Judges 11:32-40

11:32 Jephthah approached ¹  the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! ²  The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. ³ 

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 

[11:32]  ¹ tn Heb “passed over to.”

[11:33]  ² tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”

[11:33]  ³ tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”

[11:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”

[11:34]  ⁵ tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”

[11:35]  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.

[11:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

[11:35]  ⁸ tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

[11:36]  ⁹ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ¹¹ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[11:37]  ¹² tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”

[11:37]  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.”

[11:38]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he sent her.”

[11:38]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.

[11:39]  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.

[11:39]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”

[11:40]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”

[11:40]  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.

[11:40]  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.