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Jephthah

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

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Concordances
Nave Topical Bible
• Jephthah
Thompson Chain Reference
• Jephthah
Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
• Jephthah's Prayer, Daughter: & Vows Redeeming
Dictionaries
American Tract Society
• Jephthah
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
• Jephthah
Chabad Knowledge Base
• Jephthah
Easton's Bible Dictionary
• Jephthah's Vow
• Jephthah
Fausset Bible Dictionary
• Jephthah
Holman Bible Dictionary
• Jephthah
Hastings' BibleDictionary
• Jephthah
Hastings' NT Dictionary
• Jephthah
Morrish Bible Dictionary
• Jephthah, Jephthae
People's Bible Dictionary
• Jephthah
Smith Bible Dictionary
• Jephthah
Whyte's Bible Characters
• Jephthah and His Daughter
Watson's Theological Dictionary
• Jephthah
Encyclopedias
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Jephthah
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
• Jephthah
Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia
• Jephthah
McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
• Jephthah
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
• Jephthah
The Jewish Encyclopedia
• Jephthah
Lexicons
• ܢܰܦ݂ܬ݁ܰܚ
• Ἰεφθάε
• יִפְתָּח , יִפְתָּח

The son of Gilead, was a judge of Israel, and successor to Jair. His history is told in Judges 11:1-12:15 . A most affecting incident in it is his devoting his daughter to God as a sacrifice, in consequence of a rash vow.

The arguments on the question whether Jephthah's daughter was actually sacrificed or not, cannot here be cited. The natural repugnance we feel to such a vow and its fulfillment has led many interpreters to adopt the less obvious theory that she was only condemned to live and die unmarried. There is no intimation in Scripture that God approved of his vow, whatever it was. Paul numbers Jephthah among the saints of the Old Testament distinguished for their faith, Hebrews 11:32 .