15 ¶ And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.

10

16 And they put away the 'strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. 17 Then the children of Ammon were 8 Heb. is good in thine eyes. 9 Heb. gods of strangers.

The

7. The Philistines. ... and the children of Ammon.' -The Philistines probably subdued the Israelites in the south of Canaan, west of the Jordan; and the Ammonites, the two tribes and a half to the east of that river. spirit of conquest or of aggression, however, soon led the latter to cross the Jordan (v. 9). It seems probable that they rather harassed and distressed the trans-Jordanic tribes, than kept them in entire subjection; and afterwards extended their incursions to the west of the Jordan.

12 Chap. 11. 8.

of the oppressors from whom Israel had been delivered. The Vulgate has Canaanites.' There was a town called Maon in the mountainous region of Judea; and another called Beth-Meon and Baal-Meon on the west of Jordan; and some think that the old inhabitants of one of these districts are intended. This does not seem very probable.

17. The children of Ammon were gathered together,' etc. --It would appear from the next chapter that, as we explained above, the Ammonites had not brought the country under complete subjection; having contented themselves with incursions attended with slaughter and spoliation. But, from the claim made in the ensuing chapter, it seems clear that they were assembled, on the present occasion, with the view of completing their operations by the total expulsion of the Hebrews from the country east of the Jordan. It was probably this imminent danger which aroused the tribes to the repentance expressed in the preceding verses. Past experience then taught them to expect that the Lord would take pity upon them; and in this expectation, they appear to have been encouraged to assemble, in order to give the Ammonites battle. At any rate, the whole history shews that the Ammonites had not up to this time brought the trans-Jordanic tribes under servitude, in the full sense of the word.

2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.

3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.

4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

5 And it was so, that when the children of

1 Heb. 11. 32, called Jephthae.

Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:

6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

7 And Jephthah said unto the children of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?

8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD 'be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.

11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh. 12

And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?

13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.

14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:

15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthalı, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Am

mon:

16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh ;

17 Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.

18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

10

19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

22 And they possessed "all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.

27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.

30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,

31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

14

32 So Jephthah passed over unto the i children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

15

33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; 16 'beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

35 And it came to pass, when he saw her,

10 Deut. 2. 26.

11 Dent. 2. 36. 14 Or, or I will offer it, &c 17 Heb. of himself.

49

that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me : for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon

18 Heb. go and go down.

10

19 Or, ordinance.

Verse 3. There were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.'-The meaning of this obviously is that Jephthah, being without any inheritance or family connections to afford him a subsistence, and being expelled from his native place, became an adventurer; and his character having brought around him a number of brave but idle men, perhaps, similarly circumstanced, he, for his own and their support, as well as to establish the reputation he had previously acquired, made predatory incursions into the neighbouring countries. This is meant by going out with him.' Probably they went out particularly into the land of the Ammonites, to retaliate the incursions which the latter made into Israel; and this would naturally lead the people to look to Jephthah, when they wanted a military leader. The mode of life here indicated is precisely that followed by David, when his reputation brought around him men of similar character to these followers of Jephthah. This kind of predatory life is very far indeed from being considered dishonourable in the East. On the contrary, the fame thus acquired is thought as fair as any that can be obtained through any class of military operations. An Arab or a Tartar desires no higher or brighter fame than that which he may thus acquire and to make that fame unsullied, it is only necessary that his expedition should not be against his own nation or his own tribe. The associations formed by the Arabs and Tartars for such purposes are seldom of longer duration than the particular expedition; and we therefore think that the most striking illustration of the state of things here and elsewhere indicated, may be derived from the account which Tacitus gives of the manners of the ancient Germans. When a warrior had acquired reputation for courage and conduct, young men became emulous of placing themselves under so distinguished a leader, and resorted to him, forming a retinue of bold volunteers who felt bound to do their chief honour by their exploits to defend him with their lives, and not to survive him if slain. This band gave distinction and power to the chief himself; and rendered him often so formidable, that neighbouring tribes and nations cultivated his favour by embassies and presents, and obstinate and cruel wars were often terminated by his interposition. All the retinue lived at the expense of their leader, who provided a plain but plentiful table for them; and also from time to time made them valuable presents. This involved great expense; to support which he kept his troop almost continually engaged in invasions and plundering expeditions among the neighbouring nations-or, in short, in the same kind of military freebooting which Jephthah and David practised-and through which alone they could keep up the state of a general, and maintain a character for liberality to their band. They, like the Orientals, did not account the act of pillaging base, while carried on beyond the limits of their own tribe or nation on the contrary,

