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Christian Standard Bible ®

Judges 11:1

Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Adultery;   Bastard;   Gilead;   Jephthah;   Prayer;   Scofield Reference Index - Korah;   Thompson Chain Reference - Jephthah;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Judges, Extraordinary;   Manasseh, the Tribe of;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ammonites;   Children;   Jephthah;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Prostitution;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Vow;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bastard;   Jephthah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Bastards;   Harlot;   Judges;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bedan;   Gilead;   Jephthah;   Mizpah, Mizpeh;   Tribes of Israel, the;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Family;   Genealogy;   Gilead;   Harlot;   Jephthah;   Judges (1);   Levi;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Gilead ;   Gileadites ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Jephtha;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Gilead;   Jephthah;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Gil'e-Ad;   Heir;   Jeph'thah;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Bone;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;   Jephthah;   Testament;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Crime;   Gilead (1);   Gilead (2);   Gileadites;   Relationships, Family;   Strange Woman;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bastard;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Jephthah;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Now Yiftach the Gil`adite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gil`ad became the father of Yiftach.
King James Version
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Lexham English Bible
Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
English Standard Version
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
New Century Version
Jephthah was a strong soldier from Gilead. His father was named Gilead, and his mother was a prostitute.
New English Translation
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father.
Amplified Bible
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
New American Standard Bible
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. And Gilead had fathered Jephthah.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Gilead begate Iphtah, and Iphtah the Gileadite was a valiant man, but the sonne of an harlot.
Legacy Standard Bible
En Jefta, die Gileadiet, was 'n dapper held, maar hy was die seun van 'n hoer; en Gílead was die vader van Jefta.
Contemporary English Version
The leaders of the Gilead clan decided to ask a brave warrior named Jephthah son of Gilead to lead the attack against the Ammonites. Even though Jephthah belonged to the Gilead clan, he had earlier been forced to leave the region where they had lived. Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, but his half brothers were the sons of his father's wife. One day his half brothers told him, "You don't really belong to our family, so you can't have any of the family property." Then they forced Jephthah to leave home. Jephthah went to the country of Tob, where he was joined by a number of men who would do anything for money. So the leaders of Gilead went to Jephthah and said,
Complete Jewish Bible
Now Yiftach, a brave soldier from Gil‘ad, was the son of a prostitute. His father, Gil‘ad,
Darby Translation
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead had begotten Jephthah.
Easy-to-Read Version
Jephthah was from the tribe of Gilead. He was a strong soldier. But Jephthah was the son of a prostitute. His father was a man named Gilead.
George Lamsa Translation
NOW Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Good News Translation
Jephthah, a brave soldier from Gilead, was the son of a prostitute. His father Gilead
Literal Translation
And Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. And he was the son of a harlot woman; and Gilead fathered Jephthah.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Iephthae a Gileadite was a valeaut man of armes, but an harlottes childe. Gilead begat Iephthae.
American Standard Version
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Bible in Basic English
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And there was one Iephthah a Gileadite, a strong man, the sonne of an harlot.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.
King James Version (1611)
Now Iephthah the Gileadite was a mightie man of valour, and he was the sonne of an harlot: and Gilead begate Iephthah.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Jephthae the Galaadite was a mighty man; and he was the son of a harlot, who bore Jephthae to Galaad.
English Revised Version
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Berean Standard Bible
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And so in that tyme Jepte, a man of Galaad, was a ful strong man, and fiytere, the sone of a womman hoore, which Jepte was borun of Galaad.
Young's Literal Translation
And Jephthah the Gileadite hath been a mighty man of valour, and he [is] son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begetteth Jephthah,
Update Bible Version
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gilead begot Jephthah.
Webster's Bible Translation
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he [was] the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
World English Bible
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gilead became the father of Jephthah.
New King James Version
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.
New Living Translation
Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute.
New Life Bible
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a powerful soldier. But he was the son of a woman who sold the use of her body. Jephthah's father was Gilead.
New Revised Standard
Now Jephthah the Gileadite, the son of a prostitute, was a mighty warrior. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, Jephthah the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valour, but, he, was the son of an unchaste woman, - yet Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
Douay-Rheims Bible
There was at that time Jephte, the Galaadite, a most valiant man, and a warrior, the son of a woman that was a harlot, and his father was Galaad.
Revised Standard Version
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
THE MESSAGE
Jephthah the Gileadite was one tough warrior. He was the son of a whore, but Gilead was his father. Meanwhile Gilead's legal wife had given him other sons, and when they grew up, his wife's sons threw Jephthah out. They told him: "You're not getting any of our family inheritance—you're the son of another woman." So Jephthah fled from his brothers and went to live in the land of Tob. Some riffraff joined him and went around with him.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father of Jephthah.

