Judges 11:35 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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, and I cannot take back my vow."

NIV: When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break."

NASB: So when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, 'Oh, my daughter! You have brought me disaster, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.'

CSB: When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "No! Not my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought great misery on me. I have given my word to the Lord and cannot take it back."

NLT: When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. 'Oh, my daughter!' he cried out. 'You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.”

Those used by God often defy our assumptions about spiritual heroes. The "rescuers" (Judges 2:16) who emerge in the book of Judges are not the spotless superheroes we might imagine. Gideon made foolish choices (Judges 8:26–27), as will Samson (Judges 13—16). Jephthah is already a complex character, as an exiled bandit captain hired to fight against the Ammonites (Judges 11:1–11). He also made a deeply misguided promise to God in exchange for military victory (Judges 11:30–31). Jephthah clearly never imagined when he made his vow to the Lord that it would be his only child, his daughter, who would emerge from his house to greet him upon his return from battle.

The pain is real. He immediately begins to express his deep grief by tearing his clothing, a common expression of mourning a great loss during this era. Jephthah cries out that she has caused him intense pain, crushing him with grief. That seems to blame his joyful, innocent daughter for causing him pain—though he fully realizes she is not responsible. By any standard, the fault rests entirely with Jephthah.

Jephthah explains to his daughter that he is grieving because he cannot take back a vow he has made to the Lord. He cannot save her from his own foolishness in this sacred promise to God. That's not necessarily accurate; the law compensated for ignorant vows (Leviticus 4:5–6). Whether that escape clause applies here, however, is something over which scholars differ. As far as Jephthah is concerned, this is a tragically unbreakable promise.

Judges 11:29–40 begins with God's Spirit coming on Jephthah and empowering him to raise an army from Gilead and Manasseh. Before attacking the Ammonites, Jephthah makes a vow regarding victory in the war. When Israel wins the victory, Jephthah's vow surprisingly binds him to offer his daughter, his only child, as an offering to the Lord. She agrees that her father must follow through on this sacred promise, but she first spends two months grieving that she will not marry or have children. Jephthah fulfills his vow, though scholars have long debated how, exactly, he did so.

A man named Jephthah is driven away from his home in Gilead by jealous brothers. He settles in Tob, where he becomes warrior chief of a criminal band. Gilead's elders later recruit Jephthah to lead the fight against their Ammonite oppressors. After a failed negotiation attempt, Jephthah vows to make a burnt offering to the Lord of whatever comes to meet him if God gives him victory over the Ammonites. Israel thoroughly defeats Ammon, and Jephthah's daughter, his only child, greets him. Jephthah carries out his vow after his daughter grieves never marrying or having children.

Judges 11 answers the question raised at the end of the previous chapter: who could lead Gilead's fight against the Ammonites? The elders recruit Jephthah, a warrior driven away by his family in Gilead. Jephthah agrees to return and is appointed leader of Gilead. Jephthah raises an army and makes a foolish vow to the Lord in exchange for victory. Israel defeats Ammon, but Jephthah's vow costs him his only child, his daughter. His victory also creates civil strife in Israel, leading to a minor civil war.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).