they considered it a laudable and glorious employment for their youth, which procured them reputation, and preserved them from indolence and inaction. Some similar feelings may be discovered in the border forays' which were carried on on the frontiers of England and Scotland, even at times when the two nations were at peace. Another source which contributed to enable these old German captains to support their retinue, was found in the voluntary contributions of the people of the district which was protected by their valour. These contributions consisted chiefly of corn and cattle; and were of the greatest service in assisting them to furnish their troops with provisions. The Hebrew leaders of the same class expected the same assistance; as we see by the instance of David, who sent some of his men to Carmel to ask the rich Nabal to send him provisions, grounding the demand on the safety and protection which the shepherds had enjoyed while his troop had been in the neighbourhood. These details may assist us in understanding the position which Jephthah occupied before he was called to lead the army against the Ammonites, and which David filled while the persecutions of Saul made him a wanderer.

13. Because Israel took away my land.'-See the note on Deut. ii. 19.

15. Thus saith Jephthah.'-Jephthah's reply gives a fair and clear recital of the whole transaction which had placed these lands in the possession of the Israelites, and he refuses to surrender them on the following grounds:-1. He denied that the Ammonites had any existing title to the lands, for they had been driven out of these lands by the Amorites before the Hebrews appeared; and that they (the Hebrews), in overcoming and driving out the Amorites without any assistance from or friendly understanding with the Ammonites, became entitled to the territory which the conquered people occupied. 2. That the title of the Israelites was confirmed by a prescription of above three hundred years, during which none of Ammon or of Moab had even reclaimed these lands: and, 3. As an argumentum ad hominem, he alleged that the God of Israel was as well entitled to grant his people the lands which they held as was their own god Chemosh, according to their opinion, to grant to the Ammonites the lands which they now occupied. This admirable and well reasoned statement concluded with an appeal to Heaven to decide the justice of the cause by the event of the battle which was now inevitable.

17. In like manner they sent unto the king of Moab.'Of this deputation to Moab, no account is given anywhere else; but the Jewish commentators observe that it is clearly intimated by Moses himself, in Deut. ii. 29, As the children of Esau who dwelt in Seir, and the Moabites which dwelt in Ar, did unto me;' which they, with reason, interpret to mean that, as the children of Esau would not, when applied to, suffer the Israelites to pass through their

land, so neither would the Moabites when the same request was made to them.

30. Jephthah vowed a vow.'-It was usual among most ancient nations, at the commencement of a war or battle, to vow to some particular god that, if the undertaking were successful, large sacrifices should burn upon his altar, or temples be erected in his honour. We have instances of this as well in the histories of Greece and Rome, as in those of Oriental nations. Concerning the vow now before us many volumes have been written; the point of interest being to determine whether Jephthah really did sacrifice his daughter, or only devoted her to perpetual celibacy, as consecrated to Jehovah. We have anxiously considered this question; and feel so much difficulty in arriving at a decided opinion, that we shall express none, except on one or two points which may be considered as established beyond dispute. For the rest, we shall give what we conceive to be the strongest arguments on both sides of the question, leaving the reader to form his own conclusions as to their comparative value. We may as well state here, however, that the balance of authority, Jewish and Christian, seems considerably to incline in favour of the common impression, which is, that Jephthah really did offer his daughter as a sacrifice to Jehovah. We must not, however, take the balance of authority for more than it is worth; and need not hamper the question, by giving undne preponderance to that conclusion which it seems rather to sanction.

31. Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me.... shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.'-By comparing this reading with that in the margin, it will be seen that two very different versions are given, through a very slight verbal variation. The sense depends upon whether, at the commencement of the last clause, we shall render the prefix tas' and' conjunctive, or or disjunctive. We may do either; but a 'and' is the most usual sense, perhaps because, in writing, the conjunctive and' is more frequently required than the disjunctive 'or.' In most cases, the context enables us to determine which is to be understood; but the present is one of the few instances in which the context does not discriminate the particle, but the particle determines the meaning of the text. In this dilemma our translation puts 'and' in the text, and 'or' in the margin. The reader will easily perceive the resulting difference in the meaning. If we take the and, it sanctions the opinion that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter; because then his vow only imports, that whatever came forth to meet him should be the Lord's, by being offered up in sacrifice to Him, and does not imply any alternative. Whereas the or does imply an alternative, and says, in effect, that whatever came forth to meet him should be sacrificed as a burnt offering, if fit for sacrifice; but, if not, should be consecrated to God.

