Shoftim | Judges

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor and he was the son of a concubine, Gilead begat Jephthah.
11:1
Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when the wife’s sons grew up they drove Jephthah away and said to him, “You will not inherit in the household of our father, for you are the son of another woman.”
:2
It happened after a period of time that the Children of Ammon made war with Israel.
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They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, and we will do battle with the Children of Ammon.”
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But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Was it not you who hated me and drove me away from my father’s house? Why you come to me now when you are in distress?”
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Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to do battle with the Children of Ammon and Hashem delivers them before me, I will become your leader.”
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Then the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “May Hashem bear witness between us, if we do not do according to your word.”
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Jephthah sent emissaries to the king of the Children of Ammon, saying, “What is there between you and me that you have come to me to make war in my land?
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The king of the Children of Ammon said to Jephthah’s emissaries, “Because Israel took away my land when it ascended from Egypt, from Arnon to the Jabbok to the Jordan! So now return them in peace.”
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… “So said Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab and the land of the Children of Ammon.
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For when they ascended from Egypt, Israel went in the Wilderness until the Sea of Reeds, and then they arrived at Kadesh.
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Israel sent emissaries to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Let me now pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom did not take heed. It sent also to the king of Moab, but he was not willing, so Israel dwelt in Kadesh.
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Then Hashem, God of Israel, delivered Sihon and his entire people into the hand of Israel and they struck them down. Israel took possession of the entire land of the Amorite, the inhabitants of that land.
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“And now Hashem, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorite because of His people Israel — yet you would possess it?
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Surely, whatever your god Chemosh lets you possess, that you shall possess; and whichever [people] God drives away before us, that [land] we shall possess.
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I have not sinned against you; but you do me wrong to make war against me! Let Hashem, the Judge, decide today between the Children of Israel and the Children fo Ammon!”
:27
But the king of the Children of Ammon did not heed the words of Jephthah, which he sent to him.
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A spirit of Hashem was upon Jephthah, …
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Jephthah declared a vow to Hashem, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the Children of Ammon into my hand,
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then it shall be that whatever emerges — what will emerge from the doors of my house — toward me when I return in peace from the Children of Ammon, it shall belong to Hashem and I shall offer it up as an elevation-offering.”
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Jephthah arrived at Mizpah, to his home, and behold! his daughter was coming out toward him with drums and dances — and she was an only child; he did not have [another] son or daughter of his own.
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… I have opened my mouth to Hashem and I cannot recant!”
:35
She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to Hashem — do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, since Hashem has wreaked vengeance for you against your enemies, against the Children of Ammon!”
:36

Daily Holy Bible Reading

1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a woman harlot, and Gilead begot Jephthah.
2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up and drove Jephthah out, and they said to him, “You shall not inherit in our father’s house for you are the son of another woman.”
3 And Jephthah fled from his brothers and he dwelt in the land of Tob; and idle men were gathered to Jephthah, and they went out with him.
4 And it was after many days, and the children of Ammon made war with Israel.
5 And it was, when the children of Ammon fought with Israel; and the elders of Gilead went to take Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and become our chief, and we will fight with the children of Ammon.”
7 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me, and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”
8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we returned to you now, and you shall go with us, and you will fight with the children of Ammon, and you shall become our head, over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them before me, I will become your head.”
10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord shall hear between us, if not according to your word so will we do.”
11 And Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him a head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.
12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What is (between) me and you, that you have come to me to fight in my land?”
13 And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when they came out of Egypt, from Arnon and up to the Jabbok, and up to the Jordan; and now restore them peacefully.”
14 And Jephthah continued, and sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon.
15 And he said to him, “So said Jephthah, Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the children of Ammon.
16 Because when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness up to the Red Sea, and they came to Kadesh.
17 And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, ‘Let me pass now through your land,’ and the king of Edom did not listen, and also to the king of Moab he sent, and he was unwilling; and Israel abode in Kadesh.
18 And they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and they came to the east of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon, and they did not come within the border of Moab, for (the) Arnon (was) the border of Moab.
19 And Israel sent messengers to Sichon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land up to my place.’
20 And Sichon did not trust Israel to pass through his border, and Sichon gathered all his people, and they encamped in Jahaz, and he fought with Israel.
21 And the Lord, the God of Israel, delivered Sichon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them; and Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land.
22 And they possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon up to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness up to the Jordan.
23 And now the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, and you want to possess it?
24 Is it not that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess, that you may possess; and all that which the Lord our God has driven out from before us, that we shall possess.
25 And now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, (or) did he ever fight against them?
26 When Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along Arnon, three hundred years; why did you not recover them at that time?
27 And I have not sinned against you, and you do wrong with me by fighting against me; may the Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the children of Israel and between the children of Ammon.”
28 And the king of the children of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah which he had sent him.
29 And a spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Menasseh, and he passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over (to) the children of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,
31 And it will be, whatever comes forth, that shall come forth from the doors of my house towards me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall be to the Lord, and I will offer him up for a burnt-offering.”
32 And Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand.
33 And he struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, twenty cities, and up to Abel Cheramim, a very great slaughter. And the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 And Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold, his daughter was coming out towards him with timbrels and with dances, and she was an only child, he had from her neither a son nor a daughter.
35 And it was, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have made me fall and you have become one of those that trouble me; and I have opened my mouth to the Lord and I cannot go back.”
36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to that which has issued from your mouth, since the Lord has done for you vengeance from your enemies, from the children of Ammon.”
37 And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me, refrain from me two months, and I shall go, and wail upon the mountains, and I shall cry over my virginity, I and my companions.”
38 And he said, “go,” and he sent her away two months; and she went with her companions, and she cried over her virginity upon the mountains.
39 And it was at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, and he did to her his vow which he had vowed; and she had not known any man, and it was a statute in Israel.
40 From year to year the daughters of Israel went to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.

Exposé | Moral

Doubts About Eretz Yisrael (Land Of Israel)?

To whom does it belong?
Who gave it to them?

None, but the Jews. As it was in the Torah, it is repeated here in this chapter with reasons, “why?”