J
U D G E S
CHAP. XI.
This
chapter gives as the history of Jephthah, another of Israel's judges, and
numbered among the worthies of the Old Testament, that by faith did great
things (Heb. xi. 32), though he had not such an extraordinary call as the rest
there mentioned had. Here we have, I. The disadvantages of his origin, ver.
1-3. II. The Gileadites' choice of him to be commander-in-chief against the
Ammonites, and the terms he made with them, ver. 4-11. III. His treaty with
the king of Ammon about the rights of the two nations, that the matter might
be determined, if possible, without bloodshed, ver. 12-28. IV. His war with
the Ammonites, which he enters upon with a solemn vow (ver. 29-31), prosecutes
with bravery (ver. 32), and ends with a glorious victory, ver. 33. V. The
straits he was brought into at his return to his own house by the vow he had
made, ver. 34-40.
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Jephthah's
Promotion.
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B.
C. 1143.
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1 Now Jephthah the
Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of a harlot:
and Gilead begat Jephthah. 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.
The princes and people of Gilead we left, in the close of the foregoing
chapter, consulting about the choice of a general, having come to this
resolve, that whoever would undertake to lead their forces against the
children of Ammon should by common consent be head over all the inhabitants of
Gilead. The enterprise was difficult, and it was fit that so great an
encouragement as this should be proposed to him that would undertake it. Now
all agreed that Jephthah, the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valour, and very
fit for that purpose, none so fit as he, but he lay under three
disadvantages:-- 1. He was the son of a harlot (v. 1), of a
strange woman (v. 2), one that was neither a wife nor a concubine;
some think his mother was a Gentile; so Josephus, who calls him a stranger
by the mother's side. An Ishmaelite, say the Jews. If his mother was a
harlot, that was not his fault, however it was his disgrace. Men ought not to
be reproached with any of the infelicities of their parentage or extraction,
so long as they are endeavouring by their personal merits to roll away the
reproach. The son of a harlot, if born again, born from above, shall be
accepted of God, and be as welcome as any other to the glorious liberties of
his children. Jephthah could not read in the law the brand there put on the
Ammonites, the enemies he was to grapple with, that they should not enter
into the congregation of the Lord, but in the same paragraph he met with
that which looked black upon himself, that a bastard should be in like manner
excluded, Deut. xxiii. 2, 3. But if that law means, as most probably it does,
only those that are born of incest, not of fornication, he was not within the
reach of it. 2. He had been driven from his country by his brethren. His
father's legitimate children, insisting upon the rigour of the law, thrust him
out from having any inheritance with them, without any consideration of his
extraordinary qualifications, which merited a dispensation, and would have
made him a mighty strength and ornament of their family, if they had
overlooked his being illegitimate and admitted him to a child's part, v.
2. One would not have thought this abandoned youth was intended to be Israel's
deliverer and judge, but God often humbles those whom he designs to exalt, and
makes that stone the head of the corner which the builders refused; so
Joseph, Moses, and David, the three most eminent of the shepherds of Israel,
were all thrust out by men, before they were called of God to their great
offices. 3. He had, in his exile, headed a rabble, v. 3. Being driven
out by his brethren, his great soul would not suffer him either to dig or beg,
but by his sword he must live; and, being soon noted for his bravery, those
that were reduced to such straits, and animated by such a spirit, enlisted
themselves under him. Vain men they are here called, that is, men that
had run through their estates and had to seek for a livelihood. These went out
with him, not to rob or plunder, but to hunt wild beasts, and perhaps to make
incursions upon those countries which Israel was entitled to, but had not as
yet come to the possession of, or were some way or other injured by. This is
the man that must save Israel. That people had by their idolatry made
themselves children of whoredoms, and aliens from God and his covenant, and
therefore, though God upon their repentance will deliver them, yet, to mortify
them and remind them of their sin, he chooses to do it by a bastard and an
exile.
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 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 elders 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.
Here is, I. The distress which the children of Israel were in upon the
Ammonites' invasion of their country, v. 4. Probably this was the same
invasion with that mentioned, ch. x. 17, when the children of Ammon
were gathered together and encamped in or against Gilead. And those
words, in process of time, refer to what goes immediately before of the
expulsion of Jephthah; many days after he had been thus thrust out in disgrace
was he fetched back again with honour.
