Judges 11:31

Contemporary English Version

and come home safely, I will sacrifice to you whoever comes out to meet me first."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering.”

Hebrew Names Version
then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in shalom from the children of `Ammon, it shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will be Yahweh's, and I will offer it as a burnt offering."

English Standard Version
then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord 's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."

New Century Version
I will give you as a burnt offering the first thing that comes out of my house to meet me when I return from the victory. It will be the Lord 's."

New English Translation
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."

Amplified Bible
then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites, it shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

New American Standard Bible
then whatever comes out the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then that thing that commeth out of the doores of mine house to meete me, when I come home in peace from the children of Ammon, shall be the Lordes, and I will offer it for a burnt offering.

Legacy Standard Bible
dan sal wat uitkom, wat uit die deure van my huis uitkom my tegemoet, as ek in vrede terugkom van die kinders van Ammon, aan die HERE behoort, en ek sal dit as 'n brandoffer bring.

Complete Jewish Bible
then whatever comes out the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of ‘Amon will belong to Adonai ; I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."

Darby Translation
then shall that which cometh forth from the door of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.

Easy-to-Read Version
I will give you the first thing that comes out of my house when I come back from the victory. I will give it to the Lord as a burnt offering."

George Lamsa Translation
Then whosoever comes forth of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall be the LORDS, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering.

Good News Translation
I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice."

Literal Translation
then it shall be that anything which comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall belong to Jehovah; and I will offer it instead of a burnt offering.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
what so euer commeth (first) out at the dore of my house in my waye, whan I returne agayne peaceably from the childre of Ammon, that same shalbe the LORDES, and I wyl offre it for a burtnofferynge.

American Standard Version
then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.

Bible in Basic English
Then whoever comes out from the door of my house, meeting me when I come back in peace from the children of Ammon, will be the Lord's and I will give him as a burned offering.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then that thing that commeth out of the doores of my house against me, whe I come home in peace from the children of Ammon, shalbe the Lordes, and I will offer it vp for a burnt offering.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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, it shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.'

King James Version (1611)
Then it shall be, that whatsoeuer commeth forth of the doores of my house to meete me, when I returne in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lords, and I will offer it vp for a burnt offering.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
then it shall come to pass that whosoever shall first come out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, he shall be the Lord’s: I will offer him up for a whole-burnt-offering.

English Revised Version
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, it shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

Berean Standard Bible
then whatever comes out of the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
who euer goith out first of the dores of myn hows, and cometh ayens me turnynge ayen with pees fro the sones of Amon, Y schal offre hym brent sacrifice to the Lord.

Young's Literal Translation
then it hath been, that which at all cometh out from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning back in peace from the Bene-Ammon -- it hath been to Jehovah, or I have offered up for it -- a burnt-offering.'

Update Bible Version
then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then it shall be, that whatever cometh out 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 for a burnt-offering.

World English Bible
then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

New King James Version
then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

New Living Translation
I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."

New Life Bible
And I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of Ammon. I will give it to the Lord as a burnt gift."

New Revised Standard
then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord 's, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
then shall it be, that, whosoever cometh forth out of the doors of my house, to meet me, when I return successful, from the sons of Ammon, shall belong unto Yahweh, and I will offer him up, as an ascending-sacrifice.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Whosoever shall first come forth out of the doors of my house, and shall meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, the same will I offer a holocaust to the Lord.

Revised Standard Version
then whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the LORD's, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

