11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out 4 to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. 5 She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. 11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! 6 You have brought me disaster! 7 I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” 8 11:36 She said to him, “My father, since 9 you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. 10 After all, the Lord vindicated you before 11 your enemies, the Ammonites.” 11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. 12 For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” 13 11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave 14 for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. 15 11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. 16 Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. 17 11:40 Every year 18 Israelite women commemorate 19 the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. 20
1 tn Heb “passed over to.”
2 tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”
3 tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”
4 tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”
5 tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”
6 tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.
7 tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”
8 tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the
9 tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
10 tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the
11 tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”
12 tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”
13 tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”
14 tn Heb “he sent her.”
15 tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.
16 tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.
17 tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”
18 tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”
19 tn Heb “go to commemorate.” The rare Hebrew verb תָּנָה (tanah, “to tell; to repeat; to recount”) occurs only here and in 5:11.
20 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in the year.” This is redundant (note “every year” at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.