NOW: So we are left in with the question of WHO WOULD LEAD GILEAD IN BATTLE against the Ammonites? So for a moment the writer flashes back to give us panoramic view of Jephthah's origins as an illegitimate child of a prostitute, his rejection by the natural heirs of his father Gilead (v2), and his rise to notoriety in the land of Tob (v3) as the leader of a gain of raiders...a bit like an oriental "Robin Hood".

JEPHTHAH THE GILEADITE WAS A VALIANT WARRIOR (a mighty man of valor): (See Jephthah) In a military situation, this means a strong, adept warrior, such as Gideon (6:12). In response to their repentance, God raised up Jephthah to lead the Israelites to freedom from the 18 years of oppression (v8).

Samuel uses him as an illustration of how God raised up a leader to deliver Israel from trouble (1Sa12:11). He is included among the heroes of the faith in Heb11:32. Interestingly although some of his theology is questionable he is the Judge who used the personal name of God more than any other in the entire book of Judges!!! He knew Jehovah, the covenant keeping God. Rejected by those closest to him, God had become his closest friend and this is what made him the man of God that he was.

BUT HE WAS THE SON OF A HARLOT:

Jephthah thus lost family rights (v2) and was a social outcast but not in God's providential plan. And so although Jephthah's origins are even more clouded than Abimelech's, whose mother was at least a concubine, the Lord saw fit to use Jephthah in a remarkable way spite of the fact that he was an illegitimate child. God is still in the business of redeeming the lives of those born into broken family situations, praise God!

The Lord does not produce Christians the way General Motors produces cars, rolling them off an assembly line, differing only in a few options. We search Scripture in vain for the stereotype into which we must fit before He can uses us. Yet many Christians suffer from a severe inferiority complex because they do not "fit the mold". Sometimes the fault is their's; often the complex comes from listening to other Christians. Thank God as Jephthah shows there is no such mold, the man nobody wanted. Driven out, he was alone in the world. Alone except for God. I do not have to be a prisoner of my past no matter how desperate that past was. God delights by using the unusable and in making what may appear ugly to men beautiful in His eyes.

AND GILEAD WAS THE FATHER OF JEPHTHAH:

Unlike Abimelech, Jephthah did not have the protection of his mother's family; so he was forced to leave his father’s territory and head north to the land of Tob, near Syria (N of Ammon and E of Manasseh). In Tob Jephthah apparently gained notoriety as captain of a band of “adventurers” (NIV). The Hebrew word means “to make empty” and refers to idle people looking for something to do. (same word in Jdg9:4) Are you allowing the pain in your life to build you or break you? God does not waste even our failures. God was using his very pain to make him into a man of God, a valiant warrior.

WORTHLESS (req) means empty, worthless, vain and indicates something that has nothing in it. It pictures one whose moral character is worthless.  Jephthah's "band of brigands” may have protected Israelite villages from marauding tribes, perhaps including the Ammonites. Thus when the Israelites in Transjordan were threatened by a full-scale invasion of the Ammonites, the elders of Gilead invited Jephthah to be their commander. He consented only when they promised he would continue as their head (i.e. judge) after fighting ceased, a pact confirmed with oaths taken at Mizpeh (cp Gn31:48,49).

"Went out" suggests that Jephthah led these misfits on raids into the surrounding districts.

Preacher's Commentary observes that...

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Judges 11.3
G Campbell Morgan

Jephthah did not go looking for this job. God had prepared him in the land of Tob and he wiling when he was called. My job in the Christian life is to be faithful where God has placed me, learn the lessons He is teaching me and be available. It is God's job to open the doors of opportunity. An available heart will always find lots to do for the LORD. Note (v11) emphases that Jephthah was living his life in a conscious presence of the Lord.

ELDERS OF GILEAD WENT TO GET JEPHTHAH: The experience was similar with Winston Churchill, ostracized from politics prior to WWII because of his warnings against Nazism but then sought out by the British to be prime minister after the disaster at Dunkirk. But later England "went to get" Churchill.

Warren Wiersbe has an encouraging application writing that...

Apparently elders of Gilead made a trip to Tob meet with Jephthah who reminded the leaders of his previous ostracism (v7). His complaint about being appealed to as a last resort is almost identical to the words of the Lord in [10:14].

JEPHTHAH SPOKE ALL HIS WORDS BEFORE THE LORD AT MIZPAH to solemnize the agreement between Jephthah and the elders of Gilead that they would make him their ruler.

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Judges 11:12 
F B Meyer
Our Daily Homily

And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon.

Jephthah’s procedure was admirable in his quiet expostulation, before resorting to force in the defence of home and country against the aggression of Amalek. It was quite clear that Ammon had no right to the lands of which Israel, at God’s command, had dispossessed the Amorites. “Thou doest me wrong to war against me.” But before repelling the invasion, Jephthah did his best to show the unreasonableness of Ammon’s pretext.

