Judges 11:31

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
whatsoever	הַיּוֹצֵ֗א hai.yo.Tze'	H3318	to go (causatively · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
forth	יֵצֵ֜א ye.Tze'	H3318	to go (causatively · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
doors	מִדַּלְתֵ֤י mi.dal.Tei	H1817	something swinging · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
house	בֵיתִי֙ vei.Ti	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
meet	קִרְאָה qirʼâh	H7125	an encountering
return	בְּשׁוּבִ֥י be.shu.Vi	H7725	to turn back (hence · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix
peace	בְשָׁל֖וֹם ve.sha.Lom	H7965	safe · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
children	מִבְּנֵ֣י mi.be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Ammon	עַמּ֑וֹן a.Mon	H5983	Ammon · proper noun, a man's name
LORD’s	לַֽיהוָ֔ה la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
up	וְהַעֲלִיתִ֖הוּ ve.ha.'a.li.Ti.hu	H5927	to ascend · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
offering	עוֹלָֽה o.Lah	H5930	a step or (collectively · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 66:13-14 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Leviticus 27:11-12 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:
Leviticus 27:28-29 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his…
Deuteronomy 23:18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abo…
1 Samuel 1:11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forge…
1 Samuel 1:28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
1 Samuel 2:18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.
1 Samuel 14:24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evenin…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 11:29–end

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, Jdg 11:29. 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, enduin…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 11:31

whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me--This evidently points not to an animal, for that might have been a dog; which, being unclean, was unfit to be offered; but to a person, and it looks extremely as if he, from the first, contemplated a human sacrifice. Bred up as he had been, beyond the Jordan, where the Israelitish tribes, far from the tabernacle, were looser in their religious sentiments, and living latterly on the borders of a heathen country where such sacrifices were common, it is not improbable that he may have been so ignorant as to imagine that a similar immolation would be acceptable to God. His mind, engrossed with the prospect of a contest, on the issue of…

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John Gill on Judges 11:31

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 t…

The Church Fathers

With these words [of his vow] at any rate Jephthah did not vow some kind of animal that he could offer as a whole burnt offering according to the law; it is neither customary now nor was it in the past that cattle would run to meet generals returning victoriously from war. As far as mute animals are concerned, dogs often run to meet their masters and sport with them in fawning servitude. But Jephthah could not have been thinking about dogs in his vow, because it would seem that he would have vowed not only something unlawful but also something contemptible and unclean according to the law. It would have been an insult to God. Nor does he say, "I will offer as a whole burnt offering whatever will come out of the doors of my house to meet me." He says, "I will sacrifice whoever comes out of my house." Thus, there can be no doubt that he was thinking of nothing else than a human being—not his only daughter, however. Yet who would have been able to surpass her in her father's eyes except perhaps his wife?
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON JUDGES 49.6

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Jephthah — Whom God sets free, or the breaker through, a “mighty man of valour” who delivered Israel from the oppression of the Ammonites (Judg. 11:1-33), and judged Israel six years (12:7). He has been…
Jephthah’s vow — (Judg. 11:30, 31). After a crushing defeat of the Ammonites, Jephthah returned to his own house, and the first to welcome him was his own daughter. This was a terrible blow to the victor, and in his…
Ammonites, The · Jephthah raised up to deliver Israel from — Jephthah raised up to deliver Israel from
Consecration · .Jephthah, of his daughter — .Jephthah, of his daughter
Jephthah · General references — General references
Oaths · Instances of rash: Jephthah — Instances of rash: Jephthah
Rashness · .Jephthah’ s vow — .Jephthah’ s vow
Vows · if his — if his

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 11:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 11:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 11:31

John Gill on Judges 11:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Judges 11:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 11:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 11:31

John Gill on Judges 11:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 11:29-33

Rashi on Judges 11:29