Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 11:36
And she said unto him, My father, [if] thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, [even] of the children of Ammon.
36. The daughter has her share of the hero’s blood, and a larger share of the heroic temper: ‘My God, my land, my father’! Tennyson, ‘A Dream of Fair Women.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The touching submission of Jephthahs daughter to an inevitable fate shows how deeply-rooted at that time was the pagan notion of the propriety of human sacrifice.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 36. And she said unto him] What a pattern of filial piety and obedience! She was at once obedient, pious, and patriotic. A woman to have no offspring was considered to be in a state of the utmost degradation among the Hebrews; but she is regardless of all this, seeing her father is in safety, and her country delivered.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; do not for my sake make thyself a transgressor; I freely give my consent to thy vow; wherewith, and with the success of his arms, he had now acquainted her, though it be not here expressed.
Forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies; I am willing to bear my burden, being abundantly satisfied with the great deliverance which God hath given to his people by thy hands.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And she said unto him, my father, [if] thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord,…. The conditional word “if” may be left out, as it is not in the original text; for her father had told her that he had opened his mouth, or made a vow to the Lord, and had no doubt explained it to her what it was, though it is not expressed; she knew it respected her, as it had issued, and was concerning her, as appears by her later request:
do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; which is a remarkable instance of filial subjection and obedience to a parent, and which perhaps was strengthened by a like mistaken notion as that of her father concerning the vow, that it could not be dispensed with; and therefore was moved under a sense of religion, as well as filial duty, to express herself in this manner, as well as by what follows:
forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon: such was her public spirit, and the grateful sense she had of the divine goodness, in giving victory over Israel’s enemies, and delivering them from them, with vengeance on them, she cared not what was done to her; yea, desired that what was vowed might be performed.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The daughter, observing that the vow had reference to her (as her father in fact had, no doubt, distinctly told her, though the writer has passed this over because he had already given the vow itself in Jdg 11:31), replied, “ Do to me as has gone out of thy mouth (i.e., do to me what thou hast vowed), since Jehovah has procured the vengeance upon thine enemies the Ammonites. ” She then added (Jdg 11:37), “ Let this thing be done for me (equivalent to, Let this only be granted me); let me alone two months and I will go, ” i.e., only give me two months to go, “ that I may go down to the mountains (i.e., from Mizpeh, which stood upon an eminence, to the surrounding mountains and their valleys) and bewail my virginity, I and my friends.” does not mean “youth” ( ), but the condition of virginity (see Lev 21:13). The Kethibh is a less common form of ( Keri).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(36) And she said unto him.To explain this the LXX. add the words, I have opened my mouth to the Lord against or concerning thee. There is, however, no need for the addition. His words would fatally explain themselves, even if he added nothing more.
If thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord.The needless and incorrect insertion of the if in the English Version a little weakens the noble heroism of her answer.
Do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth.While Jephthah, living in times of ignorance which God winked at, must not be judged for that terrible ignorance of Gods nature which led him to offer a sacrifice which, as Josephus says, was neither lawful nor acceptable to God, we may well rejoice in the gleam of sunlight which is flung upon the sacred page by his faithfulness in not going back from his vow, though it were to his own hurt (Psa. 15:4), and in the beautiful devotion of his daughter, cheerfully acquiescing in her own sacrifice for the good of her country. Compare the examples of Iphigenia; of Macaria (Pausan. i. 32); of Au-churus, the son of Midas; of Curtius; of the Decii; of Marius offering his daughter for victory over the Cimbri; and of the Romans during more than one national panic. Our modern poets have happily seized this aspect of the event (see Dante, Parad. v. 66):
Though the virgins of Salem lament,
Be the judge and the hero unbent;
I have won the great battle for thee,
And my father and country are free.Byron.
When the next moon was rolled into the sky,
Strength came to me that equalld my desire.
How beautiful a thing it was to die
For God and for my sire! Tennyson.
It was not a human sacrifice in the gross sense of the word, not a slaughter of an unwilling victim, but the willing offering of a devoted heart, to free, as she supposed, her father and her country from a terrible obligation . . . The heroism of father and daughter are to be admired and loved in the midst of the fierce superstition round which it plays like a sunbeam on a stormy sea.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
36. My father Her mission and devotion were in the highest degree touching and beautiful.
Forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee Here was a point of view from which hers would be a sublime and enviable death. It was dying for her father, her country, and her God, inasmuch as her memory would be associated sublimely with one of Israel’s greatest national triumphs.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh. Do to me in accordance with what has proceeded from your mouth, forasmuch as Yahweh has taken vengeance for you of your enemies, even of the children of Ammon.” ’
His daughter comforted him as best she could. Yahweh had fulfilled His part in the matter, she stressed, now it was up to him to do the same. She wanted him to know that she was in full agreement with what he had to do. Her love for him flowed out through her words. She did not want anything to hurt her father. But she also revealed her trust in Yahweh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 11:36 And she said unto him, My father, [if] thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, [even] of the children of Ammon.
Ver. 36. Do to me according. ] A generous virgin this was, and a most morigerous [dutiful] daughter: only she should have admonished her father to advise with the priests about such an unwonted sacrifice; for sometimes both grace and wit are asleep in the holiest and wariest breasts.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
forasmuch: Jdg 16:28-30, 2Sa 18:19, 2Sa 18:31, 2Sa 19:30, Act 20:24, Act 21:13, Rom 16:4, Phi 2:30
Reciprocal: Num 30:2 – vow a vow Psa 66:14 – uttered Jer 44:17 – whatsoever
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 11:36. Do to me according, &c. Do not for my sake make thyself a transgressor; I freely give my consent to thy vow. Forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance, &c. What a generous, noble, and pious answer is this of this virgin! It expresses such a noble love for her country, such true piety and filial obedience, as can scarcely be exceeded.