Shuphatym (Judges) — 11

Yaphthah Becomes Yashar'AL’s Judge

1 Now Yaphthah of Gilaad was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilaad, but his mother was a prostitute. 

2 Gilaad’s wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Yaphthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a prostitute.” 

3 So Yaphthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tub. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him.

4 At about this time, the Ammunites began their war against Yashar'AL. 

5 When the Ammunites attacked, the elders of Gilaad sent for Yaphthah in the land of Tub. 

6 The elders said, “Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammunites!”

7 But Yaphthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?”

8 “The elders said to Yaphthah; Because we need you, “If you lead us in battle against the Ammunites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilaad.”

9 Yaphthah said to the elders, “Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH gives me victory over the Ammunites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?”

10 The elders replied and said to him, let 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH be our witness, “We promise to do whatever you say.”

11 So Yaphthah went with the elders of Gilaad, and the people made him their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, Yaphthah repeated what he had said to the elders.

12 Then Yaphthah sent messengers to the king of Ammun, asking, “Why have you come out to fight against my land?”

13 The king of Ammun answered Yaphthah’s messengers, “When the Yasharalym came out of Mitzraym, they stole my land from the Arnun River to the Yabbuk River and all the way to the Yurdan. Now then, give back the land peaceably.”

14 Yaphthah sent this message back to the Ammunites king:

15 “This is what Yaphthah says: Yashar'AL did not steal any land from Muab or Ammun. 

16 When the people of Yashar'AL arrived at Kadash on their journey from Mitzraym after crossing the Red Sea, 

17 they sent messengers to the king of Adum asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Muab for similar permission, but he would not let them pass through either. So the people of Yashar'AL stayed in Kadash.

18 “Finally, they went around Adum and Muab through the wilderness. They traveled along Muab’s eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnun River. But they never once crossed the Arnun River into Muab, for the Arnun was the border of Muab.

19 “Then Yashar'AL sent messengers to King Sihun of the Amurites, who ruled from Hashbun, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination. 

20 But King Sihun did not trust Yashar'AL to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Yahaz and attacked them. 

21 But 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of Yashar'AL, gave his people victory over King Sihun. So Yashar'AL took control of all the land of the Amurites, who lived in that region, 

22 from the Arnun River to the Yabbuk River, and from the eastern wilderness to the Yurdan.

23 “So you see, it was 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of Yashar'AL, who took away the land from the Amurites and gave it to Yashar'AL. Why then, should we give it back to you? 

24 You keep whatever your pagan idol Chamush gives you, and we will keep whatever 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH our 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH gives us. 

25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippur, king of Muab? Did he try to make a case against Yashar'AL for disputed land? Did he go to war against them?

26 Yashar'AL has been living here for three hundred years, inhabiting Hashbun and its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aruar and its settlements, and in all the towns along the Arnun River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now? 

27 Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, who is judge, decide today which of us is right Yashar'AL or Ammun.”

28 But the king of Ammun paid no attention to Yaphthah’s message.

Yaphthah’s Vow

29 At that time the Ruach of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH came upon Yaphthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilaad and Manassah, including Mizpah in Gilaad, and from there he led an army against the Ammunites. 

30 And Yaphthah made a vow to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH. Yaphthah said, “If 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH give me victory over the Ammunites, 

31 I will give to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 So Yaphthah led his army against the Ammunites, and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH gave him victory. 

33 He crushed the Ammunites, devastating about twenty towns from Aruar to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abal-karamim. In this way Yashar'AL defeated the Ammunites.

34 When Yaphthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. 

35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, and I cannot take it back.”

36 And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, you must do to me what you have vowed, for 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammunites. 

37 But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.”

38 “You may go,” Yaphthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. 

39 When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Yashar'AL 

40 for young Yasharalym women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Yaphthah’s daughter.