LESSON XXXVII

JEPHTHAH

JUDGES 11.1 to 12.6

11.1. Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of a base woman: and Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a 5 strange woman. Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.

11.4. And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And it was so, IO that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: and they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me 15 out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and Jehovah deliver them before me, shall I be your head? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Jehovah be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words. Then Jephthah went 25 with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them and Jephthah uttered all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh.

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11.12. And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with 30 me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land,

when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto 35 Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon and said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: but when Israel came up from 40 Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not 45 consent and Israel abode in Kadesh. Then they went along

through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. 50 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 55 And Jehovah, the God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilder60 ness even unto Jordan. So now Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Wilt not thou possess that which 1 Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever Jehovah our God shall drive out from before us, them will we 65 possess. And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years, why 70 did ye not recover them within that time? Wherefore I have

1 Chemosh was the god of Moab, Molech the god of Ammon. But the two tribes were closely connected, and their two gods were practically identical.

not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: Jehovah the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

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11.29. Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the 80 children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whosoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be Jehovah's, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight 85 against them; and Jehovah delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

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11.34. And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! 95 thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me for I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as 100 Jehovah hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent her away 105 for two months and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. 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 it was a custom in Israel, that the daughters of 110

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

12.1. And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Where115 fore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. 120 And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Jehovah delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with 125 Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye 2 Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim, among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let 130 me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of 135 the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

LESSON XXXVIII

SAMSON

JUDGES 13.2 to 15.8

13.2. And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and 5 bearest not but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong 2 This difficult passage appears to refer to a tradition that the Manassites in Gilead had migrated from the country west of the Jordan.

drink, and eat not any unclean thing: for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head : for the child shall be a 1 Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the 10 Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a 15 son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death. Then Manoah intreated Jehovah, and said, O Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do 20 unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath 25 appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, Now when thy words come to pass, how shall we order the child, and how 30 shall we do unto him? And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. And Manoah said 35 unto the angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering unto Jehovah, thou mayest offer it. For Manoah knew not 40 that he was the angel of Jehovah. And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name,

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1 Nazirite = one separated. The law about the Nazirites is given in Numbers 6.2-21.