- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Jul 7, 2016 23:43:54 GMT -8
Judges 11:1-33, Haftara for Par’shah Chukat
Jephthah was the the Ninth Judge of Israel. His life should be an example for those whose circumstances of birth might not be the best. On the one hand, the sins of his parents were not held against him by El Elohe Yisroel. On the other hand, being human he apparently did hold onto anger at his mistreatment by both his brothers and the elders of Gilead. According to pastor Ed Cole, whatever we hold onto in anger we will own as a consequence; and he certainly did own this as he, a Judge of Israel died with no heir just as his family had earlier disinherited him. Regardless, Hebrews 11 lists Jepthah as one of the great heroes of faith.
Judges 11:1-2 (NASB) Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father of Jephthah. Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
This man of great valor but tainted birth rose above his circumstances. This is an example to us all. The world may irrationally blame us for things over which we have no control, but why should we permit these things to weigh us down and oppress us? Learn to accept them, trusting God, and He will work out His purposes to His glory and our bennefit in His own time. This is a particularly poignant lesson for us as ma’amim Meshichi (Messianic believers).
Psalm 139:13-16 (KJV) For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Opposition will one day yield to opportunity. Will we be ready?
Judges 11:3 (NASB) So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves about Jephthah, and they went out with him.
Sent away by his family, Jepthah went to “the land of Tob” northeast of Gilead, a district of Syria in Transjordan. This was a border district to which questionable or banished people came to dwell. Jepthah became a bandit chieftain, much as Abimelech and David did. They too gathered “worthless fellows” as followers when they first started their careers as leaders.
Judges 9:4 (NASB) They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, and they followed him.
1 Samuel 22:1-2 (NASB) So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
As the leadership of David had born influence to a similar band, lifting their morale and morals, so did Jepthah’s leadership work within his circle of influence. His fame filled the land, bringing the elders who had unjustly sided with his brothers when they banished him to his doorstep. In their time of distress and need they wanted to stringently petition him to lead their fight for their homes.
Judges 10:17 (NASB) Then the sons of Ammon were summoned and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in Mizpah.
Judges 11:4-5 (NASB) It came about after a while that the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;
This is a very cutting type of Yeshua HaMoshiach. He came to His own and was crucified. He comes to us and our first response is to refuse Him; but His love never fails. Being reviled He blesses; being persecuted He endures; and being defamed He entreats. This should be our example.
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 (KJV) For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
Judges 11:6 (NASB) and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.”
H7101 קצין qâtsı̂yn BDB Definition: 1) chief, ruler, commander 1a) chief, commander (in war) 1b) dictator 1c) ruler (of one in authority)
Used in this context the term “chief” meant ‘a man of war.’ Jepthah, understanding his authority would be less than the head (rosh) begins negotiations. There can be no shared power in a military command or as Judge of Isreal. There can only be one man in charge, otherwise orders are confused, egos take over and men act in their own interest. We see this all the time with the US Congress always second-guessing our military commanders; even giving information and secrets to our enemies. When war is declared, politics (and politicians) should be sidelined until victory is won. Then, if we’re smart, we should elect the men who won it to congress instead of the simpering fools we seem to prefer. [Rant over: sorry.]
Judges 11:7-9 (NASB) Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?” The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord gives them up to me, will I become your head?”
Jepthah blames the elders for his expulsion because they did not stop his brothers in their great injustice to him. It was custom for all sons to inherit, regardless of who their mothers were. The elders don’t deny they had wronged him, and they offer Jepthah all the authority for which he has asked. To his credit, Jepthah makes acceptance of their offer conditional on his victory.
Judges 11:10-11 (NASB) The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord is witness between us; surely we will do as you have said.” Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah
Adonai-shammah- "The LORD is present" as witness to agreements is not unusual in Yisro’el.
Genesis 31:50 (NASB) If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”
We see here evidences that Jepthah is sincere in his worship of Adonai. He negotiated with the elders before the Lord, and he knew the scriptures. He was a courageous man of great faith who depended on Magen Avraham- the Shield of Abraham for victory. Notice throughout this narrative how accurate was Jepthah’s knowledge and understanding of the sacred annals of his people, and how reverently he speaks of or to his Elohim. There is more understanding and trust in the hearts of men like Jepthah than in many religious or political leaders, then and now.
Hebrews 11:1 & 32 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. … And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Judges 11:12 (NASB) Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”
Jepthah first opens negotiations, arguing the issue in peaceful and courteous terms before rushing to war. This on his part demonstrated tact, wisdom, prudence, and diplomatic skills. However once the king of the Ammonites rejected these overtures, war became inevitable. They were determined to attack on the thinnest of pretexts, and Israel had no recourse other than to defend themselves and their homeland. The enemy seems not to have changed his tactics in the approximately three millennia since.