Contextual Overview

1Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. 2Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will have no inheritance in our father’s family, because you are the son of another woman.” 3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some worthless men joined Jephthah and went on raids with him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jephthah: Hebrews 11:32, called Jephthae

a mighty: Judges 6:12, 2 Kings 5:1

an harlot: Heb. a woman

an harlot: Probably zonah should be rendered as in Joshua 2:1, a hostess, or inn-keeper, so Targum of Jonathan, wehoo bar ittetha pundekeetha, "and he was the son of a woman, a tavern-keeper." She was very probably a Canaanite, as she is called, Judges 11:2, a strange woman, ishah achereth, "a woman of another race;" and on this account his brethren drove him from the family, as not having a full right to the inheritance.

Reciprocal: Genesis 19:38 - children 1 Samuel 12:11 - Jephthah 1 Kings 3:16 - harlots

Cross-References

Isaiah 19:18
On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the Lord of Armies. One of the cities will be called the City of the Sun.
Zephaniah 3:9
For I will then restorepure speech to the peoplesso that all of them may callon the name of the Lordand serve him with a single purpose.
Acts 2:6
When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour,.... Jephthah had his name of Gileadite either from his father, whose name was Gilead, or from the city and country in which he was born, which is most likely, and so was of the same country with the preceding judge; and he was a man of great strength and valour, and which perhaps became known by his successful excursions on parties of the enemies of Israel, the Ammonites, being at the head of a band of men, who lived by the booty they got from them:

and he was the son of an harlot; the Targum says, an innkeeper; and, according to Kimchi, she was a concubine, which some reckoned no better than an harlot, but such are not usually called so; some Jewish writers will have her to be one of another tribe his father ought not to have married; and others, that she was of another nation, a Gentile, so Josephus c: and, according to Patricides d, he was the son of a Saracen woman; but neither of these are sufficient to denominate her a harlot:

and Gilead begat Jephthah; he was his son; this was a descendant of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, called after the name of his great ancestor.

c Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 7. d Apud Selden. de Success. ad leg. Ebr. c. 3. p. 32.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The history of Jephthah appears to be an independent history inserted by the compiler of the Book of Judges. Judges 11:4-5 introduce the Ammonite war without any apparent reference to Judges 10:17-18.

A genealogy of Manasseh 1 Chronicles 7:14-17 gives the families which sprang from Gilead, and among them mention is made of an “Aramitess” concubine as the mother of one family. Jephthah, the son of Gilead by a strange woman, fled, after his father’s death, to the land of Tob Judges 11:3, presumably the land of his maternal ancestors (compare Judges 9:1) and an “Aramean” settlement (2 Samuel 10:6, 2 Samuel 10:8; 2 Samuel 1:0 Macc. 5:13). It is difficult to conceive that Jephthah was literally the son of Gilead, if Gilead was the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh. Possibly “Gilead” here denotes the heir of Gilead, the head of the family, whose individual name has not been preserved, nor the time when he lived.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XI

The history of Jephthah, and his covenant with the Gileadites,

1-10.

He is elected by the people, 11.

Sends an embassy to the king of the Ammonites, to inquire why

they invaded Israel; and receives an answer, to which he sends

back a spirited reply, 12-27.

This is disregarded by the Ammonites, and Jephthah prepares for

battle, 28, 29.

His vow, 30, 31.

He attacks and defeats them, 32, 33.

On his return to Mizpeh he is met by his daughter, whom,

according to his vow, he dedicates to the Lord, 34-40.

NOTES ON CHAP. XI

Verse Judges 11:1. Now Jephthah - was the son of a harlot — I think the word זונה zonah, which we here render harlot, should be translated, as is contended for on Joshua 2:1, viz. a hostess, keeper of an inn or tavern for the accommodation of travellers; and thus it is understood by the Targum of Jonathan on this place: והוא בר אתתא פונדקיתא vehu bar ittetha pundekitha, "and he was the son of a woman, a tavern keeper." See the note referred to above. She was very probably a Canaanite, as she is called, Judges 11:2, a strange woman, אשה אחרת ishshah achereth, a woman of another race; and on this account his brethren drove him from the family, as he could not have a full right to the inheritance, his mother not being an Israelite.


 
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