Jephthah in the Bible
Exact Match
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father.
Gilead's wife also gave him sons. When his wife's sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, "You are not going to inherit any of our father's wealth, because you are another woman's son."
So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah's gang and traveled with him.
When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob.
and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, so that we may fight against the Ammonites.”
Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, "But you hated me and made me leave my father's house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?"
The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That may be true, but now we pledge to you our loyalty. Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader of all who live in Gilead."
Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, "All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader."
The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say."
So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the Lord in Mizpah.
Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, "Why have you come against me to attack my land?"
The Ammonite king said to Jephthah's messengers, "Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt -- from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. Now return it peaceably!"
Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king
and said to him, "This is what Jephthah says, 'Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.
But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah.
The Lord's spirit empowered Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites.
Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, "If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me,
Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.
When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.
Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days.
The Ephraimites assembled and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, "Why did you go and fight with the Ammonites without asking us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!"
Jephthah said to them, "My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power.
Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and they fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because the Ephraimites insulted them, saying, "You Gileadites are refugees in Ephraim, living within Ephraim's and Manasseh's territory."
Jephthah led Israel for six years; then he died and was buried in his city in Gilead.
Ibzan, who was from Bethlehem,
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Bastard » Instances of » Jephthah
Holy spirit » Inspiration of » The judges » Jephthah
Israel » Under the judges » War » Ephraimites » defeated » Jephthah
Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, "You [are] fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh." Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, "Let me cross [over]," the men of Gilead said to him, "[Are] you an Ephraimite?" [When] he said, "No," they said to him, "Please say Shibboleth," and [if] he said, "Sibboleth"--because he could not {pronounce it} correctly--they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell. Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.
Jephthah » Summary of his life » Made a rash vow
Jephthah » Summary of his life » Rises to leadership
Jephthah said to the elders, "Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?" And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us {to fight} against the {Ammonites} and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead." So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back {to fight} against the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gives them {over to me}, will I be your head?" And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word."
Jephthah » His rash vow concerning bis daughter
And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions. And he said, "Go." He sent her away [for] two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains. At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her [according to] his vow; and {she did not sleep with a man}. And it became an annual custom in Israel for the daughters of Israel to go and lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for forty days of the year.
Jephthah » Summary of his life » An outcast
Jephthah » Summary of his life » Delivered israel from their enemies
Jephthah » Summary of his life » Moved at times by God's spirit
Jephthah » Summary of his life » A man who kept his vow
Jephthah » Leads the army of israel against the ammonites
And Jephthah crossed [over] to the {Ammonites} to make war against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. And he defeated them [with] a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the {Ammonites} were subdued before the {Israelites}.
Jephthah » His message to the king of the ammonites
and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah, 'Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the {Ammonites}, because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the {Red Sea} and went to Kadesh. Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let us cross through your land," but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent [messengers] to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel stayed in Kadesh. Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to {the east} side of the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond [the] Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because [the] Arnon [was] the border of Moab. Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, 'Please let us cross through your land {to our country}.' But Sihon did not trust Israel to cross through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and then encamped at Jahaz; and he made war with Israel. And Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; and Israel occupied all the land of the Amorites inhabiting that land. They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from [the] Arnon up to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness up to the Jordan. So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, and you want to possess it? Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gave you to possess? Whoever Yahweh our God has driven out before us, we will possess it. So then, [are] you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he ever make war against them? When Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns that [are] {along the Arnon}, for three hundred years, why did you not recover [them] at that time? I have not sinned against you; but you [are] the one who is doing wrong by making war against me. {Let Yahweh judge} today between the {Israelites} and the {Ammonites}." But the king of the {Ammonites} did not listen to the message that Jephthah sent to him.
Jephthah » Made head of the land of gilead
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word." So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.
Jephthah » Made captain of the army
And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us {to fight} against the {Ammonites} and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead." So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back {to fight} against the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gives them {over to me}, will I be your head?" And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word." So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.
Jephthah » Illegitimate, and therefore not entitled to inherit his father's property
Jephthah » Faith of
Jephthah » Escapes the violence of his half-brothers; lives in the land of tob
Jephthah » Leads israel for six years, dies, and is buried in gilead
Jephthah » Leads the army of the gileadites against the ephraimites
Jephthah » Recalled from the land of tob by the elders of gilead
Jephthah » Falsely accused by the ephraimites
Jephthah » smites » Ammonites » At aroer
Judge » Jephthah
Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, "You [are] fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh." Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, "Let me cross [over]," the men of Gilead said to him, "[Are] you an Ephraimite?" [When] he said, "No," they said to him, "Please say Shibboleth," and [if] he said, "Sibboleth"--because he could not {pronounce it} correctly--they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell. Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.
extraordinary Judges » Names of » Jephthah
Oaths » Instances of rash, &c » Jephthah
And he defeated them [with] a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the {Ammonites} were subdued before the {Israelites}. Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her. And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. {I made an oath} to Yahweh, and I cannot take [it] back." She said to him, "My father, {you made an oath} to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the {Ammonites}."
Religious zeal » Instances of » Jephthah
And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions. And he said, "Go." He sent her away [for] two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains. At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her [according to] his vow; and {she did not sleep with a man}. And it became an annual custom in Israel