[[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[Judges Overview]] [[Judges 10]] [[Judges 12]] # Judges 11 📖 > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts]] [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) [[#Verse 01.]] Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father.  [[#Verse 02.]] 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.”  [[#Verse 03.]] So Jephthah left his half brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. [[#Verse 04.]] It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel.  [[#Verse 05.]] When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob.  [[#Verse 06.]] They said, “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.”  [[#Verse 07.]] 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?”  [[#Verse 08.]] 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.”  [[#Verse 09.]] 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.”  [[#Verse 10.]] 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.”  [[#Verse 11.]] 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 Gives a History Lesson [[#Verse 12.]] Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have you come against me to attack my land?”  [[#Verse 13.]] 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!” [[#Verse 14.]] Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king  [[#Verse 15.]] and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.  [[#Verse 16.]] When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh.  [[#Verse 17.]] Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.  [[#Verse 18.]] Then Israel went through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border).  [[#Verse 19.]] Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.”  [[#Verse 20.]] But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He assembled his whole army, camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.  [[#Verse 21.]] The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.  [[#Verse 22.]] They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west.  [[#Verse 23.]] Since the Lord God of Israel has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them?  [[#Verse 24]] You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us.  [[#Verse 25.]] Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them?  [[#Verse 26.]] Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for 300 years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?  [[#Verse 27.]] I have not done you wrong, but you are doing wrong by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”  [[#Verse 28.]] But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah. ### A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter [[#Verse 29.]] The Lord’s Spirit empowered Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites.  [[#Verse 30.]] Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me,  [[#Verse 31.]] then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”  [[#Verse 32.]] Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.  [[#Verse 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! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. [[#Verse 34.]] 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.  [[#Verse 35.]] When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! You have brought me disaster! I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”  [[#Verse 36.]] She said to him, “My father, since you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. After all, the Lord vindicated you before your enemies, the Ammonites.”  [[#Verse 37.]] She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.”  [[#Verse 38.]] He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills.  [[#Verse 39.]] After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.  [[#Verse 40.]] Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. ## ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24 ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ###### Verse 39. ###### Verse 40. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write down things that are not straight from commentary but interesting facts that ground the text in history. %% ## 🧠 Chapter Summary - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write a short paragraph (3–5 sentences) summarizing what happens in this chapter. - What is the main event or teaching? - How does this chapter fit the book’s overall story? - What stands out immediately? Anything Apologetic to point out? %% ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) - 📌 Observation 1 - 📌 Observation 2 - 📌 Observation 3 - (Add more as needed.) %% %% #### Today, I can apply this chapter by: - ✅ Application 1 - ✅ Application 2 Make these very practical: - "Trust God's timing in an uncertain situation." - "Speak truth even when it’s unpopular." Think: - What do we learn about God here? - What do we learn about people? - Are there promises, commands, or warnings? %% ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) - 📖 [Verse Reference] – "Quote of important verse." - 📖 [Verse Reference] – "Quote of another important verse." (You can link to deeper notes if you want later.) %% ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 coming soon. - 🔗 coming soon. %% Examples: - John 1:1 and Genesis 1 - Romans 5 and Genesis 3 %% ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write 3–6 sentences reflecting on: - How this chapter encourages your faith, - Convicts your heart, - Reveals God's character. Optional format: "In light of this chapter, I am challenged to..." or "I am comforted by..." %% ##### 📂 Internal Links/Personal Notes