Now there is no question that the latter form of the vow contained nothing contrary to the law; but that the former was most decidedly opposed to it. Jephthah could not but be aware of the probability that he might be met by a human being, or by some animal declared by the law to be unclean and unfit for sacrifice. A vow which involved such a contingency could not be lawful; particularly as human sacrifices are again and again interdicted with the strongest expressions of abhorrence and reprobation. But, on the other hand, it is alleged, that there was nothing to prevent human beings from being consecrated to God and the service of his tabernacle. Samuel was thus devoted before his birth; and in the division of the spoils in the first Midianitish war, we are told that the Lord's tribute from the whole number of captive virgins was 'thirtytwo persons.' These facts are said to explain the species of devotement which it was lawful to make. Jephthah's vow was therefore lawful, if we read the prefixed as 'or,' but unlawful if we must read it as 'and. There is then an interpretation under which the vow of Jephthah was lawful, and did not involve the necessity or probability of human sacrifice. Such being the case, it is contended by those who advocate the milder view of the

transaction, that this is the interpretation which we ought to adopt; Jephthah being, from his devout and judicious conduct at the commencement of the war, apparently incapable of an intention so grossly repugnant to the law of God as that which the other explanation supposes. Without committing ourselves to a final opinion, we must confess that we concur with those who do not see the validity of this argument. It may be granted that the hero acted with the most devout intentions, without its being necessary to concede that he was so well instructed in the law of God as to be incapable of making an unlawful vow. Who was Jephthah ?-a man who before his expulsion seems to have led a bold, daring life, which obtained him the reputation of a mighty man of valour,' and which reputation enabled him, after he became a fugitive, to collect a troop of vain men,' which he formed into a band of freebooters, and became their captain. Moreover, he was bred up beyond Jordan, where the connection with the tabernacle and its observances was very loosely, if at all, maintained; where the ephod of Gideon had been a snare to that hero, to his house, and to the people; and where, after his death, the people had turned aside and made Baal-berith their god. Under these circumstances, it is not too much to suppose that the law had become very imperfectly known in general, and least of all to a man leading the kind of life which the brave Gileadité had led. It is highly probable that the people, during their idolatry, had offered human sacrifices, in imitation of their heathen neighbours who certainly did so; and Jephthah's mind being familiarized to the notion that such sacrifices were acceptable to the gods, mingled with a misunderstood recollection (facts being better retained than precepts) of Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac by divine command-there is nothing very violent in the notion that he may have contemplated the possibility of such a sacrifice in pronouncing his vow. One thing seems certain, that whatever he intended, he could not be unaware that some human being might, quite as probably as an animal, be the first to come to meet him on his return home. Indeed, 'coming to meet him,' seems to imply an act which could scarcely be expected from any but a human being. That this human being would be his daughter was within the limits of possibility; but we see from the result, that it was his secret hope that she might be spared. He did not, however, make her an exception, because the prevalent notion was, that the offering, whether for sacrifice or living consecration, was the more acceptable in the same proportion that it was cherished and dear.

It

We have stated these considerations to shew that the unlawfulness of the vow, under the common interpretation, cannot be, all the circumstances considered, admitted as a reason of such weight as to enable us to deny positively that Jephthah made such a vow. It does however enable us to deny, most decidedly, that such an offering could be made upon God's altar, or by the high-priest, or by any regular and faithful member of the priesthood. It seems indeed almost superfluous to say that a human sacrifice could not take place at the Lord's proper altar, or be offered by his proper priest; but perhaps it may not be superfluous to shew from the text, that if Jephthah did offer his daughter, it could not be at the tabernacle. will be remembered that the tabernacle was at Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim. Now at the beginning of the next chapter, and immediately after the conclusion of the war with the Ammonites, we find Jephthah, who, from all we know, had never till then, or even then, been west of the Jordan, engaged in a bitter war with the Ephraimites, which renders it in the highest degree improbable that he should, in the very heat of the quarrel, have gone into the heart of that tribe to offer such a sacrifice, even had it been lawful. That such a sacrifice was not offered at Shiloh, where only sacrifices to the Lord could legally be offered, does not however of itself prove that no such sacrifice was offered. If this unhappy chief was so ignorant of the law as to think such a sacrifice acceptable to God, he may well have been guilty of the other fault, then actually a common one, of making his offering beyond

the Jordan, where he was himself master-particularly as it would seem (see ch. viii. 27) that Gideon himself had given his sanction to this practice, and formed an establishment for the purpose. In the course of the preceding observations we have included the points we consider indisputable, namely, that if such a sacrifice were made, it was contrary to the law of God-that it did not take place at the only lawful altar-and that it could not have had the sanction of the high-priest. [APPENDIX, No. 27.]