II. The court which the elders made to Jephthah hereupon to come and help
them. They did not write or send a messenger to him, but went themselves to
fetch him, resolving to have no denial, and the exigence of the case was such
as would admit no delay. Their errand to him was, Come, and be our captain,
v. 6. They knew none among themselves that was able to undertake that
great trust, but in effect confessed themselves unfit for it; they know him to
be a bold man, and inured to the sword, and therefore he must be the man. See
how God prepared men for the service he designs them for, and makes their
troubles work for their advancement. If Jephthah had not been put to his
shifts by his brethren's unkindness, he would not have had such occasion as
this gave him to exercise and improve his martial genius, and so to signalize
himself and become famous. Out of the eater comes forth meat. The
children of Israel were assembled and encamped, ch. x. 17. But an army
without a general is like a body without a head; therefore Come, say
they, and be our captain, that we may fight. See the necessity of
government; though they were hearty enough in the cause, yet they owned they
could not fight without a captain to command them. So necessary is it to all
societies that there be a pars imperans and a pars subdita, some to
rule and others to obey, that any community would humbly beg the
favour of being commanded rather than that every man should be his own master.
Blessed be God for government, for a good government.
III. The objections Jephthah makes against accepting their offer: Did you
not hate me, and expel me? v. 7. It should seem that his brethren
were some of these elders, or these elders by suffering his brethren to abuse
him, and not righting him as they ought to have done (for their business is to
defend the poor and fatherless, Ps. lxxxii. 3, 4), had made themselves
guilty of his expulsion, and he might justly charge them with it. Magistrates,
that have power to protect those that are injured, if they neglect to redress
their grievances are really guilty of inflicting them. "You hated me and
expelled me, and therefore how can I believe that you are sincere in this
proposal, and how can you expect that I should do you any service?" Not
but that Jephthah was very willing to serve his country, but he thought fit to
give them a hint of their former unkindness to him, that they might repent of
their sin in using him so ill, and might for the future be the more sensible
of their obligations. Thus Joseph humbled his brethren before he made himself
known to them. The particular case between the Gileadites and Jephthah was a
resemblance of the general state of the case between Israel and God at this
time. They had thrust God out by their idolatries, yet in their distress
begged his help; he told them how justly he might have rejected them, and yet
graciously delivered them. So did Jephthah. Many slight God and good men till
they come to be in distress, and then they are desirous of God's mercy and
good men's prayers.
IV. Their urgency with him to accept the government they offer him, v.
8. "Therefore because we formerly did thee that wrong, and to show thee
that we repent of it and would gladly atone for it, we turn again to thee
now, to put such an honour upon thee as shall balance that
indignity." Let this instance be, 1. A caution to us not to despise or
trample upon any because they are mean, nor to be injurious to any that we
have advantage against, because, whatever we think of them now, the time may
come when we may have need of them, and may be glad to be beholden to them. It
is our wisdom to make no man our enemy, because we know not how soon our
distresses may be such as that we may be highly concerned to make him our
friend. 2. An encouragement to men of worth that are slighted or ill-treated.
Let them bear it with meekness and cheerfulness, and leave it to God to make
their light shine out of obscurity. Fuller's remark on this story, in his
"Pisgah Sight," is this: "Virtue once in an age will work her
own advancement, and, when such as hate it chance to need it, they will be
forced to prefer it," and then the honour will appear the brighter.
V. The bargain he makes with them. He had mentioned the injuries they had
formerly done him, but, perceiving their repentance, his spirit was too great
and generous to mention them any more. God had forgiven Israel the affronts
they had put upon him (ch. x. 16), and therefore Jephthah will forgive.
Only he thinks it prudent to make his bargain wisely for the future, since he
deals with men that he had reason to distrust. 1. He puts to them a fair
question, v. 9. He speaks not with too much confidence of his success,
knowing how justly God might suffer the Ammonites to prevail for the further
punishment of Israel; but puts an if upon it. Nor does he speak with
any confidence at all in himself; if he do succeed, it is the Lord that
delivers them into his hand, intending hereby to remind his countrymen to
look up to God, as arbitrator of the controversy and the giver of victory, for
so he did. "Now if, by the blessing of God, I come home a
conqueror, tell me plainly shall I be your head? If I deliver you,
under God, shall I, under him, reform you?" The same question is put to
those who desire salvation by Christ. "If he save you, will you be
willing that he shall rule you? for on no other terms will he save you. If he
make you happy, shall he make you holy? If he be your helper, shall he be your
head?" 2. They immediately give him a positive answer (v. 10):
"We will do according to thy words; command us in war, and thou
shalt command us in peace." They do not take time to consider of it. The
case was too plain to need a debate, and the necessity too pressing to admit a
delay. They knew they had power to conclude a treaty for those whom they
represented, and therefore bound it with an oath, The Lord be witness
between us. They appeal to God's omniscience as the judge of their present
sincerity, and to his justice as an avenger if afterwards they should prove
false. The Lord be a hearer, so the word is. Whatever we speak, it
concerns us to remember that God is a hearer, and to speak accordingly. Thus
was the original contract ratified between Jephthah and the Gileadites, which
all Israel, it should seem, agreed to afterwards, for it is said (ch.