Contextual Overview

²⁹ So Jephthah went back to Mizpah with the leaders of Gilead. The people of Gilead gathered at the place of worship and made Jephthah their ruler. Jephthah also made promises to them. After the ceremony, Jephthah sent messengers to say to the king of Ammon, "Are you trying to start a war? You have invaded my country, and I want to know why!" The king of Ammon replied, "Tell Jephthah that the land really belongs to me, all the way from the Arnon River in the south, to the Jabbok River in the north, and west to the Jordan River. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole it. Tell Jephthah to return it to me, and there won't be any war." Jephthah sent the messengers back to the king of Ammon, and they told him that Jephthah had said: Israel hasn't taken any territory from Moab or Ammon. When the Israelites came from Egypt, they traveled in the desert to the Red Sea and then to Kadesh. They sent messengers to the king of Edom and said, "Please, let us go through your country." But the king of Edom refused. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he wouldn't let them cross his country either. And so the Israelites stayed at Kadesh. A little later, the Israelites set out into the desert, going east of Edom and Moab, and camping on the eastern side of the Arnon River gorge. The Arnon is the eastern border of Moab, and since the Israelites didn't cross it, they didn't even set foot in Moab. The Israelites sent messengers to the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. "Please," they said, "let our people go through your country to get to our own land." Sihon didn't think the Israelites could be trusted, so he called his army together. They set up camp at Jahaz, then they attacked the Israelite camp. But the Lord God helped Israel defeat Sihon and his army. Israel took over all of the Amorite land where Sihon's people had lived, from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and from the desert in the east to the Jordan River in the west. The messengers also told the king of Ammon that Jephthah had said: The Lord God of Israel helped his nation get rid of the Amorites and take their land. Now do you think you're going to take over that same territory? If Chemosh your god takes over a country and gives it to you, don't you have a right to it? And if the Lord takes over a country and gives it to us, the land is ours! Are you better than Balak the son of Zippor? He was the king of Moab, but he didn't quarrel with Israel or start a war with us. For three hundred years, Israelites have been living in Heshbon and Aroer and the nearby villages, and in the towns along the Arnon River gorge. If the land really belonged to you Ammonites, you wouldn't have waited until now to try to get it back. I haven't done anything to you, but it's certainly wrong of you to start a war. I pray that the Lord will show whether Israel or Ammon is in the right. But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah's message. Then the Lord 's Spirit took control of Jephthah, and Jephthah went through Gilead and Manasseh, raising an army. Finally, he arrived at Mizpah in Gilead, where ³⁰ he promised the Lord , "If you will let me defeat the Ammonites ³¹ and come home safely, I will sacrifice to you whoever comes out to meet me first." ³² From Mizpah, Jephthah attacked the Ammonites, and the Lord helped him defeat them. ³³ Jephthah and his army destroyed the twenty towns between Aroer and Minnith, and others as far as Abel-Keramim. After that, the Ammonites could not invade Israel any more. ³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, the first one to meet him was his daughter. She was playing a tambourine and dancing to celebrate his victory, and she was his only child. ³⁵ "Oh!" Jephthah cried. Then he tore his clothes in sorrow and said to his daughter, "I made a sacred promise to the Lord , and I must keep it. Your coming out to meet me has broken my heart." ³⁶ "Father," she said, "you made a sacred promise to the Lord , and he let you defeat the Ammonites. Now, you must do what you promised, even if it means I must die. ³⁷ But first, please let me spend two months, wandering in the hill country with my friends. We will cry together, because I can never get married and have children." ³⁸ "Yes, you may have two months," Jephthah said. She and some other girls left, and for two months they wandered in the hill country, crying because she could never get married and have children.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

whatsoever: etc. Heb. that which cometh forth, which shall come forth

shall surely: Leviticus 27:2, Leviticus 27:3, Leviticus 27:28, Leviticus 27:29, 1 Samuel 1:11, 1 Samuel 1:28, 1 Samuel 2:18, 1 Samuel 14:24, 1 Samuel 14:44, Psalms 66:13, Psalms 66:14

and I will: or, or I will, etc. Wehaaleetheehoo olah, rather, as Dr. Randolph and others contend, "and I will offer Him (or to Him, i.e., Jehovah) a burnt offering;" for hoo may with much more propriety be referred to the person to whom the sacrifice was to be made, than to the thing to be sacrificed. Unless understood in this way, or as the marginal reading, it must have been the vow of a heathen or a madman. If a dog, or other uncleaned animal had met him, he could not have made it a burnt offering; or if his neighbour's wife, sons, etc., his vow gave him no right over them. Leviticus 27:11, Leviticus 27:12, Deuteronomy 23:18, Psalms 66:13, Isaiah 66:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 22:2 - and offer Genesis 28:20 - vowed Genesis 28:21 - I come Leviticus 5:4 - to do evil Numbers 30:2 - vow a vow Deuteronomy 23:23 - That which Judges 11:39 - did with Judges 21:1 - There 2 Kings 3:27 - offered him Micah 6:7 - shall Matthew 14:9 - the oath's

Cross-References

Genesis 11:2
but after some of them moved from the east and settled in Babylonia,

Genesis 11:3
they said: Let's build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We'll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We'll become famous, and we won't be scattered all over the world.