Judges 11:13-19, 20-24 (NASB) The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now.” But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. Then they went through the wilderness and around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. The Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. Since now the Lord, the God of Israel, drove out the Amorites from before His people Israel, are you then to possess it? Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.
Jepthah states that the conquest of Sihon’s land was the will of El ELohe Yisro’el. He demonstrated to the Ammonites and to Yisro’el that his people had right and justice on their side; fighting against aggression, especially when it involved a clear choice between whether worship of YHVH or of Chemosh should dominate the land. They had every reason to appeal to their Elohim to fight for them and to vindicate their claim to the land. On these issues there could be no vacillation, as politicians are wont to do. Never, NEVER should we compromise with evil!
Judges 11:25-26 (NASB) Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?
Recall that Balak/Balam had wanted to curse Israel, but instead ended up having to bless them, as even his donkey understood before he did (Num 22-24).
Three hundred years as used here is a rounded and very inexact number, not to be taken literally.
Judges 11:27-28 (NASB) I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” But the king of the sons of Ammon disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.
And so their king doomed the Ammonite people. He should have been mindful, especially as Jepthah had just reminded him, of how the Elohim of Yisro’el had fought for and given the land to His people in the first place. But like all men tend to do, he thought he was smarter than El Bore- God the Creator.
Judges 11:29 (NASB) Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.
This was common for the Judges, that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon” them. Jepthah advances in northeasterly direction, as led by Adonai.
Judges 11:30-31 (NASB) Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
This was a vow which would have tragic consequences. Jepthah, which means “he opens” vowed that whatever came forth from his house first to meet him when he returned in victory would be the Lord’s. He would sacrifice it as a burnt offering [literally ‘an offering that ascends’].
H834 אֲשֶׁר 'ăsher ash-er' A primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as adverb and conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.: - X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how (-soever), X if, (so) that ([thing] which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither (-soever), who (-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.
H5930 עוֹלָה עֹלָה ‛ôlâh ‛ôlâh o-law', o-law' Feminine active participle of H5927; a step or (collectively stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke): - ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also H5766.
The consequences of this foolish vow are not addressed in this haftarah; however we should understand how serious a thing is a vow before Melech HaMelachim- The King of kings. Never make such a vow lightly or in haste.
Judges 11:32-33 (NASB) So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
Dan C
Resources: JPS Study TNK, Pastor Ed Cole, W Wiersbe, FB Meyer, MF Unger, my father, Rav S, and others.
Jephthah was the the Ninth Judge of Israel. His life should be an example for those whose circumstances of birth might not be the best. On the one hand, the sins of his parents were not held against him by El Elohe Yisroel. On the other hand, being human he apparently did hold onto anger at his mistreatment by both his brothers and the elders of Gilead. According to pastor Ed Cole, whatever we hold onto in anger we will own as a consequence; and he certainly did own this as he, a Judge of Israel died with no heir just as his family had earlier disinherited him. Regardless, Hebrews 11 lists Jepthah as one of the great heroes of faith.
Judges 11:1-2 (NASB) Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father of Jephthah. Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
This man of great valor but tainted birth rose above his circumstances. This is an example to us all. The world may irrationally blame us for things over which we have no control, but why should we permit these things to weigh us down and oppress us? Learn to accept them, trusting God, and He will work out His purposes to His glory and our bennefit in His own time. This is a particularly poignant lesson for us as ma’amim Meshichi (Messianic believers).
Psalm 139:13-16 (KJV) For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Opposition will one day yield to opportunity. Will we be ready?
Judges 11:3 (NASB) So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves about Jephthah, and they went out with him.
Sent away by his family, Jepthah went to “the land of Tob” northeast of Gilead, a district of Syria in Transjordan. This was a border district to which questionable or banished people came to dwell. Jepthah became a bandit chieftain, much as Abimelech and David did. They too gathered “worthless fellows” as followers when they first started their careers as leaders.
Judges 9:4 (NASB) They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, and they followed him.
1 Samuel 22:1-2 (NASB) So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
As the leadership of David had born influence to a similar band, lifting their morale and morals, so did Jepthah’s leadership work within his circle of influence. His fame filled the land, bringing the elders who had unjustly sided with his brothers when they banished him to his doorstep. In their time of distress and need they wanted to stringently petition him to lead their fight for their homes.
Judges 10:17 (NASB) Then the sons of Ammon were summoned and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in Mizpah.
Judges 11:4-5 (NASB) It came about after a while that the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;
This is a very cutting type of Yeshua HaMoshiach. He came to His own and was crucified. He comes to us and our first response is to refuse Him; but His love never fails. Being reviled He blesses; being persecuted He endures; and being defamed He entreats. This should be our example.
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 (KJV) For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
Judges 11:6 (NASB) and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.”
