and hills.
11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.
Jephthah offered his daughter to serve Jehovah in the tabernacle, just as Hannah offered Samuel to serve Jehovah in the tabernacle. She served in the tabernacle her whole life. She died as as unmarried virgin.
11:40 Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days.
Israelite women began to celebrate a four day tradition in honor of Jephthah and his daughter’s sacrifice.
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Appendix
Listed below is an excellent excerpt from Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s Judges Commentary on the issue of Jephthah's daughter.
The issue among interpreters is this: Did Jephthah offer his daughter up as a human sacrifice? Or was she dedicated to serve the Lord as a virgin for the rest of her life?
Interpreters who favor the human sacrifice view use eight basic arguments:
First, the Hebrew word used here is olah, which throughout the Old Testament is always used of a burnt offering, and there is no reason to take it any other way in this passage.
Second, in the Septuagint version, the same word is used of Jephthah’s daughter that was used of Isaac’s sacrifice, which initially was understood to be a human sacrifice.
Third, if he had only dedication in mind, then he should have used the language of Hannah in her dedication of Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:11, 1:22, 1:25, and 1:28.
Fourth, Jephthah was a son of a common prostitute since the word used here is zonah, which means a common prostitute, as over against a temple prostitute. He also spent much time with the peoples east of the Jordan (Judges 11:1–3), where such practices as human sacrifices were common (2 Kg. 3:26–27), practices followed by later Jewish kings such as Ahaz (2 Chron. 28:3) and Manasseh (2 Kg. 21:6); if later leaders of Israel engaged in such practices, it was possible that early leaders did as well.
Fifth, the fact that he was a judge does not remove the possibility of his making a rash vow, and the common philosophy of his day was that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. This was in opposition to the Law of Moses, as was the case earlier with Gideon and his golden ephod and even with Samson and his sins.
Sixth, if Jephthah could slaughter 42,000 Israelites (cf. Judges 12:1–6), he certainly had the capacity to kill his own daughter.
Seventh, his daughter’s lament over her virginity implied that there was no hope for children because of her impending death.
Eighth, the Hebrew word for lament here is tavach, which is used only one other time, in Judges 5:11, where it can be best translated as “to recount,” not “talk to” as if she were still alive.
In response to those who argue against a human sacrifice, the proponents of her being a human sacrifice would respond with the following six opposing arguments:
First, as to the argument that Jephthah knew the Law of Moses and therefore would not be ignorant of the prohibition against human sacrifice, they would answer that knowledge of the Law did not preclude disobedience to that Law. This was also true in the case of King David. Jephthah must have known that it would be a human being coming out of his house, for if it was an animal coming out of his home, it would be too small to sacrifice for such a great victory.
Second, in response to the argument that Jephthah’s name appears as a man of faith in Hebrews 11:32, they would answer that this does not mean he did not commit sin, since Rahab and Samson also appear, and both are guilty of sins.
Third, as to the argument that Jephthah could not have done this in light of the fact that the Holy Spirit came upon him, they would answer that the vow was not taken right after. There may have been a break of time between the Spirit’s coming upon him and the vow itself. Furthermore, the same was true of Samson.
Fourth, as to the argument that there were full-time women serving in the Tabernacle (Exod. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22), and so his vow was that, if he had the victory, he would dedicate to the Tabernacle one member of his household, they would respond: It is not clear that these women served as permanent residents of the Tabernacle, and even so this argument is weak because there appears to be no order of perpetual virgins in the Mosaic order.
Fifth, as to the argument that claims that the conjunction in verse 31 should be translated as “or” and not as “and,” so that the vow would then be that “whatever comes from the door of the house to meet him shall be devoted to God’s service if it was human, or if it was a clean animal, it would become a burnt offering,” they would answer: it is doubtful if the vav here is disjunctive, rather than conjunctive, and it should be “and” and not “or.”
Sixth, as to the argument that the Hebrew word for lament is translated as to talk to, which indicates that they ought to remain alive, their answer is: but a better translation would be to recount.
Interpreters who favor her being dedicated to full-time Tabernacle service for life do so for at least eleven specific reasons:
First, there was an order of devoted women working in the Tabernacle (Exod. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22).
