Jephthah defeats the Ammonites

Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.

Jephthah’s vow that, in the event of a victory over the Ammonites, he would sacrifice to Yahweh the first thing that came out of his door when he arrived home (Judges 11:30–31). When Jephthah succeeds against the Ammonites, he returns home and is met by his only child, his daughter. Consenting to her plight, she asks only for two months to “mourn her virginity on the mountains” before the sacrifice. Jephthah’s daughter may have been “sacrificed” to a life of celibacy. If she was actually offered as a burned sacrifice, this becomes the solitary instance of Israelite human sacrifice, forbidden by Deuteronomic law (Deut 12:29–31). For more information, see these articles: Jephthah’s Daughter; Jephthah the Judge; Jephthah the Judge, Critical Issues.

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Dictionaries

The Lexham Bible Dictionary

Jephthah’s Vow

Jephthah’s Vow Jephthah’s vow that, in the event of a victory over the Ammonites, he would sacrifice to Yahweh the first thing that came out of his door when he arrived home (Judges 11:30–31). When Jephthah succeeds against the Ammonites, he returns home and is met by his only child, his daughter. Consenting

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Jephthah's vow

Jephthah’s vow—(Judg. 11:30, 31). After a crushing defeat of the Ammonites, Jephthah returned to his own house, and the first to welcome him was his own daughter. This was a terrible blow to the victor, and in his despair he cried out, “Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low … I have opened

Key passages

Jdg 11:12–40

And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What is between you and me that you have come to me to make war against my land?” And the king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel took my land from the Arnon up to the Jabbok and the Jordan …

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