Judges 11:1-40

YAHWEH raised up a brave, fearless champion from Gilead to deliver Israel. His name was Jephthah, and he was the son of a prostitute. His father Gilead had other sons by his wife, and when they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home. They said to him, “You will inherit nothing of our father’s wealth because you are the son of another woman.” Jephthah fled from his half brothers and lived in the land of Tob. There he recruited a gang of lawless mercenaries who traveled around with him. Sometime later, the Ammonites waged war against Israel. When they attacked Israel, the leaders of Gilead went to the land of Tob to find Jephthah and to bring him back from exile. Swallowing their pride, they said to him, “Come and lead us so that we can fight the Ammonites.” Jephthah answered, “You’re the very people who hated me so much that you kicked me out of my father’s house. Why are you coming to me now that you’re in trouble?” They said to Jephthah, “We’re turning to you now because we want you to lead us in battle. Come and fight the Ammonites. You’re the one we need!” Jephthah said to them, “Very well. If you take me back home to fight the Ammonites and YAHWEH gives me victory, then you will make me your ruler. Agreed?” “That’s right,” they replied. “With YAHWEH as our witness, we pledge our loyalty to you.” So Jephthah returned home with the leaders of Gilead, and the people made him their commander and ruler. Jephthah stated his terms in a solemn ceremony at Mizpah in the presence of YAHWEH. Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon to ask, “What is your quarrel with us? Why have you invaded our country?” The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they seized my land from the River Arnon to the River Jabbok, as far as the River Jordan. Now give it all back, and we’ll be at peace.” Jephthah again sent messengers back to the king of Ammon with this answer: “Israel seized neither the land of Moab nor the land of Ammon. When the Israelites left Egypt, they passed through the desert to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. They sent messengers to the king of Edom requesting permission to go through his land, but the king of Edom refused. They also asked the king of Moab, but he too would not cooperate. So the Israelites were forced to remain at Kadesh. Leaving from there, they traveled through the desert in order to bypass the land of Edom and the land of Moab. When they arrived at the east side of Moab, on the other side of the River Arnon, they made camp there, but they did not cross the Arnon because it was Moab’s boundary. Then, the Israelites dispatched messengers to Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and requested his permission to go through his country to their own land. Because Sihon did not trust Israel, he assembled his whole army, made camp at Jahaz, and attacked Israel. But YAHWEH, the mighty God of Israel, gave the Israelites victory over Sihon and his army. So the Israelites took possession of all the territory of the Amorites who lived in that land. Then they occupied all the Amorite territory from the Arnon in the south to the Jabbok in the north and from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west. Since it was YAHWEH the mighty God of Israel who drove out the Amorites for his people, the Israelites, who do you think you are to try to take it back? You should be satisfied with whatever land your god Chemosh has won for himself, but we are going to keep everything that YAHWEH our mighty God has given us. Do you think you’re stronger than Moab’s king Balak son of Zippor? He never challenged Israel over disputed land, did he? Did he ever go to war against us? For three hundred years, Israel has been living here and occupying Heshbon, Aroer, and the towns around them, and all the cities on the banks of the Arnon River. Why have you waited until now to try to take them back? No, I have not wronged you; rather, you are doing me wrong by attacking me. Let YAHWEH be the judge, and let him decide today which of us is right, Israel or Ammon.” But the king of Ammon ignored Jephthah’s message. Then the Spirit of YAHWEH rushed upon Jephthah and empowered him. He and his men marched through Gilead and Manasseh and returned to Mizpah in Gilead, and from there, he stalked the Ammonites. Jephthah promised YAHWEH: “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will offer up to you as a burnt offering the first thing that comes out of my house to greet me when I return in victory. I will sacrifice that one as an offering to you.” So Jephthah crossed the river with his men to fight the Ammonites, and YAHWEH gave him victory. He struck at them from Aroer to the area near Minnith, twenty villages in all, and as far as Abel Keramim. The Israelites brought the Ammonites down to the dust in a great slaughter. When Jephthah arrived home at Mizpah, his daughter came hurrying out of the house to welcome her father home, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child—his one and only. When he realized who had come out, he ripped his cloak and was overcome with grief. He exclaimed, “Oh no! My dearest daughter, you have torn my heart to shreds! Must it be you I offer? I have made a solemn promise to YAHWEH, and I cannot retract it!” She said to him, “My father, you have made a vow to YAHWEH and he has delivered you from your enemies, the Ammonites. Do to me what you promised him you would do. But please grant me one thing. Spare me for two months and let me go with my friends to grieve. Let me be free to wander on the hills and to lament my sad fate.” “Go,” he replied, and he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the mountains and grieved because she was going to die unmarried and childless. After two months, she returned to her father, and Jephthah fulfilled his vow to YAHWEH. His daughter died still a virgin. (This was the origin of the custom in Israel that young women would go away each year to grieve and lament for the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.)