Second, the vow was made right after he was clothed with the Holy Spirit, and this mitigates against its being a human sacrifice. There is no indication that there was a gap of time between the coming of the Spirit and the making of the vow.
Third, if it was clear that the vow was to include human sacrifice, and if God gave him victory, would God have honored such a vow? And the answer is obviously “No” because it would go against His own law.
Fourth, human sacrifice was clearly forbidden by the Law of Moses and understood to be an abomination against God (Lev. 18:21 and 20:2–5; Deut. 12:31 and 18:10).
Fifth, there is no evidence that any Israelite offered human sacrifice until it was transplanted by unbelieving kings such as Ahab and Manasseh who worshiped other gods. But Jephthah was a Jehovah-worshiper, and would not have performed such a crime and abomination. The fact that subsequent Jewish kings did so is not a valid argument here because they worshiped other gods but Jephthah did not.
Sixth, there is a constant, strong emphasis on Jephthah’s daughter’s virginity, not on her death. If she were killed, there would be no point in emphasizing her virginity; and yet she bewailed her virginity, not her coming death. To mourn one’s virginity does not necessarily mean to mourn because one has to die a virgin, but because one has to live and die as a virgin, and therefore would produce no descendants. His daughter was allowed two months of mourning, not to bewail her approaching death, but her virginity. The final phrase in the story is: and she knew not man. This does not conform well with death, but it conforms well with dedicated virginity. This statement would add nothing to the issue of her dying since it was already stated that she was a virgin. But, the statement follows, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed, and he did so by the fact that she remained a virgin. In other words, when the text states he did according to his vow, which is then followed by the next phrase, she knew not man, it means that he fulfilled the vow by her remaining a virgin. This statement does not harmonize with a physical sacrifice, but it does harmonize with a spiritual sacrifice to full-time service in the Tabernacle, and therefore lifetime virginity. So Jephthah fulfilled the vow through the fact that she knew no man; i.e. he dedicated her life to the Lord as a spiritual burnt-offering in lifelong chastity.
Seventh, the narrator never actually says that Jephthah killed or sacrificed his daughter. There was no altar at that time for human sacrifice on either side of the Jordan to which he could bring her. Furthermore, no priest would perform such a sacrifice.
Eighth, the word olah or burnt offering implied “totally given to God,” and the offerer received no portion of it back, and could not derive any benefit from it. With other offerings, the offerer often did receive some benefit or got part of it back, but not with the burnt offering. So when a virgin was set apart as a spiritual olah, she totally belonged to God and remained single. She remained a virgin for the rest of her life, and Jephthah derived no benefit, meaning no seed, from her. The result was the sure extinction of Jephthah’s line since she was his only child. This was a stronger religious vow than the Nazirite Vow, which was temporary, while this one was lifetime. Judges 11:39 states that Jephthah performed his vow, and then it is followed by the statement that she knew not man. Again, this later phrase would be pointless if she had been put to death. But it has relevance if she was devoted to the service of God at the door of the Tabernacle for the rest of her life. Jephthah’s lament was based on her being an only child. They were not lamenting her dedication to God’s service, rather they were lamenting over the sure extinction of Jephthah’s line. Thus both he and she bewailed her virginity.
Ninth, Jephthah was approved by God in Samuel’s address in 1 Samuel 12:11, and by Hebrews 11:32, which would not have been the case if he were guilty of such a gross idolatry as human sacrifice. To say, for example, that Samson also sinned is irrelevant because Samson was not guilty of idolatry. His disobedience was to the laws of God as a Nazirite, but he did not fall into idolatry. For Jephthah to offer up his daughter would be an idolatrous act, which would not have been commended by Samuel or by the writer of Hebrews.
Tenth, Jephthah’s negotiations with the king of Ammon show Jephthah did not as a matter of habit act rashly but instead thought things out first.
Eleventh, the daughter’s virginity and dedication was in the plan of God, as the chronology shows, and thus Jephthah’s daughter would still be working in the Tabernacle when Hannah brought Samuel there to be raised. Although, according to First Samuel, some of the women working in the Tabernacle were not chaste, Jephthah’s daughter was. Therefore, Samuel would have been around a spiritual woman as he was growing up in the Tabernacle.
So, the better view is that Jephthah did not offer his daughter as a human sacrifice but offered her in full-time service.