Judges 11 30

Judges 11:30 kjv

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

Judges 11:30 nkjv

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,

Judges 11:30 niv

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands,

Judges 11:30 esv

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand,

Judges 11:30 nlt

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, "If you give me victory over the Ammonites,

Judges 11 verses

Judges 11 30 Meaning

Judges 11:30 begins the declaration of Jephthah's conditional vow to the Lord. Facing imminent battle with the Ammonites, Jephthah seeks divine assistance, pledging a reciprocal action if God grants him victory. This verse establishes the condition: if the Lord delivers the Ammonites into his control, Jephthah promises something in return, which is revealed in the subsequent verse. It reveals Jephthah's desperate reliance on God for victory, but also hints at a possibly rash or human-driven approach to divine partnership.

Judges 11 30 Context

This verse occurs at a critical juncture in the narrative of Jephthah, the judge of Israel. The immediate context of Judges 11 begins with Jephthah, an outcast, being sought out by the elders of Gilead to lead them against the oppressive Ammonites (Judg 11:4-11). After attempting diplomacy (Judg 11:12-28), which fails due to the Ammonites' unjustified land claims and the Lord's clear instruction that Israel owned the land (Judg 11:21-26), Jephthah's only recourse is military action. Immediately preceding this vow (Judg 11:30), "the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah" (Judg 11:29), empowering him for the task. This divine empowerment might suggest a Spirit-led initiative, yet the ensuing vow, made at a pivotal moment, indicates Jephthah's attempt to further secure God's favor or perhaps to compel a divine response through an ancient practice of bargaining. This historical context of Judges highlights a period where Israel frequently turned away from God, leading to oppression, followed by crying out to God, who then raised up a deliverer, often flawed, to save them.

Judges 11 30 Word analysis

• And Jephthah: Introduces the central figure. His name, יִפְתָּח (Yiphtaḥ), means "he opens" or "God opens." He is a Gileadite, whose social outcast status (Judg 11:1-3) contrasts with his sudden rise to leadership, particularly after the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Judg 11:29), highlighting God's sovereign choice of an unlikely deliverer.
• made a vow: וַיִּדַּר (wa-yid·dar). The verb נָדַר (nādar) means "to vow, make a solemn promise to God." This term signifies a serious, binding commitment, usually conditional and requiring specific action from the vower. Vows were deeply ingrained in ancient Israelite society, viewed as sacred promises to YHWH, with severe consequences for non-fulfillment (Deut 23:21-23; Eccl 5:4-5).
• to the Lord: יְהוָה (YHWH), the covenant name of God. This indicates that the vow is addressed directly to the God of Israel, acknowledging His supreme authority and power over the battle's outcome. Vowing to YHWH suggests Jephthah's understanding of YHWH as the true God capable of granting victory, a significant detail in a period prone to idolatry (Judg 10:6).
• and said: This common introductory phrase signals the direct speech of Jephthah, revealing the content of his vow.
• If You will indeed give: אִם־נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן (’im nāṯôn tittēn). This is a strong conditional clause employing the infinitive absolute (נָתוֹן, nāṯôn) followed by the imperfect verb (תִּתֵּן, tittēn) from the root נָתַן (nātan), "to give." This grammatical construction is emphatic, meaning "if you certainly give" or "if you indeed give." It underscores Jephthah's earnest plea and perhaps a strong desire to ensure the outcome. It highlights that Jephthah acknowledges God's agency as the one who delivers.
• the Ammonites: בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן (bənê ‘ammôn), literally "sons of Ammon." They were a constant threat to Israel's eastern borders, originating from Lot (Gen 19:38) and notorious for their oppressive behavior. The vow specifically names the enemy against whom victory is sought.
• into my hand: בְּיָדִי (bə·yā·ḏî). An idiomatic expression meaning "into my power," "under my control," or "grant me victory over." It signifies the act of handing over military control or dominance to defeat the enemy.

Words-group Analysis:

• "Jephthah made a vow to the Lord": This phrase highlights Jephthah's direct engagement with YHWH through a solemn commitment. Despite the Spirit of the Lord already empowering him, he takes this additional step, demonstrating a mixture of faith and possibly an anxious need to ensure divine favor for a difficult task.
• "If You will indeed give... into my hand": This conditional phrase encapsulates the "bargaining" nature of the vow. Jephthah posits a prerequisite (God giving the Ammonites over) before he commits to his part of the promise (to be fulfilled in the next verse). The emphatic "indeed give" shows his conviction that God is the source of victory and his urgent appeal for that divine intervention. It implicitly acknowledges that without God's power, he cannot succeed.

Judges 11 30 Bonus section

The placement of this vow after "the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah" (Judg 11:29) is crucial. Some scholars interpret this sequence as indicating that the vow was not Spirit-inspired but rather Jephthah's human, perhaps flawed, response to the divine enablement. The Spirit of the Lord equips for victory, but Jephthah's personal anxieties or the common practice of vowing in that era led him to initiate a supplementary agreement with God. This distinguishes God's empowerment from Jephthah's personal pledge, highlighting that God works through imperfect human instruments, and even Spirit-filled individuals can still make regrettable choices. The vow in its form is characteristic of ancient Israelite "military vows," where a general promises a religious offering or act to secure victory from their deity, echoing other conditional vows in the Bible, like that of Israel against the Canaanites (Num 21:2-3) or Jacob's vow in Genesis 28.

Judges 11 30 Commentary

Judges 11:30 is the preamble to one of the most tragic and debated episodes in the Bible. It captures Jephthah, now empowered by the Spirit of the Lord (v. 29) and at the cusp of war, making a vow to YHWH. The verse sets the stage by revealing his complete dependence on God for victory against the Ammonites, evident in the emphatic phrasing "If You will indeed give... into my hand." This deep understanding that success comes from God alone is commendable and aligns with the reliance shown by other judges. However, the very act of vowing, especially a conditional one following divine empowerment, suggests a human attempt to "lock in" God's blessing or an anxious bargaining for an outcome that God was seemingly already moving to achieve. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, vows were common practices for securing divine favor in desperate situations. While biblically sanctioned (Deut 23:21-23), they carried immense spiritual weight and potential for catastrophic error, particularly when made rashly or without full consideration of the implications, as the ensuing narrative of Jephthah tragically reveals. This verse, therefore, represents a pivotal moment of human initiative responding to divine enabling, hinting at both faith and potential human fallibility.