Judges 11

veyiftakh haggiladi hayah gibbor khayil vehu ben-isha zonah vayyoled gilad et-yiftakh

Jephthah the Gileadite was an able warrior, who was the son of a certain prostitute. Jephthah’s father was Gilead;

vatteled eshet-gilad lo banim vayyigdelu vene-ha'isha vayegareshu et-yiftakh vayyomeru lo lo-tinkhal bevet-avinu ki ben-isha akheret attah

but Gilead also had sons by his wife, and when the wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out. They said to him, “You shall have no share in our father’s property, for you are the son of an outsider.”

vayyivrakh yiftakh mippene ekhayw vayyeshev be'erets tov vayyitlaqqetu el-yiftakh anashim reqim vayyetse'u immo

So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the Tob country. Men of low character gathered about Jephthah and went out raiding with him.

vayehi miyyamim vayyillakhamu vene-ammon im-yisra'el

Some time later, the Ammonites went to war against Israel.

vayehi ka'asher-nilkhamu vene-ammon im-yisra'el vayyelekhu ziqne gilad laqakhat et-yiftakh me'erets tov

And when the Ammonites attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the Tob country.

vayyomeru leyiftakh lekhah vehayitah lanu leqatsin venillakhamah bivne ammon

They said to Jephthah, “Come be our chief, so that we can fight the Ammonites.”

vayyomer yiftakh leziqne gilad halo attem senetem oti vattegareshuni mibbet avi umaddua batem elay attah ka'asher tsar lakhem

Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “You are the very people who rejected me and drove me out of my father’s house. How can you come to me now when you are in trouble?”

vayyomeru ziqne gilad el-yiftakh lakhen attah shavnu elekha vehalakhta immanu venilkhamta bivne ammon vehayita lanu lerosh lekhol yosheve gilad

The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Honestly, we have now turned back to you. If you come with us and fight the Ammonites, you shall be our commander over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

vayyomer yiftakh el-ziqne gilad im-meshivim attem oti lehillakhem bivne ammon venatan Adonai otam lefanay anokhi ehyeh lakhem lerosh

Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “[Very well,] if you bring me back to fight the Ammonites and GOD delivers them to me, I am to be your commander.”

vayyomeru ziqne-gilad el-yiftakh Adonai yihyeh shomea benotenu im-lo khidvarekha ken na'aseh

And the elders of Gilead answered Jephthah, “GOD shall be witness between us: we will do just as you have said.”

vayyelekh yiftakh im-ziqne gilad vayyasimu ha'am oto alehem lerosh uleqatsin vayedabber yiftakh et-kol-devarayw lifne Adonai bammitspah

Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their commander and chief. And Jephthah repeated all these terms before GOD at Mizpah.

vayyishlakh yiftakh malakhim el-melekh bene-ammon lemor mah-lli valakh ki-vata elay lehillakhem be'artsi

Jephthah then sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What have you against me that you have come to make war on my country?”

vayyomer melekh bene-ammon el-malakhe yiftakh ki-laqakh yisra'el et-artsi ba'aloto mimmitsrayim me'arnon ve'ad-hayyabboq ve'ad-hayyarden ve'attah hashivah ethen beshalom

The king of the Ammonites replied to Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came from Egypt, they seized the land that is mine, from the Arnon to the Jabbok as far as the Jordan. Now, then, restore it peaceably.”

vayyosef od yiftakh vayyishlakh malakhim el-melekh bene ammon

Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites.

vayyomer lo koh amar yiftakh lo-laqakh yisra'el et-erets mo'av ve'et-erets bene ammon

He said to him, “Thus said Jephthah: Israel did not seize the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.

ki ba'alotam mimmitsrayim vayyelekh yisra'el bammidbar ad-yam-suf vayyavo qadeshah

When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and went on to Kadesh.

vayyishlakh yisra'el malakhim el-melekh edom lemor eberah-nna ve'artsekha velo shama melekh edom vegam el-melekh mo'av shalakh velo avah vayyeshev yisra'el beqadesh

Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Allow us to cross your country.’ But the king of Edom would not consent. They also sent a mission to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel, after staying at Kadesh,

vayyelekh bammidbar vayyasov et-erets edom ve'et-erets mo'av vayyavo mimmizrakh-shemesh le'erets mo'av vayyakhanun be'ever arnon velo-va'u bigvul mo'av ki arnon gevul mo'av

traveled on through the wilderness, skirting the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They kept to the east of the land of Moab until they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; and, since Moab ends at the Arnon, they never entered Moabite territory.

vayyishlakh yisra'el malakhim el-sikhon melekh-ha'emori melekh kheshbon vayyomer lo yisra'el naberah-nna ve'artsekha ad-meqomi

“Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, ‘Allow us to cross through your country to our homeland.’

velo-he'emin sikhon et-yisra'el avor bigvulo vayye'esof sikhon et-kol-ammo vayyakhanu beyahetsah vayyillakhem im-yisra'el

But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. Sihon mustered all his troops, and they encamped at Jahaz; he engaged Israel in battle.