xii. 7), he judged Israel. He hereupon went with them (v. 11) to
the place where they were all assembled (ch. x. 17), and there by
common consent they made him head and captain, and so ratified the
bargain their representatives had made with him, that he should be not only
captain now, but head for life. Jephthah, to obtain this little honour, was
willing to expose his life for them (ch. xii. 3), and shall we be
discouraged in our Christian warfare by any of the difficulties we may meet
with in it, when Christ himself has promised a crown of life to him that
overcometh?
VI. Jephthah's pious acknowledgment of God in this great affair (v.
11): He uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh, that is, upon
his elevation, he immediately retired to his devotions, and in prayer spread
the whole matter before God, both his choice to the office and his execution
of the office, as one that had his eye ever towards the Lord, and would do
nothing without him, that leaned not to his own understanding or courage, but
depended on God and his favour. He utters before God all his thoughts and
cares in this matter; for God gives us leave to be free with him. 1.
"Lord, the people have made me their head; wilt thou confirm the choice,
and own me as thy people's head under thee and for thee?" God justly
complains of Israel (Hos. viii. 4), they have set up kings, but not by me.
"Lord," said Jephthah, "I will be no head of their making
without thee. I will not accept the government unless thou give me
leave." Had Abimelech done this, he might have prospered. 2. "Lord,
they have made me their captain, to go before them in this war with the
Ammonites; shall I have thy presence? Wilt thou go before me? If not, carry me
not up hence. Lord, satisfy me in the justice of the cause. Assure me of
success in the enterprise." This is a rare example, to be imitated by
all, particularly by great ones; in all our ways let us acknowledge God, seek
his favour, ask counsel at his mouth, and take him along with us; so shall we
make our way prosperous. Thus Jephthah opened the campaign with prayer. That
was likely to end gloriously which began thus piously.
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The
War with the Ammonites.
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B.
C. 1143.
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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
Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children
of Ammon: 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. 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. 23 So now the LORD
God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel,
and shouldest thou possess it? 24 Wilt not thou possess that which
Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD
our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. 25
And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of
Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against
them, 26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer
and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of
Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them
within that time? 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.
We have here the treaty between Jephthah, now judge of Israel, and the king of
the Ammonites (who is not named), that the controversy between the two nations
might, if possible, be accommodated without the effusion of blood.
I. Jephthah, as one having authority, sent to the king of Ammon, who in this
war was the aggressor, to demand his reasons for invading the land of Israel:
"Why hast thou come to fight against me in my land? v. 12.
Had I come first into thy land to disturb thee in thy possession, this would
have been reason enough for fighting against me, for how must force be
repelled but by force? but what hast thou to do to come thus in a hostile
manner into my land?" so he calls it, in the name both of God and
Israel. Now this fair demand shows, 1. That Jephthah did not delight in war,
though he was a mighty man of valour, but was willing to prevent it by a
peaceable accommodation. If he could by reason persuade the invaders to
retire, he would not compel them to do it by the sword. War should be the last
remedy, not to be used till all other methods of ending matters in variance
have been tried in vain, ratio ultima regum--the last resource of kings.
This rule should be observed in going to law. The sword of justice, as well as
the sword of war, must not be appealed to till the contending parties have
first endeavoured by gentler means to understand one another, and to
accommodate matters in variance, 1 Cor. vi. 1. 2. That Jephthah did delight
inequity, and designed no other than to do justice. If the children of Ammon
could convince him that Israel had done them wrong, he was ready to restore
the rights of the Ammonites. If not, it was plain by their invasion that they
did Israel wrong, and he was ready to maintain the rights of the Israelites. A
sense of justice should guide and govern us in all our undertakings.