Genesis 11:5
But when the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower,

Genesis 11:26
After Terah was seventy years old, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran, who became the father of Lot. Terah's sons were born in the city of Ur in Chaldea, and Haran died there before the death of his father. The following is the story of Terah's descendants.

Genesis 12:4
Abram was seventy-five years old when the Lord told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had gotten while in Haran. When they came to the land of Canaan,

Genesis 15:7
The Lord said to Abram, "I brought you here from Ur in Chaldea, and I gave you this land."

Genesis 24:10
Soon after that, the servant loaded ten of Abraham's camels with valuable gifts. Then he set out for the city in northern Syria, where Abraham's brother Nahor lived.

Genesis 24:15
While he was still praying, a beautiful unmarried young woman came by with a water jar on her shoulder. She was Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Abraham's brother Nahor and his wife Milcah. Rebekah walked past Abraham's servant, then went over to the well, and filled her water jar. When she started back,

Genesis 27:43
Now listen carefully and do what I say. Go to the home of my brother Laban in Haran

Hebrews 11:8
Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me,.... If this phrase, "to meet me", is meant intentionally, then no other than an human creature can be meant; a child, or servant, or any other of mankind; for none else could come forth with a design to meet him: but if this is to be understood eventually, of what might meet him, though not with design, then any other creature may be intended; and it must be meant what came forth first, as the Vulgate Latin version expresses it, or otherwise many might come forth at such a time:

when I return in peace from the children of Ammon: safe in his own person, and having conquered the Ammonites, and restored peace to Israel:

shall surely be the Lord's; be devoted to him, and made use of, or the price of it, with which it is redeemed, in his service: and I will offer it for a burnt offering; that is, if it is what according to the law may be offered up, as an ox, sheep, ram, or lamb; some read the words disjunctively, "or I will offer it", c. it shall either be devoted to the Lord in the manner that persons or things, according to the law, are directed to be or it shall be offered up for a burnt offering, if fit and proper for the service; so Joseph and David Kimchi, Ben Melech, and Abarbinel, with others, interpret it; but such a disjunction is objected to as improper and ridiculous, to distinguish two sentences, when the one is more general, and the other more special.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The words of this verse prove conclusively that Jephthah intended his vow to apply to human beings, not animals: for only one of his household could be expected to come forth from the door of his house to meet him. They also preclude any other meaning than that Jephthah contemplated a human sacrifice. This need not, however, surprise us, when we recollect his Syrian birth and long residence in a Syrian city, where such fierce rites were probably common. The Syrians and Phoenicians were conspicuous among the ancient pagan nations for human sacrifices, and the transfer, under such circumstances, to Yahweh of the rites with which the false gods were honored, is just what one might expect. The circumstance of the Spirit of the Lord coming on Jephthah Judges 11:29 is no difficulty; as it by no means follows that because the Spirit of God endued him with supernatural valor and energy for vanquishing the Ammonites, He therefore also endued him with spiritual knowledge and wisdom. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, but that did not prevent his erring in the matter of the ephod Judges 8:27. Compare 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Galatians 2:11-14.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 11:31. Shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering. — The text is והיה ליהוה והעליתיהו עולה vehayah layhovah, vehaalithihu olah; the translation of which, according to the most accurate Hebrew scholars, is this: I will consecrate it to the Lord, or I will offer it for a burnt-offering; that is, "If it be a thing fit for a burnt-offering, it shall be made one; if fit for the service of God, it shall be consecrated to him." That conditions of this kind must have been implied in the vow, is evident enough; to have been made without them, it must have been the vow of a heathen, or a madman. If a dog had met him, this could not have been made a burnt-offering; and if his neighbour or friend's wife, son, or daughter, c., had been returning from a visit to his family, his vow gave him no right over them. Besides, human sacrifices were ever an abomination to the Lord and this was one of the grand reasons why God drove out the Canaanites, c., because they offered their sons and daughters to Molech in the fire, i.e., made burnt-offerings of them, as is generally supposed. That Jephthah was a deeply pious man, appears in the whole of his conduct and that he was well acquainted with the law of Moses, which prohibited all such sacrifices, and stated what was to be offered in sacrifice, is evident enough from his expostulation with the king and people of Ammon, Judges 11:14-27. Therefore it must be granted that he never made that rash vow which several suppose he did; nor was he capable, if he had, of executing it in that most shocking manner which some Christian writers ("tell it not in Gath") have contended for. He could not commit a crime which himself had just now been an executor of God's justice to punish in others.

