Judges 11:1-40 Jepthah’s Put in Charge to Battle Against the People of Ammon

Jephthah’s Put in Charge to Battle Against the People of Ammon

Judges 11:1-40    The Book of Judges [in Smaller Chunks]

Now, Jephthah, the Gileadite, was a mighty man of [valor,] & was the son of a harlot. And Gilead [fathered] Jephthah. And Gilead’s wife [bore] him sons.

And [Gilead’s] wife’s sons grew up, & they [drove] out Jephthah, & said to him, You [shall] not inherit [from] our father’s house, [since] you [are] the son of a strange, [a.k.a. foreign,] woman.

Then, Jephthah fled from his [brothers,] & [lived] in the land of Tob & there Jephthah [joined] with vain, [a.k.a. worthless,] men, [who] went out with him. It [happened after some] time, that the children, [a.k.a. people,] of Ammon made war against Israel.

[Then, Gileads’] elders went to [get] Jephthah out of the land of Tob & they said to Jephthah, Come & be our captain, [a.k.a. commander, so] we may fight with the [people] of Ammon. And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Didn’t you hate me & [drive] me out of my father’s house?

Why [have] you come to me now, when you are in [trouble?] And the elders said to Jephthah, Therefore, we now turn to you  again, [so] that you go with us, & fight against the [people] of Ammon & be our head, [a.k.a. leader,] over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight against the [people] of Ammon, & the Lord [delivers] them before me, shall I be your [leader?] The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, [Let] the Lord be a witness between us, if we don’t do according to your words.

Then, Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead & [they] made him the [leader] & captain, [a.k.a. commander,] over them, & Jephthah uttered, [a.k.a. spoke,] all  his words before the Lord in Mizpeh. And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the [people] of Ammon, saying, What do you [have] to do with me, that you [have] come against me to fight in my land?

And the king of the [people] of Ammon answered, [Jephthah’s] messengers, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even to Jabbok & [all the way] to Jordan. Therefore, now restore those lands again, [peacefully.]

And Jephthah sent messengers [back] to the king of Ammon, & said, Jephthah [says this,] Israel [didn’t] take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the [people] of Ammon.

But when Israel came up from Egypt & walked through the wilderness to the Red Sea, & came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I pray [that] you let me pass through your land.

But the king of Edom wouldn’t [listen to it.] [Also,] they sent to the king of Moab, in [a similar] manner, but he wouldn’t consent, [a.k.a. agree,] [to let them pass through the land,] & Israel [stayed] in Kadesh.

Then, [the Israelites] went [following] through the wilderness, [around the outside borders of the lands:] of Edom & Moab & came by the East side of the land of Moab, & pitched [tents] on the other side of Arnon, but [didn’t go inside] the border of Moab, [because] Arnon was the border of Moab.

And Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the [Amorite’s] king, the king of Heshbon; & [asked,] We pray [that] you, let us pass through your land [on the way] into my place, [a.k.a. the Promised Land.]

But Sihon [didn’t trust] Israel to pass through his coast, but Sihon gathered all his people together, & pitched [tents] in Jahaz & fought against [the Israelites.] And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon & all his people into the [hands] of Israel & they [defeated] them.

So, Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. And they possessed all the [coastal territory] of the Amorites from Arnon, even [all the way] to Jabbok, & from the wilderness, [all the way] to [the] Jordan [River.]

So now, the Lord God of Israel [has driven out] the Amorites before His people, Israel. And [should] you possess [this land?] [Why] not possess [what] Chemosh, your god [gives] you [to] possess?

We shall possess [land of] [whomever] the Lord our God [drives] out before us. And [are] you now better than Balak, [Zippor’s] son, king of Moab? Did he ever [quarrel] or fight against Israel?

While Israel [still] dwelt in Heshbon & in Arorer & [their] towns & all the cities along the [coastal borders] of Arnon [for] 300 years, therefore, why didn’t you recover them within that time?

[For this reason,] I haven’t sinned against you, but you [do] wrong to me, [by causing] war against me. [Let] the Lord, the Judge, be judge this day between the [people] of Israel & the [people] of Ammon.

[But] the king of Ammon [didn’t pay attention] to the words of Jephthah, [that] he sent [to] him. Then, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, & he passed [through the land of:] Gilead & Manasseh & Mizpeh of Gilead.  And from Mizpeh of Gilead, he [crossed over] to the [people] of Ammon.

Jephthah [made] a vow, [a.k.a. a promise,] to the Lord, & said, If You [shall] deliver the [people] of Ammon into [my] hands without fail, then [whatever comes out] of the doors of my house to [greet] me, when I return in peace from the [people] of Ammon, I shall offer it up for a burnt offering, [which] surely shall be the Lord’s.

So, Jephthah [crossed] over to the [people] of Ammon to fight against them; & the Lord delivered them into his hands. And [Jephthah defeated] them from Aroer, even [until] you come to Minnith, 20 cities, even [all the way] to the [plains near] the vineyards, [a.k.a. Abel-Keramim,] with a very [large] slaughter.

[Like this,] the [people] of Ammon were [defeated] before the [people] of Israel.  And [when] Jephthah came to his house [in] Mizpeh, [he saw] his daughter, his only child, came out to [greet] him with [tambourines] & dances. [Jephthah] had neither [a] son, nor daughter, [in addition to] her.

And it [happened,] when he saw her, he [tore] his clothes, & said, Alas, my daughter! [Genesis 37:34 And Jacob [tore] his clothes, & put sackcloth on his [waist,] & mourned for his son many days.]

You [have] brought me very low, & you [are] 1 of [those, who] trouble, [a.k.a. distress,] me. For I have opened my mouth [in a vow] to the Lord & I can’t go back, [a.k.a. take it back.]

And she said to him, My father, if you [have] opened your mouth to the Lord [to make a vow,] do to me according to [what has come] out [from] your mouth. Since,] the Lord [has] taken vengeance for you [against] your enemies, even the [people] of Ammon.

And she [asked] her father, Let this thing be done for me. Let me [be] alone [for] two months, [so] I may go up & down upon the mountains [with] my [friends to lament] my virginity. And [Jephthah] said, Go. And he sent her away for two months with her [friends to lament] her virginity upon the mountains.

And it [happened after] two months, she returned to her father, & [hadn’t been intimate with a] man. [Jephthah] did with her, according to his vow, he had [made.] And it [became] a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly, to [mourn] the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, 4 days [each] year.