II. The king of the Ammonites now gives in his demand, which he should have
published before he had invaded Israel, v. 13. His pretence is,
"Israel took away my lands long since; now therefore restore those
lands." We have reason to think the Ammonites, when they made this
descent upon Israel, meant no other than to spoil and plunder the country, and
enrich themselves with the prey, as they had done formerly under Eglon (ch.
iii. 13) when no such demand as this was made, though the matter was then
fresh; but when Jephthah demanded the cause of their quarrel, and they could
not for shame own what was their true intent and meaning, some old musty
records were searched, or some ancient traditions enquired into, and from them
this reason was drawn to serve the present turn, for a colourable pretence of
equity in the invasion. Even those that do the greatest wrong yet have such a
conviction in their consciences of justice that they would seem to do right. Restore
those lands. See upon what uncertain terms we hold our worldly
possessions; what we think we have the surest hold of may be challenged from
us, and wrested out of our hands. Those that have got to the heavenly Canaan
need not fear having their titles questioned.
III. Jephthah gives in a very full and satisfactory answer to this demand,
showing it to be altogether unjust and unreasonable, and that the Ammonites
had no title to this country that lay between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok, now
in the possession of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. As one very well versed in
the history of his country, he shows,
1. That Israel never took any land away either from the Moabites or Ammonites.
He puts them together because they were brethren, the children of Lot, near
neighbours, and of united interests, having the same god, Chemosh, and perhaps
sometimes the same king. The lands in question Israel took away, not from the
Moabites or Ammonites (they had particular orders from God not to meddle with
them nor any thing they had, Deut. ii. 9, 19, and religiously observed their
orders), but they found them in the possession of Sihon king of the Amorites,
and out of his hand they took them justly and honourably, as he will show
afterwards. If the Amorites, before Israel came into that country, had taken
these lands from the Moabites or Ammonites, as it should seem they had (Num.
xxi. 26; Josh. xiii. 25), Israel was not concerned to enquire into that or
answer for it. If the Ammonites had lost these lands and their title to them,
the children of Israel were under no obligation to recover the possession for
them. Their business was to conquer for themselves, not for other people. This
is his first plea, "Not guilty of the trespass."
2. That they were so far from invading the property of any other nations than
the devoted posterity of cursed Canaan (one of the branches of which the
Amorites were, Gen. x. 16) that they would not so much as force a passage
through the country either of the Edomites, the seed of Esau, or of the
Moabites, the seed of Lot; but even after a very tedious march through the
wilderness, with which they were sadly tired (v. 16), when the king of
Edom first, and afterwards the king of Moab, denied them the courtesy of a way
through their country (v. 17), rather than give them any offence or
annoyance, weary as they were, they put themselves to the further fatigue of
compassing both the land of Edom and that of Moab, and came not within the
border of either, v. 18. Note, Those that behave themselves
inoffensively may take the comfort of it, and plead it against those that
charge them with injustice and wrong doing. Our righteousness will answer
for us in time to come (Gen. xxx. 33) and will put to silence the
ignorance of foolish men, 1 Pet. ii. 15.
3. That in that war in which they took this land out of the hands of Sihon
king of the Amorites he was the aggressor, and not they, v. 19, 20.
They sent a humble petition to him for leave to go through his land, willing
to give him any security for their good behaviour in their march. "Let
us pass (say they) unto our place, that is, to the land of Canaan,
which is the only place we call ours, and to which we are pressing forward,
not designing a settlement here." But Sihon not only denied them this
courtesy, as Edom and Moab had done (had he only done so, who knows but Israel
might have gone about some other way?) but he mustered all his forces, and
fought against Israel (v. 20), not only shut them out of his own land,
but would have cut them off from the face of the earth (Num. xxi. 23, 24),
aimed at nothing less than their ruin, v. 20. Israel therefore, in
their war with him, stood in their own just and necessary defence, and
therefore, having routed his army, might justly, in further revenge of the
injury, seize his country as forfeited. Thus Israel came to the possession of
this country, and doubted not to make good their title to it; and it is very
unreasonable for the Ammonites to question their title, for the Amorites were
the inhabitants of that country, and it was purely their land and their coasts
that the Israelites then made themselves masters of, v. 21, 22.