It has been supposed that "the text itself might have been read differently in former times; if instead of the words והעליתיהו עולה, I will offer IT a burnt-offering, we read והעליתי הוא עולה, I will offer HIM (i.e., the Lord) a burnt-offering: this will make a widely different sense, more consistent with everything that is sacred; and it is formed by the addition of only a single letter, (א aleph,) and the separation of the pronoun from the verb. Now the letter א aleph is so like the letter ע ain, which immediately follows it in the word עולה olah, that the one might easily have been lost in the other, and thus the pronoun be joined to the verb as at present, where it expresses the thing to be sacrificed instead of the person to whom the sacrifice was to be made. With this emendation the passage will read thus: Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors or my house to meet me - shall be the Lord's; and I will offer HIM a burnt-offering." For this criticism there is no absolute need, because the pronoun הו hu, in the above verse, may with as much propriety be translated him as it. The latter part of the verse is, literally, And I will offer him a burnt-offering, עולה olah, not לעולה leolah, FOR a burnt-offering, which is the common Hebrew form when for is intended to be expressed. This is strong presumption that the text should be thus understood: and this avoids the very disputable construction which is put on the ו vau, in והעליתיהו vehaalithihu, OR I will offer IT up, instead of AND I will offer HIM a burnt-offering.

"From Judges 11:39 it appears evident that Jephthah's daughter was not SACRIFICED to God, but consecrated to him in a state of perpetual virginity; for the text says, She knew no man, for this was a statute in Israel. ותהי חק בישראל vattehi chok beyishrael; viz., that persons thus dedicated or consecrated to God, should live in a state of unchangeable celibacy. Thus this celebrated place is, without violence to any part of the text, or to any proper rule of construction, cleared of all difficulty, and caused to speak a language consistent with itself, and with the nature of God."

Those who assert that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, attempt to justify the opinion from the barbarous usages of those times: but in answer to this it may be justly observed, that Jephthah was now under the influence of the Spirit of God, Judges 11:29; and that Spirit could not permit him to imbrue his hands in the blood of his own child; and especially under the pretence of offering a pleasing sacrifice to that God who is the Father of mankind, and the Fountain of love, mercy, and compassion.

The versions give us but little assistance in clearing the difficulties of the text. In the Targum of Jonathan there is a remarkable gloss which should be mentioned, and from which it will appear that the Targumist supposed that the daughter of Jephthah was actually sacrificed: "And he fulfilled the vow which he had vowed upon her; and she knew no man: and it was made a statute in Israel, [that no man should offer his son or his daughter for a burnt-offering, as did Jephthah the Gileadite, who did not consult Phinehas the priest; for if he had consulted Phinehas the priest, he would have redeemed her with money."]

The Targumist refers here to the law, Leviticus 27:1-5, where the Lord prescribes the price at which either males or females, who had been vowed to the Lord, might be redeemed. "When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord at thy estimation: the male from twenty years old even unto sixty, shall be fifty shekels of silver; and if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels; and from five years old unto twenty years, the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten." This also is an argument that the daughter of Jephthah was not sacrificed; as the father had it in his power, at a very moderate price, to have redeemed her: and surely the blood of his daughter must have been of more value in his sight than thirty shekels of silver.

Dr. Hales has entered largely into the subject: his observations may be seen at the end of this chapter.