Judges 11:37

_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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

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 11:37. _I AND MY FELLOWS_] Whether she meant the young women of her own acquaintance, or those who had been consecrated to God in the same way, though on different accounts, is not quite clear; but it is likely she means her own _companions_: and her _going up_ _and down upon the mountains_ may signify no more than her paying each of them a visit at their own houses, previously to her being shut up at the tabernacle; and this visiting of each at their own home might require the space of _two months_. This I am inclined to think is the meaning of this difficult clause....

BEWAIL MY VIRGINITY - To become a wife and a mother was the end of existence to an Israelite maiden. The premature death of Jephthah’s daughter was about to frustrate this end....

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

AND SHE SAID UNTO HER FATHER, LET THIS THING BE DONE FOR ME,.... She had but one favour to ask of him, which she thought might be granted, without any breach of the vow: LET ME ALONE TWO MONTHS she desired such a space of time might be allowed her before the vow took place; and the rather she might be encouraged to expect that her request would be granted, since no time was fixed by the vow for the accomplishment of it, and since the time she asked was not very long, and the end to be answered not unreasonable THAT I MAY GO UP AND DOWN UPON THE MOUNTAINS; or, "ascend upon the mountains" h; Jepthah's house in Mizpeh being higher than the mountains; or there might be, as Kimchi and Ben Melech note, a valley between that and the mountains, to which she descended in order to go up to the mountains; see Judges 9:25 these she chose to make her abode, and take he

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

GO UP AND DOWN. wander about....

_and go down upon the mountains_ A slight emendation (_weradhti_for _weyaradhti_) improves the sense: _and roam_or _wander restlessly_; cf. Jeremiah 2:31 (-we roam at large"). _bewail my virginity_ To be neither wife nor mother was considered a punishment and a reproach: cf. Genesis 16:1-5; Genesis 30:23; 1 Samuel 1:10-11; 1 Samuel 1:15; Isaiah 4:1; Luke 1:25

_Jephthah Victory Judges 11:32-40_ 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. 34 And 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