4. He pleads a grant from the crown, and claims under that, v. 23, 24.
It was not Israel (they were fatigued with their long march, and were not fit
for action so soon), but it was the Lord God of Israel, who is King of
nations, whose the earth is and the fulness thereof, he it was that
dispossessed the Amorites and planted Israel in their room. God gave them the
land by an express and particular conveyance, such as vested the title in
them, which they might make good against all the world. Deut. ii. 24, I
have given into thy hand Sihon and his land; he gave it to them, by giving
them a complete victory over the present occupants, notwithstanding the great
disadvantages they were under. "Can you think that God gave it to us in
such an extraordinary manner with design that we should return it to the
Moabites or Ammonites again? No, we put a higher value upon God's favours than
to part with them so easily." To corroborate this plea, he urges an
argument ad hominem--directed to the man: Wilt not thou possess that
which Chemosh thy god giveth thee? He not only appeals to the common
resolutions of men to hold their own against all the world, but to the common
religion of the nations, which, they thought, obliged them to make much of
that which their gods gave them. Not that Jephthah thought Chemosh a god, only
he is thy god, and the worshippers even of those dunghill deities that
could do neither good nor evil yet thought themselves beholden to them for all
they had (Hos. ii. 12, These are my rewards which my lovers have given me;
and see Judg. xvi. 24) and made this a reason why they would hold it fast,
that their gods gave it to them. "This thou thinkest a good title, and
shall not we?" The Ammonites had dispossessed those that dwelt in their
land before them; they thought they did it by the help of Chemosh their god,
but really it was Jehovah the God of Israel that did it for them, as is
expressly said, Deut. ii. 19, 21. "Now," says Jephthah, "we
have as good a title to our country as you have to yours." Note, One
instance of the honour and respect we owe to God, as our God, is rightly to
possess that which he gives us to possess, receive it from him, use it for
him, keep it for his sake, and part with it when he calls for it. He has given
it to us to possess, not to enjoy. He himself only must be enjoyed.
5. He pleads prescription. (1.) Their title had not been disputed when they
first entered upon it, v. 25. "Balak who was then king of Moab,
from whom the greatest part of these lands had been taken by the Amorites, and
who was most concerned and best able to oppose us, if he had had any thing to
object against our settlement there, yet sat still, and never offered to
strive against Israel." He knew that for his own part he had fairly lost
it to the Amorites and was not able to recover it, and could not but
acknowledge that Israel had fairly won it of the Amorites, and therefore all
his care was to secure what was left: he never pretended a title to what was
lost. See Num. xxii. 2, 3. "He then acquiesced in God's way of disposing
of kingdoms, and wilt not thou now?" (2.) Their possession had never yet
been disturbed, v. 26. He pleads that they had kept this country as
their own now about 300 years, and the Ammonites in all that time had never
attempted to take it from them, no, not when they had it in their power to
oppress them, ch. iii. 13, 14. So that, supposing their title had not
been clear at the first (which yet he had proved it was), yet, no claim having
been made for so many generations, the entry of the children of Ammon, without
doubt, was barred for ever. A title so long unquestioned shall be presumed
unquestionable.
6. By these arguments Jephthah justifies himself and his own cause ("I
have not sinned against thee in taking or keeping what I have no right to; if
I had, I would instantly make restitution" ), and condemns the Ammonites:
"Thou doest me wrong to war against me, and must expect to speed
accordingly," v. 27. It seems to me an evidence that the children
of Israel, in the days of their prosperity and power (for some such days they
had in the times of the judges) had conducted themselves very inoffensively to
all their neighbours and had not been vexatious or oppressing to them (either
by way of reprisal or under colour of propagating their religion), that the
king of the Ammonites, when he would seek an occasion of quarrelling with
them, was forced to look 300 years back for a pretence. It becomes the people
of God thus to be blameless and harmless, and without rebuke.
7. For the deciding of the controversy, he puts himself upon God and his
sword, and the king of Ammon joins issue with him (v. 27, 28): The
Lord the Judge be judge this day. With this solemn reference of the matter
to the Judge of heaven and earth he designs either to deter the Ammonites from
proceeding and oblige them to retire, when they saw the right of the cause was
against them, or to justify himself in subduing them if they should go on.
Note, War is an appeal to heaven, to God the Judge of all, to whom the issues
of it belong. If doubtful rights be disputed, he is hereby requested to
determine them. If manifest rights be invaded or denied, he is hereby applied
to for the vindicating of what is just and the punishing of wrong. As the
sword of justice was made for lawless and disobedient persons (1 Tim. i. 9),
so was the sword of war made for lawless and disobedient princes and nations.