Thus our Lord expostulated with the servant that smote Him. “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou Me?”

It is in this way that we are to act still. “If thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.”

In the Masters judgment, the wrong-doer injured himself much more than any one else; and therefore earnest words of expostulation were desirable to stay him from his own destruction.
How admirable it would be if we would act in such a spirit of meek conciliation! Then our cause might fairly be submitted to the Judge of all (Judges 11:27); and we should be strong in after-times to stand for the sacred rights of others.

This historical summary attempts to prove that Israel captured this land from the Amorites without violating the territorial rights of either Moab or Ammon. Throughout the message reference is repeatedly made to the kingdom of Moab. Ammon is not mentioned again until [v27].

The ARNON R. is mentioned repeatedly because in [v13] the King of Ammon specifically claims that the land bordered on the south by the ARNON R and on the north by the JABBOK R. belonged to Ammon when historically this was the KINGDOM OF SIHON [ruler of the Amorites] who refused to let ISRAEL pass through (v19,20) which resulted in God giving SIHON'S land to ISRAEL (v21). In short, the King of AMMON had absolutely NO CLAIM to this land which Israel had occupied for 300 YEARS! (v26).

Jephthah's defense of Israel's claim to the land is threefold:

Chemosh was the god of Moab, and Milcom (Molech, Moloch) the idolatrous god of Ammon, though Molech may be a title for Chemosh, who was worshiped by both peoples (since they had much in common).

Jephthah made these points in his negotiations with the Ammonite king: CHECK YOUR HISTORY (1) Israel had taken their land east of the Jordan not from Ammon, but from the Amorites (v15-23; cf. Nu21:24; Dt2:19, 37) CHECK YOUR THEOLOGY (2) Israel had not chosen her possessions; they had been given by her God (v24) CHECK YOUR LOGIC (3) if Ammon had some prior claim to Gilead, why had they waited 300 years to press it (v26)? It was too late for native land claims now.

The reference to Chemosh (v24) as actually giving them their land is rhetorical, intended to appeal to the king of Ammon. It implied, however, that Yahweh was stronger than "Chemosh," since Israel and not Ammon possessed the disputed territory.

The reference to Chemosh is also problematic because the Ammonite god is elsewhere said to be Molech; Chemosh was the principal god of Moab (1Ki11:5-7, 33; 2Ki23:13; Je49:1; cf. Nu21:29). Moab and Ammon were closely associated, however, both originating from Lot (Ge19:30-38; cf. Dt2:19). According to Dt23:3-6, they were both involved in hiring Balaam to curse Israel (cf. Jud3:12, 13; 2Ch20:1). It may be that at this early date the two peoples were culturally and religiously unified (cf. v15). This would add weight to the third argument in v25.

Insisting on his innocence, Jephthah appealed to the Lord to decide the issue (v27).

Jephthah's words assume a form of international law that regulated relationships between neighboring nations. He argued that the Ammonites had no legitimate reason to attack Israel because the land they desired belonged legally (by divine decision) to the Israelites.

NOW THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON JEPHTHAH: When God calls a man to serve Him, He always enables him for the task (cp Paul 1Ti1:12-14).

JEPHTHAH MADE (vowed) A VOW TO THE LORD Jephthah was not totally confident of success, so he vowed to give the Lord an offering in exchange for victory. To vowed a vow was a common practice before battle among ancient peoples.

Promising a sacrifice in exchange for divine deliverance was not wrong in and of itself. Hannah promised to dedicate her child to the Lord's service in exchange for relief from Peninnah's insults (1 Sam. 1:11). However, Jephthah's vow was unnecessary under the circumstances. Jephthah did not need to bargain with the Lord prior to this battle, for his cause was just (vv. 12-28) and he was energized by the divine Spirit (v. 29).

Human sacrifice was strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law (Lev 18:21; Dt 12:31); so Jephthah should have known that God's favor could not be gained in this terrible way. Yet Israel's neighbors -- ironically, especially the Ammonites--sacrificed their children; and this custom might have influenced Jephthah. The most notable example was the slaughter of the crown prince at the hands of the king of Moab (2Ki3:27). In his desperation the king was willing to pay the ultimate price for victory.

One of the few Jewish commentaries on Judges says that the reason they held the annual mourning for Jephthah's daughter was "in order that none should make his son or daughter a burnt offering as Jephthah did and did not consult Phineas the priest. Had he done so, he would have redeemed her with money."

"IF THOU WILT INDEED GIVE THE SONS OF AMMON INTO MY HAND: If he had truly believed in God's ability at this point the test would have said "when" not "if". Like Barak and Gideon before him (4:8; 6:17, 36-37), his use of the conditional word "if" prior to the battle testifies to his uncertainty about its outcome.

