Judges 11:29-40
Jephthah's Vow
Read the passage
29Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
30Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
31then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
33With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.
34And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
35As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”
36“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.”
37She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
38“Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains.
39After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel
40that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The Spirit of the LORD comes upon Jephthah before he makes his vow. God has already equipped him to lead. Yet Jephthah promises that, if he returns victorious, whatever comes from his house to meet him will belong to the LORD and be offered as a burnt offering. God does not ask for this bargain.
The LORD gives him victory over Ammon. At home, his only child comes out with tambourines and dancing. Jephthah tears his clothes and speaks of the misery she has brought him, but the vow was his choice. His daughter did not make it.
She asks for two months in the mountains with her friends to mourn her virginity. Afterward she returns, and the account says that her father does to her as he vowed. It records that she had never had relations with a man and that Israel's young women remember her with four days of lament each year. The celebration of victory has become a daughter's tragedy.
We must not soften the vow's words into an ordinary dedication. Nor does invoking God's name make it right: Deuteronomy 12:31 condemns burning sons and daughters as sacrifices. The Spirit's presence in Jephthah's campaign is not approval of every choice he makes.
Questions
1 What does Jephthah promise in his vow?
AnswerHe promises to offer as a burnt offering whatever comes from his house to greet him after victory. The LORD has not commanded this promise.
2 Who comes out to meet him?
AnswerHis daughter, his only child, comes with tambourines and dancing. She later asks for two months to mourn with her friends.
3 Why must we not assume God approves the vow?
AnswerGod never requests it, and His law condemns sacrificing children. The Spirit’s coming upon Jephthah does not make every later action obedient.
4 What should we do if a promise would require wrongdoing?
AnswerWe should confess the rash promise and seek wise help to prevent the wrong. Keeping our word cannot make an act that God forbids into obedience.
What This Means for Us
A promise made in God's name still has to answer to God's word. We cannot purchase His help by offering something He forbids. Take special care when a decision places its cost on a child or someone with less power. If we have promised wrongly, the next faithful step is to stop the harm and seek correction, not defend the promise.
Prayer
Lord, keep us from trying to bargain for Your favor. Restrain rash promises, protect those who might bear their cost, and give us humility to admit when our words were wrong. Amen.
Your reading
Keep your place.
Save this passage to your private reading history.
Sign in to save your reading