Richtere 11:34

34 Toen nu Jeftha te Mizpa bij zijn huis kwam, ziet, zo ging zijn dochter uit hem tegemoet, met trommelen en met reien. Zij nu was alleen, een enig kind; hij had uit zich anders geen zoon of dochter.

Richtere 11:34 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 11:34

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house
Where he had uttered his words before the Lord, which had passed between him and the elders of Gilead, and from whence he set out to fight the children of Ammon, and whither he returned after he had got the victory over them, ( Judges 11:11 Judges 11:29 ) and where it seems he had a house, and his family dwelt; for upon his being fetched from the land of Tab, he brought what family he had with him, and settled them at Mizpeh, while he went on the expedition against the children of Ammon:

and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him, with timbrels, and with
dances;
accompanied with young women, having timbrels in their hands, and playing upon them, and dancing as they came along; expressing their joy at, and congratulating him upon, the victory he had obtained over the children of Ammon:

and she [was his] only child:
and so dear unto him, and upon whom all his hopes and expectations of a posterity from him depended:

besides her he had neither son nor daughter:
some read it, "of her" {f}; that is, she had neither son nor daughter; and so by this vow, be it understood in which way it may be, if fulfilled, she must die without any issue; though the phrase in the Hebrew text is, "of himself" ^F7; he had none, though his wife whom he married might have sons and daughters by an husband she had before him, and so these were brought up in Jephthah's house as his children; yet they were not begotten by him, they were not of his body, not his own children; he had none but this daughter, which made the trial the more grievous to him; her name, according to Philo, was Seila.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (hnmm) Targum apud Kimchi. Vid. Masoram in loc. "ex ea", so some in Vatablus.
F7 (wnmm) "ex se", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius; so Noldius, p. 614. No. 1641.

Richtere 11:34 In-Context

32 Alzo trok Jeftha door naar de kinderen Ammons, om tegen hen te strijden; en de HEERE gaf hen in zijn hand.

33 En hij sloeg hen van Aroer af tot daar gij komt te Minnith, twintig steden, en tot aan Abel-Keramim, met een zeer groten slag. Alzo werden de kinderen Ammons ten ondergebracht voor het aangezicht der kinderen Israels.

34 Toen nu Jeftha te Mizpa bij zijn huis kwam, ziet, zo ging zijn dochter uit hem tegemoet, met trommelen en met reien. Zij nu was alleen, een enig kind; hij had uit zich anders geen zoon of dochter.

35 En het geschiedde, als hij haar zag, zo verscheurde hij zijn klederen, en zeide: Ach, mijn dochter! gij hebt mij ganselijk nedergebogen, en gij zijt onder degenen, die mij beroeren; want ik heb mijn mond opengedaan tot den HEERE, en ik zal niet kunnen teruggaan.

36 En zij zeide tot hem: Mijn vader! hebt gij uw mond opengedaan tot den HEERE, doe mij, gelijk als uit uw mond gegaan is; naardien u de HEERE volkomene wraak gegeven heeft van uw vijanden, van de kinderen Ammons.