Judges 11:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand.

NIV: Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.

NASB: So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord handed them over to him.

CSB: Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord handed them over to him.

NLT: So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him victory.

KJV: So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

NKJV: So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands.

Empowered by the Lord's Spirit, Jephthah rallies an army of Israelites and brings them back to Mizpah. After making his unwise vow to God (Judges 11:30–31), he brings his forces to where the Ammonites are gathered for battle. The people of Israel strike first, and the Lord gives Jephthah victory.

After extensive buildup, the actual battle itself is described in just two verses. This anticlimax highlights the foolishness of Jephthah's vow. The Lord was already clearly with him and intent on giving him victory over Ammon. This raises questions about Jephthah's understanding of the situation. Why would the Lord's Spirit have come upon Jephthah if the Lord were not with him? And if the Lord was already with him, why did Jephthah feel the need to make a vow to "convince" God to do what God clearly already wanted to do?

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).

Accessed 5/6/2024 10:25:42 PM