Jephthah was the son of a harlot and outcast among his
people (Judges 11:1-2)
Jephthah's company were the poor outcasts of his land
(Judges 11:1-3) as was the case with David
when he fled from Saul and the Philistines (I Samuel 21:10-15) to the land of Moab (I Samuel 22:1-4)
The land of Moab will once again be a place of refuge
to God's faithful remnant, who will be the outcasts of their countrymen in the time of the Antichrist (Isaiah 16:4)
The king of the Ammonites responds to Jephthah's question
concerning his invasion of Israel by claiming that his land was seized by Israel after they came up from Egypt
(Judges 11:12-13)
Jephthah replies in faith to the Ammonite king's pretext
for war (Judges 11:14) via the words he heard
from the book of the Law:
"Israel took not away the land of Moab nor the land
of the children of Ammon" (Judges 11:15)
It was the Lord Who gave each of the children of Lot
a portion of the land for possession (Deuteronomy 2:9,19)
Therefore, in each case, Israel had requested safe
passage through the land (Judges 11:16-18)
Israel requested the same safe passage through the
land of the Amorites, but the king of the Amorites responded with war (Judges 11:19-20)
"The Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all
His people into the hand of Israel" (Judges 11:21) and "dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel"
(Judges 11:23)
The Lord kept Israel in Egypt many years (Genesis 15:13-16), because the "iniquity
of the Amorites" wass "not yet full" (Genesis 15:16)
The "iniquity of the Amorites" became "full"
when they tried to prevent God's people from entering their inheritance (Numbers 21:21-31)
Israel only possessed the land that the Lord gave them
(Judges 11:24-26) and the Lord is Witness
to that fact (Judges 11:27)
The king of the Ammonites refused Jephthah's testimony
of faith (Judges 11:28) and "the Spirit of
the Lord came upon Jephthah" (Judges 11:29) and "the Lord delivered them into his hands" (Judges 11:32)
Like Moses who "spake unadvisedly with his lips"
(Psalms 106:32-33 cf. Numbers 20:7-13), so Jephthah made a foolish
vow, "if thou shalt without fail . . . then it shall be" (Judges 11:30-31)
The vow was in two parts (or) rather than one continuous
whole (and) as translated in the KJV
The Hebrew connective particle, vau (English, "v"),
is often used in the disjunctive sense (or), when there is a second preposition (e.g. Exodus 20:4,17; Exodus 21:15,17,18)
The second disjunctive translated in the KJV, "but"
(I Kings 2:9), reverses the meaning of what David said in the context (I Kings 2:8)
The correct rendering should be "nor", which
does not violate the context
Likewise, Jephthah's vow is in two parts, according
to that "which cometh forth of the doors of my house" (Judges 11:31)
The Lord fulfilled His part as He "delivered them
into his hands . . . with a very great slaughter" (Judges 11:32-33)
"Jephthah came to his house" and "his
daughter came out to meet him", which "brought him very low", because "she was his only child"
(Judges 11:34-35)
Jephthah's daughter tells him, "do to me according
to that which proceeded out of thy mouth" (Judges 11:36), "her virginity" (Judges 11:37-38), and "he did with her
according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man" (Judges 11:39)
It became a "custom in Israel" that "the
daughters of Israel" annually lamented four days for Jephthah's daughter (Judges 11:39-40) as "she and her companions"
did initially for two months (Judges 11:37-38)