Atomic Bible

A judge of Israel, known for his tragic vow.

Jephthah

Named in 26 verses across 3 books, first in Judges 11:1.

יִפְתָּחJephthah

ἸεφθάεJephthah

Father
Gilead

About Jephthah Written by AI

Jephthah was a judge of Israel during the period between the conquest of Canaan and the establishment of the monarchy. He was the son of Gilead and a prostitute, and his half-brothers drove him away from the family inheritance. Jephthah fled to the land of Tob, where he gathered a group of warriors around him. When the Ammonites attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead asked Jephthah to lead them in battle, promising him leadership if he succeeded. Jephthah made a vow to God, pledging to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house to meet him if he were victorious. Jephthah defeated the Ammonites, but tragically, his daughter was the first to greet him upon his return. Jephthah fulfilled his vow, and his daughter willingly submitted to her fate. Jephthah judged Israel for six years before his death. His story highlights the importance of making wise vows and the consequences of rash decisions. Despite his tragic vow, Jephthah is commended in the New Testament for his faith and is listed among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.

Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

Whom God sets free, or the breaker through, a “mighty man of valour” who delivered Israel from the oppression of the Ammonites (Judg. 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 [Heb. ‘Abel Keramim], with a very great slaughter” (Judg. 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).

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.

GenesisMatthewRevelation

Where the Bible names him

  1. Judges 11:1

    Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.

  2. Judges 11:2

    And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”

  3. Judges 11:3

    So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.

  4. Judges 11:5

    and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

  5. Judges 11:6

    “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”

  6. Judges 11:7

    Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”

  7. Judges 11:8

    They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”

  8. Judges 11:9

    But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?”

  9. Judges 11:10

    And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.”

  10. Judges 11:11

    So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.

  11. Judges 11:12

    Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”

  12. Judges 11:13

    The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”

  13. Judges 11:14

    Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites

  14. Judges 11:15

    to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites.

  15. Judges 11:28

    But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.

  16. Judges 11:29

    Then 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.

  17. Judges 11:30

    Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,

  18. Judges 11:32

    So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand.

  19. Judges 11:34

    And 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.

  20. Judges 11:40

    that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

  21. Judges 12:1

    Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”

  22. Judges 12:2

    But Jephthah replied, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called, you did not save me out of their hands.

  23. Judges 12:4

    Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

  24. Judges 12:7

    Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

  25. 1 Samuel 12:11

    So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.

  26. Hebrews 11:32

    And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.