This is a most controversial passage so it is wise to avoid taking any dogmatic stand and being argumentative. The point is that Jephthah made a vow which he himself (for whatever reason) later regretted. His reaction alone therefore tells us that this indeed was a rash vow. See [Pr20:25, Ec5:1-3,v4,v5] re "rash vows".

Jephthah might sincerely (although wrongly— Lv18:21; Dt12:31) suppose ‘that Jehovah would need to be propitiated by some offering as costly as those which bled on the altars of Chemosh and Moloch’. It is interesting that MOLECH (Moloch or Milcom) was the detestable god of the Ammonites, the worship of whom was characterized by the gruesome sacrifice of children (cf. Lv20:2-5; 1Ki11:5, 7, 33; 2Ki23:10, 13; Je32:35; 49:1-3; Zep1:5).

Matthew Henry comments that...

"Several important lessons are to be learned from Jephthah's vow.

1. There may be remainders of distrust and doubting, even in the hearts of true and great believers.

2. Our vows to God should not be as a purchase of the favour we desire, but to express gratitude to Him.

3. We need to be very well-advised in making vows, lest we entangle ourselves.

4. What we have solemnly vowed to God, we must perform, if it be possible and lawful, though it be difficult and grievous to us.

5. It well becomes children, obediently and cheerfully to submit to their parents in the Lord.

More than one expositor has pointed out that the little word “and” in the phrase “and I will offer it up” (11:31) can be translated “or.” (In the Hebrew, it’s the letter waw which usually means “and.”) If we take this approach, then the vow was twofold: Whatever met him when he returned home would be dedicated to the Lord (if a person) or sacrificed to the Lord (if an animal).

Warren Wiersbe notes that...

"Since he was met by his daughter, Jephthah gave her to the Lord to serve Him at the tabernacle (Ex38:8; 1Sa2:22). She remained a virgin, which meant that she would not know the joys of motherhood and perpetuate her father’s inheritance in Israel. This would be reason enough for her and her friends to spend two months grieving, for every daughter wanted a family and every father wanted grandchildren to maintain the family inheritance. Nowhere in the text are we told that Jephthah actually killed his daughter, nor do we find anybody bewailing the girl’s death. The emphasis in Jud11:37-40 is the fact that she remained a virgin. It’s difficult to believe that “the daughters of Israel” would establish a custom to celebrate (not “lament” as in KJV) the awful sacrifice of a human being, but we can well understand that they would commemorate the devotion and obedience of Jephthah’s daughter in helping her father fulfill his vow. She deserves to stand with Isaac as a faithful child, who was willing to obey both father and God, no matter what the cost." (Be Available)

IT SHALL BE THE LORD'S AND I WILL OFFER IT UP AS A BURNT OFFERING:

This phrase may be translated: "shall surely be the LORD's (if a human being comes first), or I will offer it up for a burnt offering (if an animal appears first)."

Jephthah was led and controlled by the Holy Spirit (v29). This leading was not a quiet inactivity. Jephthah did not sit down and passively observe while God accomplished His will. He traveled through the region to gather troops, organizing them, developing strategy and leading the attack. To be led by the Spirit is always to be led into activity and into the battle for God. Gideon was a weak man that God transformed into a fearless warrior. Jephthah however was a valiant warrior and because of his tragic family history he had had to become strong to survive. The story of his life is of "God taking a strong man and by His Spirit turning him into a usable man. Whatever our strengths and weaknesses, the secret of our usefulness is our availability to our God.

Volumes have been written on what is generally termed “Jephthah’s rash vow”; the question is whether, in doing to his daughter according to his vow, he actually offered her as a sacrifice. That he really did so is a horrible conclusion but one that it seems impossible to avoid. The following may be taken as a summary of the arguments on both sides.

In favor of actual sacrifice, the following arguments are urged: (1) The express terms of the narrative, “I will offer it up as a burnt offering,” and he “did to her according to the vow.” (2) The fact that Jephthah was half heathen and that the circumstances took place where the heathen dwelt in great numbers and where human sacrifices were not unknown. (3) That Jephthah’s excessive grief on seeing his daughter come forth to meet him can only be accounted for on the supposition that he considered her devoted to death. (4) That the mourning for Jephthah’s daughter for four days in the year can be reconciled only with the supposition that she was an actual sacrifice. (5) That there is nothing in the history to show that his conduct was sanctioned by God.

In view of the divine commands in the Mosaic law against human sacrifice (Lv18:21; 20:2 -5; Dt12:31; 18:10), a question has been raised about Jephthah's action here. As discussed above, there is debate as to what he actually did.