Judges 11:31

_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._ Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me. This evidently points not to an animal-for that might have been a dog, which, being unclean, was unfit to be offered; but to a person: and it looks extremely like as if he, from the first, contemplated a human sacrifice. Bred up as he had been, beyond the Jordan, where the Israelite tribes, far from the tabernacle were looser in their religious sentiments, and living latterly on the borders of a pagan country where such sacrifices were common, it is not impossible that he may have been so ignorant as to imagine that a similar immolation would be acceptable to God. His mind, engrossed with the prospect of a contest, on th...

29-40 Several important lessons are to be learned from Jephthah's vow. 1. There may be remainders of distrust and doubting, even in the hearts of true and great believers. 2. Our vows to God should not be as a purchase of the favour we desire, but to express gratitude to him. 3. We need to be very well-advised in making vows, lest we entangle ourselves. 4. What we have solemnly vowed to God, we must perform, if it be possible and lawful, though it be difficult and grievous to us. 5. It well becomes children, obediently and cheerfully to submit to their parents in the Lord. It is hard to say what Jephthah did in performance of his vow; but it is thought that he did not offer his daughter as a burnt-offering. Such a sacrifice would have been an abomination to the Lord; it is supposed she was obliged to remain unmarried, and apart from her family. Concerning this and some other such passag...

Verse Judges 11:31. _SHALL SURELY BE THE LORD'S, AND I WILL OFFER IT UP FOR_ _A BURNT-OFFERING._] The text is והיה ליהוה והעליתיהו עולה _vehayah_ _layhovah, vehaalithihu olah_; the translation of which, according to the most accurate Hebrew scholars, is this: _I will consecrate_ _it to the Lord_, or _I will offer it for a burnt-offering_; that is, "If it be a thing fit for a _burnt-offering_, it shall be made one; if fit for the _service of God_, it shall be consecrated to him." That conditions of this kind must have been implied in the vow, is evident enough; to have been made without them, it must have been the vow of a _heathen_, or a _madman_. If a _dog_ had met him, this could not have been made a _burnt-offering_; and if his neighbour or friend's _wife, son_, or _daughter_, c., had been returning f...

The words of this verse prove conclusively that Jephthah intended his vow to apply to human beings, not animals: for only one of his household could be expected to come forth from the door of his house to meet him. They also preclude any other meaning than that Jephthah contemplated a human sacrifice. This need not, however, surprise us, when we recollect his Syrian birth and long residence in a Syrian city, where such fierce rites were probably common. The Syrians and Phoenicians were conspicuous among the ancient pagan nations for human sacrifices, and the transfer, under such circumstances, to Yahweh of the rites with which the false gods were honored, is just what one might expect. The circumstance of the Spirit of the Lord coming on Jephthah Judges 11:29 is no difficulty; as it by no means follows that because the Spirit of God endued him with supernatural valor an

EXPOSITION JUDGES 11:29 THEN THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON JEPHTHAH, as upon Othniel, upon Gideon, and upon Samson (Judges 3:16; Judges 6:34; Judges 13:25; Judges 14:19; Judges 15:14). HE PASSED OVER, _i.e._ he went all through, GILEAD, AND MANASSEH,—for the purpose, no doubt, of collecting forces,—AND PASSED OVER MIZPEH. It should be to _Mizpeh. _Mizpeh was t

THEN IT SHALL BE, THAT WHATSOEVER COMETH FORTH OF THE DOORS OF MY HOUSE TO MEET ME,.... If this phrase, "to meet me", is meant intentionally, then no other than an human creature can be meant; a child, or servant, or any other of mankind; for none else could come forth with a design to meet him: but if this is to be understood eventually, of what might meet him, though not with design, then any other creature may be intended; and it must be meant what came forth first, as the Vulgate Latin version expresses it, or otherwise many might come forth at such a time: WHEN I RETURN IN PEACE FROM THE CHILDREN OF AMMON: safe in his own person, and having conquered the Ammonites, and restored peace to Israel: SHALL SURELY BE THE LORD'S; be devoted to him, and made use of, or the price of it, with which it is redeemed, in his service: and I will offer it for a burnt offering; that is, if it is wh...

CHAPTER 11 JEPHTHAH AND THE AMMONITES _ 1. Jephthah's covenant (Judges 11:1)_ 2. The messages to Ammon (Judges 11:12) 3. Jephthah's vow and victory (Judges 11:29) 4. Jephthah keeps his vow (Judges 11:34) Jephthah the judge who delivered Israel from the servitude of Ammon was the offspring of an unholy union “the son of an harlot.” Then he became an outcast and had to flee from his brethren. He dwelt in the land of Tob (goodness) and vain, or worthless, men gathered unto him. Yet he was a mighty man of valor. He was therefore an humble instrument, despised and rejected by his own. But finally thos

JEPHTHAH'S VOW, AND HIS CAMPAIGN AGAINST AMMON. Judges 11:29 b is probably an editorial note, a somewhat unskilful attempt to fasten the new cloth (Judges 11:12) into the old garment (Moore.) Jephthah's vow was made at the holy place of Mizpah in Gilead, like Jacob's at Bethel (Gen. 28:24f., Genesis 31:13). In hope of victory, or dread of disaster, men vowed, or devoted, to Yahweh something very precious it might even be a human life believing they would thus propitate His favour and secure His aid. Judges 11:31. Whatsoever is entirely wrong; read whosoever (_mg.)._ Jephthah intended a human sacrifice. To suggest

WHATSOEVER. This is _masculine._ But the issuer from his house was _feminine._ Thus his rash vow was impossible of fulfillment, and was to be repented of. AND. or. The Hebrew (_Vav_) is. connective Particle, and is rendered in many different ways. It is also used as. _disjunctive,_ and is often rendered "or" (or, with. negative, "nor"). See Genesis 41:44.Exodus 20:4; Exodus 21:15; Exodus 21:17; Exodus 21:18; Numbers 16:14;...

_whatsoever … it shall be … I will offer it up_ WHOSOEVER … HE _shall be … I will offer_ HIM _up_, so LXX, Vulgate, Peshitto Jephthah had in his mind a human victim 1 [44] [44] Early Arabian religion before Mohammed furnishes a parallel: "Al-Mundhir [king of al-Ḥîrah] had made a vow that on a certain day in each year he would sacrifice the first person he saw; -Abîd came in sight on the unlucky day, and was accordingly killed, and the altar smeared with his blood." Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. xxviii, cf. p. xxvii. . It is unnecessary to mention the various expedients which have been adopted in order to escape the plain meaning of the words. Nothing is said about Jephthah's rashness; nor are we told that there was anything displeasing to Jehovah in the nature of the vow; the narrative emphasizes in the issue the grief of Jephthah and the pitiful fate of his daughter. At a crisis...