34 And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spake all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah.
The singers went before, the minstrels followed after, In the midst of the damsels playing with timbrels.
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, `even' I, will sing unto Jehovah; I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel. Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir, When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, Yea, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, And the travellers walked through byways. The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel? My heart is toward the governors of Israel, That offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye Jehovah. Tell `of it', ye that ride on white asses, Ye that sit on rich carpets, And ye that walk by the way. Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, `Even' the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates. Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam. Then came down a remnant of the nobles `and' the people; Jehovah came down for me against the mighty. Out of Ephraim `came down' they whose root is in Amalek; After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart. Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: And Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, And abode by his creeks. Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field. The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money. From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength. Then did the horsehoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones. Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah. Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, Because they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah against the mighty. Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, `and' she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the tent-pin, And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head; Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera `cried' through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself, Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A damsel, two damsels to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil? So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.
Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; Both young men and virgins; Old men and children:
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went the multitudes thronged him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Judges 11
Commentary on Judges 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
This chapter gives as the history of Jephthah, another of Israel's judges, and numbered among the worthies of the Old Testament, that by faith did great things (Heb. 11:32), though he had not such an extraordinary call as the rest there mentioned had. Here we have,
Jdg 11:1-3
The princes and people of Gilead we left, in the close of the foregoing chapter, consulting about the choice of a general, having come to this resolve, that whoever would undertake to lead their forces against the children of Ammon should by common consent be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. The enterprise was difficult, and it was fit that so great an encouragement as this should be proposed to him that would undertake it. Now all agreed that Jephthah, the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valour, and very fit for that purpose, none so fit as he, but he lay under three disadvantages:-
Jdg 11:4-11
Here is,
Jdg 11:12-28
We have here the treaty between Jephthah, now judge of Israel, and the king of the Ammonites (who is not named), that the controversy between the two nations might, if possible, be accommodated without the effusion of blood.
Neither Jephthah's apology, nor his appeal, wrought upon the king of the children of Ammon; they had found the sweets of the spoil of Israel, in the eighteen years wherein they had oppressed them (ch. 10:8), and hoped now to make themselves masters of the tree with the fruit of which they had so often enriched themselves. He hearkened not to the words of Jephthah, his heart being hardened to his destruction.
Jdg 11:29-40
We have here Jephthah triumphing in a glorious victory, but, as an alloy to his joy, troubled and distressed by an unadvised vow.