vayyitten Adonai elohe-yisra'el et-sikhon ve'et-kol-ammo beyad yisra'el vayyakkum vayyirash yisra'el et kol-erets ha'emori yoshev ha'arets hahi

But the ETERNAL, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his troops into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them; and Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land.

vayyireshu et kol-gevul ha'emori me'arnon ve'ad-hayyabboq umin-hammidbar ve'ad-hayyarden

Thus they possessed all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

ve'attah Adonai elohe yisra'el horish et-ha'emori mippene ammo yisra'el ve'attah tirashennu

“Now, then, the ETERNAL, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites before this covenanted people Israel; and should you possess their land?

halo et asher yorishekha kemosh elohekha oto tirash ve'et kol-asher horish Adonai elohenu mippanenu oto nirash

Do you not hold what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So we will hold on to everything that the ETERNAL our God has given us to possess.

ve'attah hatov tov attah mibbalaq ben-tsippor melekh mo'av harov rav im-yisra'el im-nilkhom nilkham bam

“Besides, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he start a quarrel with Israel or go to war with them?

beshevet yisra'el bekheshbon uvivnoteha uve'aror uvivnoteha uvekhol-he'arim asher al-yede arnon shelosh me'ot shanah umaddua lo-hitsaltem ba'et hahi

“While Israel has been inhabiting Heshbon and its dependencies, and Aroer and its dependencies, and all the towns along the Arnon for three hundred years, why have you not tried to recover them all this time?

ve'anokhi lo-khatati lakh ve'attah oseh itti ra'ah lehillakhem bi yishpot Adonai hashofet hayyom ben bene yisra'el uven bene ammon

I have done you no wrong; yet you are doing me harm and making war on me. May GOD, who judges, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites!”

velo shama melekh bene ammon el-divre yiftakh asher shalakh elayw

But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message that Jephthah sent him.

vattehi al-yiftakh ruakh Adonai vayya'avor et-haggilad ve'et-menasheh vayya'avor et-mitspeh gilad umimmitspeh gilad avar bene ammon

Then the spirit of GOD came upon Jephthah. He marched through Gilead and Manasseh, passing Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he crossed over [to] the Ammonites.

vayyiddar yiftakh neder la-Adonai vayyomar im-naton titten et-bene ammon beyadi

And Jephthah made the following vow to GOD: “If You deliver the Ammonites into my hands,

vehayah hayyotse asher yetse middalte veti liqrati beshuvi veshalom mibbene ammon vehayah la-Adonai veha'alitihu olah

then whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me on my safe return from the Ammonites shall be GOD’s and shall be offered by me as a burnt offering.”

vayya'avor yiftakh el-bene ammon lehillakhem bam vayyittenem Adonai beyado

Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites and attacked them, and GOD delivered them into his hands.

vayyakkem me'aro'er ve'ad-bo'akha minnit esrim ir ve'ad avel keramim makkah gedolah me'od vayyikkane'u bene ammon mippene bene yisra'el

He utterly routed them—from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns—all the way to Abel-cheramim. So the Ammonites submitted to the Israelites.

vayyavo yiftakh hammitspah el-beto vehinneh vitto yotset liqrato betuppim uvimkholot veraq hi yekhidah en-lo mimmennu ben o-vat

When Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, with hand-drum and dance! She was an only child; he had no other son or daughter.

vayehi khiroto otah vayyiqra et-begadayw vayyomer ahah bitti hakhrea hikhratini ve'at hayit be'okheray ve'anokhi patsiti fi el-Adonai velo ukhal lashuv

On seeing her, he rent his clothes and said, “Alas, daughter! You have brought me low; you have become my troubler! For I have uttered a vow to GOD and I cannot retract.”

vattomer elayw avi patsitah et-pikha el-Adonai aseh li ka'asher yatsa mippikha akhare asher asah lekha Adonai neqamot me'oyevekha mibbene ammon

“Father,” she said, “you have uttered a vow to GOD; do to me as you have vowed, seeing that GOD has vindicated you against your enemies, the Ammonites.”

vattomer el-aviha ye'aseh li haddavar hazzeh harpeh mimmenni shenayim khodashim ve'elekhah veyaradti al-heharim ve'evkeh al-betulay anokhi (vryty) [vere'otay]

She further said to her father, “Let this be done for me: let me be for two months, and I will go with my companions and lament upon the hills and there bewail my maidenhood.”

vayyomer lekhi vayyishlakh otah shene khodashim vattelekh hi vere'oteha vattevk al-betuleha al-heharim

“Go,” he replied. He let her go for two months, and she and her companions went and bewailed her maidenhood upon the hills.

vayehi miqqets shenayim khodashim vattashov el-aviha vayya'as lah et-nidro asher nadar vehi lo-yade'ah ish vattehi-khoq beyisra'el

After two months’ time, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She had never known a man. So it became a custom in Israel

miyyamim yamimah telakhnah benot yisra'el letannot levat-yiftakh haggiladi arba'at yamim bashanah

for the maidens of Israel to go every year, for four days in the year, and chant dirges for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.