much as the Lord hath taken ven- bewailed her virginity upon the geance for thee of thine enemies, mountains. even of the children of Ammon.

37. And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me; let me alone for two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

38. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and

39. And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

40. That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord. It had long been customary to make vows. Jacob, on his way to Syria, made a vow, to appropriate one-tenth of all he had to the Lord, if the Lord would be with him and bless him, and return him to his home in peace. Moses made a law relating to vows. A man is under no obligation to make a vow; but the vow once made, he is bound to fulfil it. Some exception is made, in respect to a wife, and to a person under the proper age, etc. Of course a man should make no vow, which it would be wrong for him to fulfil. And if he should do so, through inconsiderateness or for any cause, it would be better to break it, than to do a second wrong in fulfilling it.

This last was the case with Jephthah, as it was afterwards with Saul, when he threatened death to any one who should eat food for one whole day. We consider the vow of Joshua to the Gibeonites, to be of the same kind, though he did not. 1 Sam. xiv. 24; Jos. ix.

19-21.

When Jephthah returned in triumph, his daughter, and only child, came out to meet him, with timbrels and dances. The timbrel was used, on all occasions of festivity and rejoicing.

The music was accompanied with dances. The daughter of Jephthah was no doubt attended by her female companions.

Concerning the vow of Jephthah, see concluding remarks of this section.

JUD. XII.

1. And the men of Ephraim gath-they said, Ye Gileadites are fugiered themselves together, and went tives of Ephraim among the Ephnorthward, and said unto Jephthah, raimites, and among the Manassites. Wherefore passedst thou over to 5. And the Gileadites took the fight against the children of Ammon passages of Jordan before the Ephand didst not call us to go with raimites: and it was so, that when thee? we will burn thine house up- those Ephraimites which were eson thee with fire. caped, said, Let me go over, that

2. And Jephthah said unto them, the men of Gilead said unto him, I and my people were at great strife Art thou an Ephraimite? If he with the children of Ammon: and said, Nay;

when I called you, ye delivered me 6. Then said they unto him, Say

not out of their hands.

now Shibboleth: and he said Sib

3. And when I saw that ye de- boleth: for he could not frame to livered me not, I put my life into pronounce it right. Then they took my hands, and passed over against him and slew him at the passages of the children of Ammon, and the Jordan. And there fell at that Lord delivered them into my hand: time of the Ephraimites forty and wherefore then are ye come up un- two thousand.

to me this day, to fight against me? 7. And Jephthah judged Israel 4. Then Jephthah gathered to- six years: then died Jephthah the gether all the men of Gilead, and Gileadite, and he was buried in one fought with Ephraim: and the men of the cities of Gilead. of Gilead smote Ephraim, because

This is not the first time that Ephraim had complained in this way. They complained to Gideon in a similar manner; and he pacified them with a bit of flattery. Jephthah "is made of sterner stuff," and he settles the matter in a different way. They accompany their complaint with a threat-not always the best way to accomplish one's object, and here especially unfortunate.

It appears, however, that they had not been neglected as they pretended. They had been asked to come and assist their brethren to throw off the yoke of oppression, but they had not complied. Their complaint comes with an ill-grace under these circumstances.

The 4th verse is very obscure; nor does the original help us to make it plain. The Vulgate probably expresses the sense; and that is generally all the author

aims at, having but little regard for exact definitions. The Vulgate says, "The men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because he said Gilead is a fugitive from Ephraim, and dwells between Ephraim and Manasseh." The Septuagint, "The men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because the fugitives of Ephraim said, Ye of Gilead (are) between Ephraim and Manasseh."

The reproach of the charge seems to have consisted in the implication that their safety consisted-not in their own prowess but in their location between Ephraim on the west, and the rest of Manasseh (for Gilead was a part of Manasseh) on the east. Such was their location, but it does not appear that it rendered them more safe, for Gilead had just now met and overcome one of the most powerful nations of those times.

Ephraim did not mean to speak the truth, but only abusive words. The punishment was severe and well deserved.

A large body of the Ephraimites had crossed the Jordan, and gone near to the scene of the recent battle, intending to inflict summary vengeance on Jephthah. They not only failed in their object; but they themselves were cut off and destroyed at the passage of the Jordan, when they sought to escape and return to their own tribe.

Ephraimites which were escaped. Literally fugitives of Ephraim. They had falsely charged their brethren with being fugitives; and for that they have become fugitives themselves.

The Ephraimites show the same spirit of jealousy toward Manasseh, to which tribe Jephthah belonged, that they did before when Gideon who was of the same tribe was on the stage. viii. 1. This spirit had its origin at the death-bed of Jacob. Gen. xlviii. 10.

The Hebrew language was not pronounced alike by all that used it. It had its provincialisms. The men of Ephraim could not sound the sh, as did the rest of the tribes.

The test was not infallable. Some might pronounce the word wrong, that ought to escape; and some might pronounce it right, that ought to die; but it was accurate enough to suit the times, when human life was valued at so low a rate, as we have seen, in another part of this history. See on ix. 4, 5.

The Vulgate has the word scibboleth, and the wrong pronunciation sibboleth; but the difference is so slight between these two words, if indeed there is any difference, that the test suspends life on a slender thread. The Septuagint makes the test absurd. As shibboleth means a head of wheat, the authors of that version substitute the Greek word stachus (otáxvc) and so spoil the sense of the passage.

Jephthah judged Israel six years. He was promised the government of Gilead only; but his success with the Ammonites made him popular with the people; and they all submitted to his authority. He was buried in the cities of Gilead, probably in Mizpeh, the place of his residence. "Cities." In Hebrew the plural is sometimes used for the singular, for the sake of emphasis.

As Jephthah did not long survive his victory over the Ammonites, it has been inferred that his life may have been shortened by his unfortunate vow. The state of society and the prevailing idolatry will hardly authorize such an inference.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

Jephthah's vow. This subject is one of the most important in sacred history. With the views we entertain and the feelings we cherish, at the present day, it is very hard for us to believe, that a man who occupied the position of Jephthah, the Israelite judge, should have of fered his only daughter, as a burnt offering to the Lord! Consequently, every attempt that ingenuity can devise, has been made, to show that he did no such thing.

It is said expressly that Jephthah did with his daughter, "according to his vow which he had vowed." It

becomes a very important question, then, What had he vowed? The answer is very plain. His vow was as follows, verse 31; "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 as a burnt offering." The vow is plain. There is no ambiguity about it. That he did according to his vow is also certain. In most cases there would be no ground for doubt. It is our unwillingness to have it so, that induces the effort, to make these passages mean something besides their obvious import.

The expedients that have been resorted to, having in view this result, are many. Some have said that to offer a burnt offering did not always imply the death of the victim. But this is a gratuitous assertion, without the shadow of proof; and therefore we shall spend no time in refuting it.

Another opinion is, that conditions are implied in the Vow. As Jephthah knew that some things could not be offered as burnt offerings, all such must have been excepted in his mind. If Jephthah's dog had come out to meet him, it could not have been offered as a burnt offering. If one of Jephthah's neighbors or a neighbor's wife or daughter had been on a visit to his family, and on returning home, had met him, he could not have offered either as a burnt offering.

It seems very plain that all remarks of this kind are excluded by the language of the history. It is certain that Jephthah did not consider his daughter, as excepted from his vow; for he did with her according to his vow which he had vowed." This statement forbids the supposition, that his vow was not binding, as he understood it.

Again, Dr. Clarke suggests a slight change in the reading. Instead of "I will offer it up for a burnt offering," let it be "I will offer him (meaning to him) a burnt offering." With this change the meaning will be, that