Discovery BoxJudges 11:7 
Context11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave 1 my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”
Judges 11:31
Context11:31 then whoever is the first to come through 2 the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he 3 will belong to the Lord and 4 I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”
Judges 12:1
Context12:1 The Ephraimites assembled 5 and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight 6 with the Ammonites without asking 7 us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” 8
Judges 17:4
Context17:4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she 9 took two hundred pieces of silver 10 to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house. 11
Judges 17:8
Context17:8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house. 12
Judges 18:3
Context18:3 As they approached 13 Micah’s house, they recognized the accent 14 of the young Levite. So they stopped 15 there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” 16
Judges 18:18
Context18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole 17 the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
Judges 20:5
Context20:5 The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. 18 They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.
1 tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”
2 tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.
3 tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.
4 tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the
5 tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”
6 tn Heb “cross over to fight.”
7 tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”
8 tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”
9 tn Heb “his mother.” The pronoun (“she”) has been substituted for the noun (“mother”) in the translation because of English style.
10 tn The Hebrew text has “and gave it.” The referent (the pieces of silver) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and it was in Micah’s house.”
12 tn Heb “He came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, making his way.”
13 tn Or “When they were near.”
14 tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).
15 tn Heb “turned aside.”
16 tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”
17 tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”
18 tn Heb “arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night.”