34. She was his only child.'-This circumstance is mentioned to point out a cause, besides paternal affection, for the poignancy of his distress. It has been observed how intensely anxious the Hebrews were for posterity, and as Jephthah could only hope for descendants through his daughter, the sorrow he expressed is quite natural, even under the mild interpretation of his vow.

37. And bewail my virginity.'—This is thought a strong circumstance by those who take the milder view of Jephthah's rash vow. If she was to die, that might be expected to have been mentioned as the circumstance to be bewailed; but the text itself rather refers the regret to the loss of that hope of becoming a mother in Israel,' which every Hebrew woman cherished with the force of a passion. This may nevertheless be referred to her death; since to die without having borne children, no less than to live without them, was the most lamentable fate which could befal a woman; and on this circumstance she might the rather be supposed to dwell if really doomed to be sacrificed; because she may have thought it unbecoming to allow herself to lament that which was to be an acknowledgment of Israel's deliverance; but not at all so to bewail the involved extinction of that hope, which, to the daughters of Israel, was dearer than life itself.

39. Who did with her according to his vow.'-It is not Isaid what he did; and that she is not said to have been sacrificed, is considered good negative evidence that she was not. Neither view, however, can obtain much support from this clause. It refers us back to the vow itself, the principal considerations connected with which we have already stated.

And she knew no man.'-If Jephthah's daughter were sacrificed, it is alleged by those who think that she was not, that this remark would be frivolous. If she were, however, we do not see any puerility in directing our attention to what would doubtless have been considered as a most painful circumstance, namely, that the only child of Jephthah had died without issue.

40. The daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah.'-Much of the sense of the whole narrative may be resolved into the interpretation of the word in letannoth, here translated to lament.' It is therefore rendered differently, according to the different opinions which are entertained. Those who think that she was sacrificed, are satisfied with our version; whereas others refer to that in the margin, 'to talk with '-meaning that the daughters of Israel went yearly to condole with and

entertain her. We can only say, without reference to any particular theory, that the word means, in the general sense, to praise or celebrate,' and would therefore denote that the daughters of Israel kept a four days' anniversary to commemorate this transaction, whatever were its result. In a secondary sense, certainly, the word does mean to rehearse or relate; but this results from the former interpretation, recital of the deed celebrated being part of the act of celebration. To make this sense, which denotes recital, to mean conversation, as in the margin, seems rather forced. Recollecting the custom all over the East, for people to go once a year to lament over the graves of their deceased friends, this text seems rather to favour the idea that the daughter of Jephthah really died.

We have thus gone over the subject, having no other anxiety than to shew, that if such sacrifice were really consummated, it was most decidedly against the law of God, and could not have been at his altar, or by his priest. Further than this, the subject is perplexed with difficulties.

Several writers think that the story of the sacrifice, or intended sacrifice, of Iphigenia, was taken from that which we have been considering. There is certainly a remarkable analogy of name; Iphigenia being little different from Jephthigenia, or Jephthah's daughter.' Iphigenia was to have been sacrificed to propitiate Diana, by her father's direction. This determination being opposed, the damsel herself decided the matter, by declaring her readiness to die for the welfare of Greece. But at the moment of sacrifice she was saved by Diana, who substituted a hind in her room, and transported her to Tauris, where she became a priestess of the goddess. This looks like a combination of the present narrative with the result of Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac. This, however, is only one out of several versions of Iphigenia's story. The one given by Cicero is more strikingly analogous: 'Agamemnon had vowed to sacrifice to Diana the most beautiful object which should be born that year in his kingdom. Accordingly he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia, because, in that year, nothing had been born which exceeded her in beauty-a vow which he should rather not have performed than commit so cruel an action' (Offices, 1. iii. c. 25). A story still more strikingly illustrative is given by Servius in his note on the Eneid, iii. 121, in which he explains the reason why

Fierce Idomeneus, from Crete was fled,
Expell'd and exiled.'

He was king of Crete; and being, on his return from Troy, overtaken by a storm, he vowed that, if he should be saved, he would offer in sacrifice to the gods the first object that should meet him on his arrival. Most unhappily he was first met by his own son, and, according to some accounts, he did with him according to his vow; but others state, that a plague arose, which, being construed to denote the displeasure of the gods, the citizens not only prevented the sacrifice, but expelled Idomeneus from his kingdom.

CHAPTER XII.

1 The Ephraimites, quarrelling with Jephthah, and discerned by Shibboleth, are slain by the Gileadites. 7 Jephthah dieth. 8 Ibzan, who had thirty sons and thirty daughters, 11 and Elon, 13 and Abdon, who had forty sons and thirty nephews, judge Israel. AND the men of Ephraim 'gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of

Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.

2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.

3 And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: where