Jueces 11:35

35 Cuando Jefté la vio, se rasgó las vestiduras y exclamó:—¡Ay, hija mía, me has destrozado por completo! ¡Eres la causa de mi desgracia! Le juré algo al SEÑOR, y no puedo retractarme.

Jueces 11:35 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 11:35

And it came to pass, when he saw her
She being the first person that presented to his view, as she was at the head of the virgins with their timbrels and dances:

that he rent his clothes;
as was the usual manner, when anything calamitous and distressing happened; see ( Genesis 37:34 ) ( Job 1:20 )

and said, alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low;
damped his spirits, sunk him very low, so that he was ready to drop into the earth, as we say; he that was now returning in triumph, amidst the acclamations of the people, in the height of his glory, and extolled to the skies, and perhaps elated in his own mind; on a sudden, at the sight of his daughter, was so depressed in his spirits, that he could not bear up; but was ready to sink and die away, all his honour being as it were laid in the dust, and nothing to him:

and thou art one of them that trouble me:
or among his troublers, and the greatest he ever met with; he had been in trouble from his brethren, when they drove him from his father's house, and he had had trouble with the children of Ammon to subdue them; but this was the greatest trouble of all, that his daughter should be the first that should meet him; of whom, according to his vow, he was to be deprived, and so all his future comforts, hopes, and expectations from her gone; and therefore ranks her among, and at the head of, his troublers:

for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord;
in a vow; not only had purposed it in his heart, but had expressed it with his lips:

and I cannot go back;
or retract it; looking upon himself under an indispensable obligation to perform it; of which, be it as it may, he seems to have had mistaken notions and apprehensions; for if his vow was to sacrifice her, as some think, he was not obliged to do it, since it was contrary to the law of God, and abominable in his sight; and besides, what was vowed to be the Lord's, or devoted to him, might be redeemed according to the law, a female for thirty pieces of silver, ( Leviticus 27:2-4 ) and if the vow was to separate his daughter from the company of men, and oblige her never to marry, such a power as this parents had not allowed them over their children, according to the laws of God or of men, in the Jewish nation; and therefore, be it which it will, what he had to do was to repent of this rash vow, and humble himself before God for making it, and not add sin to sin by performing it.

Jueces 11:35 In-Context

33 Derrotó veinte ciudades, desde Aroer hasta las inmediaciones de Minit, y hasta Abel Queramín. La derrota fue muy grande; así los amonitas quedaron sometidos a los israelitas.

34 Cuando Jefté volvió a su hogar en Mizpa, salió a recibirlo su hija, bailando al son de las panderetas. Ella era hija única, pues Jefté no tenía otros hijos.

35 Cuando Jefté la vio, se rasgó las vestiduras y exclamó:—¡Ay, hija mía, me has destrozado por completo! ¡Eres la causa de mi desgracia! Le juré algo al SEÑOR, y no puedo retractarme.

36 —Padre mío —replicó ella—, le has dado tu palabra al SEÑOR. Haz conmigo conforme a tu juramento, ya que el SEÑOR te ha vengado de tus enemigos, los amonitas.

37 Pero concédeme esta sola petición —añadió—. Ya que nunca me casaré, dame un plazo de dos meses para retirarme a las montañas y llorar allí con mis amigas.