The Spirit Comes upon Jephthah and He Makes a Vow

Jephthah passes through Gilead, Manasseh, and Mizpah of Gilead before advancing toward the Ammonites.

The Ammonite king has refused Jephthah's diplomatic message (11:28). The Spirit's coming and Jephthah's movement precede his vow. The battle and the Lord's delivery follow in 11:32-33; the daughter who meets Jephthah appears only after his return in 11:34-40. Those later events must not be used to make this vow a condition God required for help.

Jephthah receives the Spirit and then makes a vow the Lord did not ask him to make.

Understanding the Big Idea

The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jephthah, and he advances through Gilead and Manasseh toward the Ammonites. Then Jephthah makes a conditional vow: if the Lord gives him victory, whatever comes from the doors of his house to meet him on his return will be the Lord's, and he will offer it as a burnt offering. The text names Jephthah as the vow's maker and gives no divine request for this promise.

To distinguish the Lord's Spirit coming upon Jephthah for the advance from Jephthah's own conditional vow and its dangerous wording.

The gospel is Christ's death for sins and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), not a bargain in which a parent promises someone else as the price of rescue. Jephthah's vow is not a pattern for gaining God's favor.

1. What happens before Jephthah makes the vow?
2. Who makes the vow, and who commands it?
3. What does the vow say will come from his house?
4. What offering does he name?
5. Why does the later arrival of his daughter demand careful and protective reading?