Judges 11
1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
And Jephthah the Gileadite has been a mighty man of valor, and he [is the] son of a harlot woman; and Gilead begets Jephthah,
2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
and the wife of Gilead bears sons to him, and the wife’s sons grow up and cast Jephthah out, and say to him, “You do not inherit in the house of our father; for you [are the] son of another woman.”
3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.
And Jephthah flees from the face of his brothers, and dwells in the land of Tob; and vain men gather themselves together to Jephthah, and they go out with him.
4 Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel
And it comes to pass, after a time, that the sons of Ammon fight with Israel,
5 and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
and it comes to pass, when the sons of Ammon have fought with Israel, that [the] elderly of Gilead go to take Jephthah from the land of Tob;
6 “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”
and they say to Jephthah, “Come, and you have been for a captain to us, and we fight against the sons of Ammon.”
7 Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”
And Jephthah says to [the] elderly of Gilead, “Have you not hated me? And you cast me out from the house of my father, and why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”
8 They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”
And [the] elderly of Gilead say to Jephthah, “Therefore, now, we have turned back to you; and you have gone with us, and have fought against the sons of Ammon, and you have been for head to us—to all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
9 But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?”
And Jephthah says to [the] elderly of Gilead, “If you are taking me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and YHWH has given them before me—am I for a head to you?”
10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.”
And [the] elderly of Gilead say to Jephthah, “YHWH is listening between us—if we do not do so according to your word.”
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.
And Jephthah goes with [the] elderly of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for captain, and Jephthah speaks all his words before YHWH in Mizpeh.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”
And Jephthah sends messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What [is this] to me and to you, that you have come to me, to fight in my land?”
13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”
And the king of the sons of Ammon says to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon, and to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan; and now, restore them in peace.”
14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
And Jephthah adds yet and sends messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon,
15 to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.
and says to him, “Thus said Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab, and the land of the sons of Ammon,
16 But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
for in their coming up out of Egypt, Israel goes in the wilderness to the Red Sea, and comes to Kadesh,
17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.
and Israel sends messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass over through your land, and the king of Edom did not listen; and [Israel] has also sent to the king of Moab, and he has not been willing; and Israel abides in Kadesh,
18 Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.
and he goes through the wilderness, and goes around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and comes in at the rising of the sun of the land of Moab, and they encamp beyond Arnon, and have not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon [is] the border of Moab.
19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’
And Israel sends messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and Israel says to him, Please let us pass over through your land, to my place,
20 But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
and Sihon has not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathers all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel;
21 Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country,
and YHWH, God of Israel, gives Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they strike them, and Israel possesses all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land,
22 seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
and they possess all the border of the Amorite from Arnon, and to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and to the Jordan.
23 Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
And now, YHWH, God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorite from the presence of His people Israel, and you would possess it!
24 Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
That which your god Chemosh causes you to possess—do you not possess it? And all that which our God YHWH has dispossessed from our presence—we possess it.
25 Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?
And now, [are] you at all better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he strive with Israel at all? Did he fight against them at all?
26 For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time?
In Israel’s dwelling in Heshbon and in its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, and in all the cities which [are] by the sides of Arnon [for] three hundred years—and why have you not delivered them in that time?
27 I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
And I have not sinned against you, and you are doing evil with me—to fight against me. YHWH, the Judge, judges between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon today.”
28 But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.
And the king of the sons of Ammon has not listened to the words of Jephthah which he sent to him,
29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
and the Spirit of YHWH is on Jephthah, and he passes over Gilead and Manasseh, and passes over Mizpeh of Gilead, and he has passed over from Mizpeh of Gilead to the sons of Ammon.
30 Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
And Jephthah vows a vow to YHWH and says, “If You give the sons of Ammon into my hand at all—
31 then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
then it has been, that which comes out from the doors of my house at all to meet me in my turning back in peace from the sons of Ammon—it has been for YHWH, or I have offered up a burnt-offering for it.”
32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
And Jephthah passes over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and YHWH gives them into his hand,
33 With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
and he strikes them from Aroer, and to [where] you are going in to Minnith—twenty cities—and to the meadow of the vineyards, [with] a very great striking; and the sons of Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel.
34 And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
And Jephthah comes into Mizpeh, to his house, and behold, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and except her alone, he has no son or daughter.
35 As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”
And it comes to pass, when he sees her, that he tears his garments and says, “Aah! My daughter, you have caused me to bend greatly, and you have been among those troubling me; and I have opened my mouth to YHWH, and I am not able to turn back.”
36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.”
And she says to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to YHWH, do to me as it has gone out from your mouth, after that YHWH has done vengeance for you on your enemies, on the sons of Ammon.”
37 She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
And she says to her father, “Let this thing be done to me; desist from me [for] two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity—I and my friends.”
38 “Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains.
And he says, “Go”; and he sends her away [for] two months, and she goes, she and her friends, and she weeps for her virginity on the hills;
39 After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel
and it comes to pass at the end of two months that she turns back to her father, and he does to her his vow which he has vowed, and she did not know a man; and it is a statute in Israel:
40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.