In war therefore the eye must be ever up to God, and it must always be thought
a dangerous thing to desire or expect that God should patronise
unrighteousness.
Neither Jephthah's apology, nor his appeal, wrought upon the king of the
children of Ammon; they had found the sweets of the spoil of Israel, in the
eighteen years wherein they had oppressed them (ch. x. 8), and hoped
now to make themselves masters of the tree with the fruit of which they had so
often enriched themselves. He hearkened not to the words of Jephthah, his
heart being hardened to his destruction.
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Jephthah's
Vow.
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B.
C. 1143.
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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. 32 So Jephthah passed
over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD
delivered them into his hands. 33 And he smote them from Aroer,
even till thou come to Minneth, 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; beside her he had
neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her,
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 the mountains, and
bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. 38 And he said, Go. And he
sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and
bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. 39 And it came to pass
at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according
to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in
Israel, 40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to
lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
We have here Jephthah triumphing in a glorious victory, but, as an alloy to
his joy, troubled and distressed by an unadvised vow.
I. Jephthah's victory was clear, and shines very brightly, both to his honour
and to the honour of God, his in pleading and God's in owning a righteous
cause. 1. God gave him an excellent spirit, and he improved it bravely, v.
29. When it appeared by the people's unanimous choice of him for their leader
that he had so clear a call to engage, and by the obstinate deafness of the
king of Ammon to the proposals of accommodation that he had so just a cause to
engage in, then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and very much advanced
his natural faculties, enduing him with power from on high, and making him
more bold and more wise than ever he had been, and more fired with a holy zeal
against the enemies of his people. Hereby God confirmed him in his office, and
assured him of success in his undertaking. Thus animated, he loses no time,
but with an undaunted resolution takes the field. Particular notice is taken
of the way by which he advanced towards the enemy's camp, probably because the
choice of it was an instance of that extraordinary discretion with which the
Spirit of the Lord had furnished him; for those who sincerely walk after the
Spirit shall be led forth the right way. 2. God gave him eminent success, and
he bravely improved that too (v. 32): The Lord delivered the
Ammonites into his hand, and so gave judgment upon the appeal in favour of
the righteous cause, and made those feel the force of war that would not yield
to the force of reason; for he sits in the throne, judging right.
Jephthah lost not the advantages given him, but pursued and completed his
victory. Having routed their forces in the field, he pursued them to their
cities, where he put to the sword all he found in arms, so as utterly to
disable them from giving Israel any molestation, v. 33. But it does not
appear that he utterly destroyed the people, as Joshua had destroyed the
devoted nations, nor that he offered to make himself master of the country,
though their pretensions to the land of Israel might have given him colour to
do so: only he took care that they should be effectually subdued. Though
others' attempting wrong to us will justify us in the defence of our own
right, yet it will not authorize us to do them wrong.
II. Jephthah's vow is dark, and much in the clouds. When he was going out from
his own house upon this hazardous undertaking, in prayer to God for his
presence with him he makes a secret but solemn vow or religious promise to
God, that, if God would graciously bring him back a conqueror, whosoever or
whatsoever should first come out of his house to meet him it should be devoted
to God, and offered up for a burnt-offering. At his return, tidings of his
victory coming home before him, his own and only daughter meets him with the
seasonable expressions of joy. This puts him into a great confusion; but there
was no remedy: after she had taken some time to lament her own infelicity, she
cheerfully submitted to the performance of his vow. Now,
1. There are several good lessons to be learnt out of this story. (1.) That
there may be remainders of distrust and doubting even in the hearts of true
and great believers. Jephthah had reason enough to be confident of success,
especially when he found the Spirit of the Lord come upon him, and yet,
now that it comes to the settling, he seems to hesitate (v. 30): If
thou wilt without fail deliver them into my hand, then I will do so and
so. And perhaps the snare into which his vow brought him was designed to
correct the weakness of his faith, and a fond conceit he had that he could not
promise himself a victory unless he proffered something considerable to be
given to God in lieu of it. (2.) That yet it is very good, when we are in the
pursuit or expectation of any mercy, to make vows to God of some instance of
acceptable service to him, not as a purchase of the favour we desire, but as
an expression of our gratitude to him and the deep sense we have of our
obligations to render according to the benefit done to us. The matter of such
a singular vow (Lev. xxvii. 2) must be something that has a plain and direct
tendency either to the advancement of God's glory, and the interests of his
kingdom among men, or to the furtherance of ourselves in his service, and in
that which is antecedently our duty. (3.) That we have great need to be very
cautious and well advised in the making of such vows, lest, by indulging a
present emotion even of pious zeal, we entangle our own consciences, involve
ourselves in perplexities, and are forced at last to say before the angel
that it was an error, Eccl. v. 2-6. It is a snare to a man hastily
to devour that which is holy, without due consideration quid valeant
humeri, quid ferre recusent--what we are able or unable to effect, and
without inserting the needful provisos and limitations which might prevent the
entanglement, and then after vows to make the enquiry which should have been
made before, Prov. xx. 25. Let Jephthah's harm be our warning in this matter.