H7101 קצין qâtsı̂yn BDB Definition: 1) chief, ruler, commander 1a) chief, commander (in war) 1b) dictator 1c) ruler (of one in authority)
Used in this context the term “chief” meant ‘a man of war.’ Jepthah, understanding his authority would be less than the head (rosh) begins negotiations. There can be no shared power in a military command or as Judge of Isreal. There can only be one man in charge, otherwise orders are confused, egos take over and men act in their own interest. We see this all the time with the US Congress always second-guessing our military commanders; even giving information and secrets to our enemies. When war is declared, politics (and politicians) should be sidelined until victory is won. Then, if we’re smart, we should elect the men who won it to congress instead of the simpering fools we seem to prefer. [Rant over: sorry.]
Judges 11:7-9 (NASB) Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?” The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord gives them up to me, will I become your head?”
Jepthah blames the elders for his expulsion because they did not stop his brothers in their great injustice to him. It was custom for all sons to inherit, regardless of who their mothers were. The elders don’t deny they had wronged him, and they offer Jepthah all the authority for which he has asked. To his credit, Jepthah makes acceptance of their offer conditional on his victory.
Judges 11:10-11 (NASB) The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord is witness between us; surely we will do as you have said.” Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah
Adonai-shammah- "The LORD is present" as witness to agreements is not unusual in Yisro’el.
Genesis 31:50 (NASB) If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”
We see here evidences that Jepthah is sincere in his worship of Adonai. He negotiated with the elders before the Lord, and he knew the scriptures. He was a courageous man of great faith who depended on Magen Avraham- the Shield of Abraham for victory. Notice throughout this narrative how accurate was Jepthah’s knowledge and understanding of the sacred annals of his people, and how reverently he speaks of or to his Elohim. There is more understanding and trust in the hearts of men like Jepthah than in many religious or political leaders, then and now.
Hebrews 11:1 & 32 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. … And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Judges 11:12 (NASB) Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”
Jepthah first opens negotiations, arguing the issue in peaceful and courteous terms before rushing to war. This on his part demonstrated tact, wisdom, prudence, and diplomatic skills. However once the king of the Ammonites rejected these overtures, war became inevitable. They were determined to attack on the thinnest of pretexts, and Israel had no recourse other than to defend themselves and their homeland. The enemy seems not to have changed his tactics in the approximately three millennia since.
Judges 11:13-19, 20-24 (NASB) The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now.” But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. Then they went through the wilderness and around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. The Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. Since now the Lord, the God of Israel, drove out the Amorites from before His people Israel, are you then to possess it? Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.
Jepthah states that the conquest of Sihon’s land was the will of El ELohe Yisro’el. He demonstrated to the Ammonites and to Yisro’el that his people had right and justice on their side; fighting against aggression, especially when it involved a clear choice between whether worship of YHVH or of Chemosh should dominate the land. They had every reason to appeal to their Elohim to fight for them and to vindicate their claim to the land. On these issues there could be no vacillation, as politicians are wont to do. Never, NEVER should we compromise with evil!
Judges 11:25-26 (NASB) Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?
Recall that Balak/Balam had wanted to curse Israel, but instead ended up having to bless them, as even his donkey understood before he did (Num 22-24).
Three hundred years as used here is a rounded and very inexact number, not to be taken literally.
Judges 11:27-28 (NASB) I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” But the king of the sons of Ammon disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.
And so their king doomed the Ammonite people. He should have been mindful, especially as Jepthah had just reminded him, of how the Elohim of Yisro’el had fought for and given the land to His people in the first place. But like all men tend to do, he thought he was smarter than El Bore- God the Creator.
Judges 11:29 (NASB) Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.
This was common for the Judges, that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon” them. Jepthah advances in northeasterly direction, as led by Adonai.
Judges 11:30-31 (NASB) Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
This was a vow which would have tragic consequences. Jepthah, which means “he opens” vowed that whatever came forth from his house first to meet him when he returned in victory would be the Lord’s. He would sacrifice it as a burnt offering [literally ‘an offering that ascends’].
H834 אֲשֶׁר 'ăsher ash-er' A primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as adverb and conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.: - X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how (-soever), X if, (so) that ([thing] which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither (-soever), who (-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.
H5930 עוֹלָה עֹלָה ‛ôlâh ‛ôlâh o-law', o-law' Feminine active participle of H5927; a step or (collectively stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke): - ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also H5766.
The consequences of this foolish vow are not addressed in this haftarah; however we should understand how serious a thing is a vow before Melech HaMelachim- The King of kings. Never make such a vow lightly or in haste.
Judges 11:32-33 (NASB) So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
Dan C
Resources: JPS Study TNK, Pastor Ed Cole, W Wiersbe, FB Meyer, MF Unger, my father, Rav S, and others.
