Easton's Bible Dictionary Whom God sets free, or the breaker through, a "mighty man of valour" who delivered Israel from the oppression of the Ammonites (Judges 11:1-33), and judged Israel six years (12:7). He has been described as "a wild, daring, Gilead mountaineer, a sort of warrior Elijah." After forty-five years of comparative quiet Israel again apostatized, and in "process of time the children of Ammon made war against Israel" (11:5). In their distress the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob, to which he had fled when driven out wrongfully by his brothers from his father's inheritance (2), and the people made him their head and captain. The "elders of Gilead" in their extremity summoned him to their aid, and he at once undertook the conduct of the war against Ammon. Twice he sent an embassy to the king of Ammon, but in vain. War was inevitable. The people obeyed his summons, and "the spirit of the Lord came upon him." Before engaging in war he vowed that if successful he would offer as a "burnt-offering" whatever would come out of the door of his house first to meet him on his return. The defeat of the Ammonites was complete. "He smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards [Hebrews `Abel Keramim], with a very great slaughter" (Judges 11:33). The men of Ephraim regarded themselves as insulted in not having been called by Jephthah to go with him to war against Ammon. This led to a war between the men of Gilead and Ephraim (12:4), in which many of the Ephraimites perished. (see SHIBBOLETH.) "Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead" (7). Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia JEPHTHAH jef'-tha (yiphtach, "opened," or "opener," probably signifying "Yahweh will open"; Iephthae; used as the name of a place, as in Joshua 15:43; Joshua 19:14; of a man, Judges 10:6-12:7): Ninth judge of the Israelites. His antecedents are obscure. Assuming Gilead to be the actual name of his father, his mother was a harlot. He was driven from home on account of his illegitimacy, and went to the land of Tobit in Eastern Syria (Judges 11:2, 3). Here he and his followers lived the life of freebooters. The Israelites beyond the Jordan being in danger of an invasion by the Ammonites, Jephthah was invited by the elders of Gilead to be their leader (Judges 11:5, 6). Remembering how they had expelled him from their territory and his heritage, Jephthah demanded of them that in the event of success in the struggle with the Ammonites, he was to be continued as leader. This condition being accepted he returned to Gilead (Judges 11:7-11). The account of the diplomacy used by Jephthah to prevent the Ammonites from invading Gilead is possibly an interpolation, and is thought by many interpreters to be a compilation from Numbers 20-21. It is of great interest, however, not only because of the fairness of the argument used (Judges 11:12-28), but also by virtue of the fact that it contains a history of the journey of the Israelites from Lower Egypt to the banks of the Jordan. This history is distinguished from that of the Pentateuch chiefly by the things omitted. If diplomacy was tried, it failed to dissuade the Ammonites from seeking to invade Israel. Jephthah prepared for battle, but before taking the field paused at Mizpeh of Gilead, and registered a vow that if he were successful in battle, he would offer as a burnt offering to Yahweh whatsoever should first come from his doors to greet him upon his return (Judges 11:29-31). The battle is fought, Jephthah is the victor, and now his vow returns to him with anguish and sorrow. Returning to his home, the first to greet him is his daughter and only child. The father's sorrow and the courage of the daughter are the only bright lights on this sordid, cruel conception of God and of the nature of sacrifice. That the sacrifice was made seems certain from the narrative, although some critics choose to substitute for the actual death of the maiden the setting the girl apart for a life of perpetual virginity. The Israelite laws concerning sacrifices and the language used in Judges 11:39 are the chief arguments for the latter interpretation. The entire narrative, however, will hardly bear this construction (11:34-40). Jephthah was judge in Israel for 6 years, but appears only once more in the Scripture narrative. The men of Ephraim, offended because they had had no share in the victory over the Ammonites, made war upon Gilead, but were put to rout by the forces under Jephthah (Judges 12:1-6). C. E. Schenk

Multi-Version Concordance Jephthah (26 Occurrences) Hebrews 11:32 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets; (WEB WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gilead became the father of Jephthah. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:2 Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, "You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:5 It was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:6 and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV) Judges 11:7 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Didn't you hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?" (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV) Judges 11:9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them before me, shall I be your head?" (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV) Judges 11:11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?" (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:13 The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:14 Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:15 and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn't take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon, (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:28 However the king of the children of Ammon didn't listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:29 Then the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:30 Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, "If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh delivered them into his hand. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:34 Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 11:40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 12:1 The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, "Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn't call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!" (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 12:2 Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn't save me out of their hand. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 12:4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, and in the midst of Manasseh." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Judges 12:7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) 1 Samuel 12:11 Yahweh sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)