See Deut. xxiii. 22. (4.) That what we have solemnly vowed to God we must
conscientiously perform, if it be possible and lawful, though it be ever so
difficult and grievous to us. Jephthah's sense of the powerful obligation of
his vow must always be ours (v. 35): "I have opened my mouth
unto the Lord in a solemn vow, and I cannot go back," that is,
"I cannot recall the vow myself, it is too late, nor can any power on
earth dispense with it, or give me up my bond." The thing was my own, and
in my own power (Acts v. 4), but now it is not. Vow and pay, Ps.
lxxvi. 11. We deceive ourselves if we think to mock God. If we apply this to
the consent we have solemnly given, in our sacramental vows, to the covenant
of grace made with poor sinners in Christ, what a powerful argument will it be
against the sins we have by those vows bound ourselves out from, what a strong
inducement to the duties we have hereby bound ourselves up to, and what a
ready answer to every temptation! "I have opened my mouth to the Lord,
and I cannot go back; I must therefore go forward. I have sworn, and I
must, I will, perform it. Let me not dare to play fast and loose with
God." (5.) That it well becomes children obediently and cheerfully to
submit to their parents in the Lord, and particularly to comply with their
pious resolutions for the honour of God and the keeping up of religion in
their families, though they be harsh and severe, as the Rechabites, who for
many generations religiously observed the commands of Jonadab their father in
forbearing wine, and Jephthah's daughter here, who, for the satisfying of her
father's conscience, and for the honour of God and her country, yielded
herself as one devoted (v. 36): "Do to me according to that
which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; I know I am dear to thee, but am
well content that God should be dearer." The father might disallow any
vow made by the daughter (Num. xxx. 5), but the daughter could not disallow or
disannul, no, not such a vow as this, made by the father. This magnifies the
law of the fifth commandment. (6.) That our friends' grievances should be our
griefs. Where she went to bewail her hard fate the virgins, her companions,
joined with her in her lamentations, v. 38. With those of her own sex
and age she used to associate, who no doubt, now that her father had on a
sudden grown so great, expected, shortly after his return, to dance at her
wedding, but were heavily disappointed when they were called to retire to the
mountains with her and share in her griefs. Those are unworthy the name of
friends that will only rejoice with us, and not weep with us. (7.) That heroic
zeal for the honour of God and Israel, though alloyed with infirmity and
indiscretion, is worthy to be had in perpetual remembrance. It well became the
daughters of Israel by an annual solemnity to preserve the honourable memory
of Jephthah's daughter, who made light even of her own life like a noble
heroine, when God had taken vengeance on Israel's enemies, v. 36. Such
a rare instance of one that preferred the public interest before life itself
was never to be forgotten. Her sex forbade her to follow to the war, and so to
expose her life in battle, in lieu of which she hazards it much more (and
perhaps apprehended that she did so, having some intimation of his vow, and
did it designedly; for he tells her, v. 35, Thou hast brought me
very low) to grace his triumphs. So transported was she with the victory
as a common benefit that she was willing to be herself offered up as a
thank-offering for it, and would think her life well bestowed when laid down
on so great an occasion. She thinks it an honour to die, not as a sacrifice of
atonement for the people's sins (that honour was reserved for Christ only),
but as a sacrifice of acknowledgment for the people's mercies. (8.) From
Jephthah's concern on this occasion, we must learn not to think it strange if
the day of our triumphs in this world prove upon some account or other the day
of our griefs, and therefore must always rejoice with trembling; we hope for a
day of triumph hereafter which will have no alloy.
