Jephthah
입다
Judges 11:1 says, “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah.” At 11:2–3 the sons of Gilead’s wife drive him out, and he flees from his brothers and lives in the land of Tob; at 11:4–11, when the children of Ammon make war against Israel, the elders of Gilead go to get him out of the land of Tob, and the people make him head and chief over them. At 11:12–28 he sends messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, who doesn’t listen; at 11:29–33 the LORD’s Spirit comes on him, he vows a vow to the LORD, and the LORD delivers the children of Ammon into his hand. At 11:34–40 his daughter comes out to meet him when he comes to Mizpah to his house, and 11:39 says he did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. At 12:4 he gathers together all the men of Gilead and fights with Ephraim, and 12:7 says Jephthah judged Israel six years, died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.
Direct relationships 11
Open in the full graphCollected relationship evidence
Source-backed narrative relations; not independent historical verification. Legacy dates and coordinates are outside this review.
Collection & rightsSource evidence (12)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- 1SA 12:6–12, engwebp
6Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
7Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.
8“When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.
9But they forgot the LORD their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.
10They cried to the LORD, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’
11The LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.
12“When you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king.
- HEB 11:32–40, engwebp
32What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets—
33who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.
35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
36Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
37They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—
38of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
39These all, having been commended for their faith, didn’t receive the promise,
40God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
- JDG 11:1–3, engwebp
1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah.
2Gilead’s wife bore him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
3Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Jephthah, and they went out with him.
- JDG 11:4–11, engwebp
4After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
5When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
6They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”
7Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”
8The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the children of Ammon. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
9Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them before me, will I be your head?”
10The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.”
11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.
- JDG 11:12–13, engwebp
12Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What do you have to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”
13The king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.”
- JDG 11:14–22, engwebp
14Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon;
15and he said to him, “Jephthah says: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;
16but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh,
17then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let me pass through your land;’ but the king of Edom didn’t listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab, but he refused; so Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
19Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to my place.’
20But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21The LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
22They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.
- JDG 11:23–28, engwebp
23So now the LORD, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?
24Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever the LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.
25Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?
26Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along the side of the Arnon for three hundred years! Why didn’t you recover them within that time?
27Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. May the LORD the Judge be judge today between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”
28However, the king of the children of Ammon didn’t listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
- JDG 11:29–33, engwebp
29Then the LORD’s Spirit came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.
30Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,
31then it shall be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
32So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
33He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
- JDG 11:34–40, engwebp
34Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
35When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I can’t go back.”
36She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because the LORD has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.”
37Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.”
38He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains.
39At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It became a custom in Israel
40that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
- JDG 12:1–3, engwebp
1The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!”
2Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand.
3When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?”
- JDG 12:4–6, engwebp
4Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Manasseh.”
5The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. Whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No;”
6then they said to him, “Now say ‘Shibboleth;’” and he said “Sibboleth”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it correctly, then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell.
- JDG 12:7, engwebp
7Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.
AI-assisted, human review pending, 2026-09-26
Machine comparison on 2026-10-07: the wording raised none of the 3 rules against the passages this entry cites. No person has read it.
All 11 relationships: AI-assisted, human review pending
-
Gilead (father of Jephthah) — Father of — Jephthah
Evidence: Judges 11:1–3
-
Took part in (10) — Jephthah, the son of a prostitute, is driven out and lives in the land of Tob, The elders of Gilead bring Jephthah back, and the people make him head and chief, The answer of the king of the children of Ammon to Jephthah’s messengers, that the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan be restored, Jephthah’s word that Israel took away neither the land of Moab nor the land of the children of Ammon, Jephthah’s wish that the LORD the Judge be judge, and the king of the children of Ammon who doesn’t listen, Jephthah vows a vow to the LORD, and the LORD delivers the children of Ammon into his hand, Jephthah’s daughter comes out to meet him with tambourines and with dances, The men of Ephraim ask Jephthah why he didn’t call them, and Jephthah answers, The word of the men of Gilead at the fords of the Jordan to say “Shibboleth”, Jephthah dies and is buried in the cities of Gilead
A relationship with an event rests on the passages the event cites: each event’s page has them.
Verses tagged with this entry
Names in the World English Bible text that carry this entry’s tag. They are carried over from the tags on the Korean Revised Version, which are matched by name inside chapters that already have collected evidence, and a verse where the English says “he” carries none. All await human review. They are a separate list from the source passages above. An empty list does not mean the entry is absent from the text.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah.
Gilead’s wife bore him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Jephthah, and they went out with him.
When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”
Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?”
The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the children of Ammon. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them before me, will I be your head?”
The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.”
Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.
Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What do you have to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”
The king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.”
Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon;
and he said to him, “Jephthah says: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;
However, the king of the children of Ammon didn’t listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
Then the LORD’s Spirit came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.
So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!”
Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand.
Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Manasseh.”
Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.
The LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.
What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets—
Something looks wrong in this entry?
This prepares a report carrying the entry, what it currently says and what it cites, so a reviewer can act on it. The form for sending it is not open yet, so for now the report can only be copied.
Write what looks wrong first; a report without it cannot be acted on.
This is exactly what gets copied or sent:
[Bibliadatum entry report] Entry: Jephthah (person-jephthah) Address: https://bibliadatum.org/en/wiki/person/jephthah Current wording: Judges 11:1 says, “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah.” At 11:2–3 the sons of Gilead’s wife drive him out, and he flees from his brothers and lives in the land of Tob; at 11:4–11, when the children of Ammon make war against Israel, the elders of Gilead go to get him out of the land of Tob, and the people make him head and chief over them. At 11:12–28 he sends messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, who doesn’t listen; at 11:29–33 the LORD’s Spirit comes on him, he vows a vow to the LORD, and the LORD delivers the children of Ammon into his hand. At 11:34–40 his daughter comes out to meet him when he comes to Mizpah to his house, and 11:39 says he did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. At 12:4 he gathers together all the men of Gilead and fights with Ephraim, and 12:7 says Jephthah judged Israel six years, died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead. Cited evidence: 1SA 12:6–12, engwebp / HEB 11:32–40, engwebp / JDG 11:1–3, engwebp / JDG 11:4–11, engwebp / JDG 11:12–13, engwebp / JDG 11:14–22, engwebp / JDG 11:23–28, engwebp / JDG 11:29–33, engwebp (and 4 more of 12) Review state: ai-assisted / human-review-pending What looks wrong: (not written yet) --- This collection records what the text says and does not settle interpretation. A report about a reading that divides opinion may be registered as an unresolved issue rather than corrected.