Jephthah vs. the Ammonites

Rejected by his own family, Jephthah was called back to save Gilead from Ammon. He won a great victory, but a rash vow made on the way turned his triumph into sorrow.

Jephthah the Gileadite, a mighty man of valour, had been driven out by his half-brothers because his mother was a harlot. When the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead came to the land of Tob and begged him to lead them. Before fighting, Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, recounting how Israel had come to hold the land east of the Jordan three hundred years earlier, and appealing to the LORD as Judge between them. When the king would not listen, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and the LORD delivered the Ammonites into his hands from Aroer to Minnith, twenty cities in all. But Jephthah had made a rash vow to offer up whatever first came out of his house to meet him, and it was his only daughter who came out with timbrels and dances.

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Details

Era: Judges Period
Category: Judges
Participants: Israel (Gilead under Jephthah) vs. Ammon
Outcome: Ammonites subdued, twenty cities taken
Divine Intervention: Yes

Key Chapters

Judges 11 Jephthah's Vow 7 min read The man his own family rejected becomes the one the elders of Gilead turn to in ...

Key Passages

The Outcast Becomes Captain

Judges 11:4-11

The man his own family rejected becomes the one the elders of Gilead turn to in their distress.

A⁴nd it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

⁵ And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: ⁶ And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. ⁷ And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? ⁸ And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. ⁹ And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head? ¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words. ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.

The LORD the Judge Be Judge

Judges 11:27-33

Jephthah commits his cause to God, and the Spirit of the LORD comes upon him for victory.

W²⁷herefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

²⁸ Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. ²⁹ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. ³⁰ And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, ³¹ Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. ³² So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. ³³ And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Jephthah's Vow

Judges 11:34-40

Victory turns to grief as his only daughter comes out to meet him, a sober warning about rash words spoken to God.

A³⁴nd Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

³⁵ And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back. ³⁶ And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. ³⁷ And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. ³⁸ And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. ³⁹ And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, ⁴⁰ That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.