2. Yet there are some difficult questions that do arise upon this story which
have very much employed the pens of learned men. I will say but little
respecting them, because Mr. Poole has discussed them very fully in his
English annotations.
(1.) It is hard to say what Jephthah did to his daughter in performance of his
vow. [1.] Some think he only shut her up for a nun, and that it being
unlawful, according to one part of his vow (for they make it disjunctive), to
offer her up for a burnt-offering, he thus, according to the other part,
engaged her to be the Lord's, that is, totally to sequester herself
from all the affairs of this life, and consequently from marriage, and to
employ herself wholly in the acts of devotion all her days. That which
countenances this opinion is that she is said to bewail her virginity (v.
37, 38) and that she knew no man, v. 39. But, if he sacrificed
her, it was proper enough for her to bewail, not her death, because that was
intended to be for the honour of God, and she would undergo it cheerfully, but
that unhappy circumstance of it which made it more grievous to her than any
other, because she was her father's only child, in whom he hoped his name and
family would be built up, that she was unmarried, and so left no issue to
inherit her father's honour and estate; therefore it is particularly taken
notice of (v. 34) that besides her he had neither son nor daughter. But
that which makes me think Jephthah did not go about thus to satisfy his vow,
or evade it rather, is that we do not find any law, usage, or custom, in all
the Old Testament, which does in the least intimate that a single life was any
branch or article of religion, or that any person, man or woman, was looked
upon as the more holy, more the Lord's, or devoted to him, for living
unmarried: it was no part of the law either of the priests or of the Nazarites.
Deborah and Huldah, both prophetesses, are both of them particularly recorded
to have been married women. Besides, had she only been confined to a single
life, she needed not to have desired these two months to bewail it in: she had
her whole life before her to do that, if she saw cause. Nor needed she to take
such a sad leave of her companions; for those that are of that opinion
understand what is said in v. 40 of their coming to talk with her,
as our margin reads it, four days in a year. Therefore, [2.] It seems more
probable that he offered her up for a sacrifice, according to the letter of
his vow, misunderstanding that law which spoke of persons devoted by the curse
of God as if it were to be applied to such as were devoted by men's vows (Lev.
xxvii. 29, None devoted shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death),
and wanting to be better informed of the power the law gave him in this case
to redeem her. Abraham's attempt to offer up Isaac perhaps encouraged him, and
made him think, if God would not accept this sacrifice which he had vowed, he
would send an angel to stay his hand, as he did Abraham's. If she came out
designedly to be made a sacrifice, as who knows but she might? perhaps he
thought that would make the case the plainer. Volenti non sit injuria--No
injury is done to a person by that to which he himself consents. He
imagined, it may be, that where there was neither anger nor malice there was
no murder, and that his good intention would sanctify this bad action; and,
since he had made such a vow, he thought better to kill his daughter than
break his vow, and let Providence bear the blame, that brought her forth to
meet him.
(2.) But, supposing that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, the question is
whether he did well. [1.] Some justify him in it, and think he did well, and
as became one that preferred the honour of God before that which was dearest
to him in this world. He is mentioned among the eminent believers who by faith
did great things, Heb. xi. 32. And this was one of the great things he did. It
was done deliberately, and upon two months' consideration and consultation. He
is never blamed for it by any inspired writer. Though it highly exalts the
paternal authority, yet it cannot justify any in doing the like. He was an
extraordinary person. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Many
circumstances, now unknown to us, might make this altogether extraordinary,
and justify it, yet not so as that it might justify the like. Some learned men
have made this sacrifice a figure of Christ the great sacrifice: he was of
unspotted purity and innocency, as she a chaste virgin; he was devoted to
death by his Father, and so made a curse, or an anathema, for us; he submitted
himself, as she did, to his Father's will: Not as I will, but as thou wilt.
But, [2.] Most condemn Jephthah; he did ill to make so rash a vow, and worse
to perform it. He could not be bound by his vow to that which God had
forbidden by the letter of the sixth commandment: Thou shalt not kill.
God had forbidden human sacrifices, so that it was (says Dr. Lightfoot) in
effect a sacrifice to Moloch. And, probably, the reason why it is left dubious
by the inspired penman whether he sacrificed her or no was that those who did
afterwards offer their children might not take any encouragement from this
instance. Concerning this and some other such passages in the sacred story,
which learned men are in the dark, divided, and in doubt about, we need not
much perplex ourselves; what is necessary to our salvation, thanks be to God,
is plain enough.
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