Judges 12:7

7. The story of Jephthah is brought to a close with the formula which is used of the Minor Judges, Jdg_12:8-15, Jdg_10:2-5.

was buried in one of the cities of Gilead] The text has in the cities of G.! Can this mean that Jephthah was buried somewhere or other in Gilead? The vagueness of the expression is supposed to be an indication of the vaguely historical character of the whole story (Meyer, Die Israeliten, p. 535). Probably, however, the text is incorrect. The LXX. cod. B reads ‘in his city in G.’, cod. A ‘in his city G.’; Vulgate in civitate sua Galaad. Some cursive mss. of LXX read ‘in his city in Sephe Gilead,’ cf. Jos., Ant. Jdg_12:7; Jdg_12:12 ‘in Sebee of G.’; this suggests that the text originally ran in his city, in Mizpeh of G., cf. Jdg_8:27, Jdg_11:29. The rabbis are driven to explain ‘limb after limb fell off his body and was buried each in a different place,’ Midrash Rabba Levit. § 37, Bereshith § 60.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 12:7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.

Ver. 7. And was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.] Heb., In the cities; whereupon some have founded a conceit that Jephthah was so esteemed for his valour, that they cut his body in pieces when he was dead, and carried a part to each of their cities, and there buried it. Peter Martyr by "cities" understandeth some one city so called, as Accius called Athens Quatrurbem.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

JEPHTHAH’S DEATH, Jdg_12:7.

7. Judged Israel six years — His dominion, probably, never extended to the west of the Jordan. The elders of Gilead had made him their “head and captain,” (Jdg_11:11,) and after his victory over the Ammonites, and his defeat of the Ephraimite invasion, he seems to have been content to rule over the inhabitants of Gilead.

Buried in one of the cities of Gilead — From this indefiniteness about the place of his burial, compared with the fact that the burial of Abimelech is not mentioned at all, Wordsworth infers that a dark shadow hung over the name and memory of Jephthah. But he seems to have been honoured and respected among the eastern tribes, though we have no record of his making any efforts to lead back his people to the first principles of the theocracy, from which they had greatly departed. The eastern tribes still felt themselves to be of Israel, and never lost that feeling; but their isolation from the western tribes, causing the dialectic variation noticed Jdg_12:6, and their remoteness from the tabernacle, whereby they were cut off in a great measure from the practice of the divine worship, greatly weakened the ties of nationality. Jephthah’s offering, too, of a human sacrifice, taken in connexion with the fact that it seems not to have occasioned any feelings of horror among the people, creates the belief that they had become generally ignorant of the requirements of their own law, and estranged from the principles of Moses.

{Our impression of Jephthah’s character is reverent. Driven by wrong from home and country, he wrought for himself a heroic name that made the chiefs of eastern Israel realize him to be their only hope. Recalled by their repentance, he, like Camillus, forgave all, and returned to his native home and altars. The dark vow that shades his character was an act of mistaken piety; yet his very fidelity to his vow shows it to have been a profoundly conscientious piety. At the same time it furnishes, in the self-devoting response of the daughter, one of the most touching strokes of pathos in all history. His diplomacy was as honest as his chivalry was brave. No shadow but his mistaken vow rests upon this heroic chief.}

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jephthah died--After a government of six years, this mighty man of valor died; and however difficult it may be for us to understand some passages in his history, he has been ranked by apostolic authority among the worthies of the ancient church. He was followed by a succession of minor judges, of whom the only memorials preserved relate to the number of their families and their state [Jdg 12:8-15].

Next: Judges Chapter 13

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(7) Judged Israel.—The word implies that he was one of the recognised Shophetim, but there are no details to show in the case of any of the judges either what were the limits of their jurisdiction or what amount of authority it implied.

In one of the cities of Gilead.—The Hebrew only says, “in cities of Gilead.” This may, no doubt. mean “one of the cities of Gilead,” as in Gen_19:29 “the cities in the which Lot dwelt” means “in one of which Lot dwelt.” But the burial-place of so renowned a hero as Jephthah was not likely to be forgotten, and the reading adopted by the LXX. and Vulg., “in his city, Gilead” (i.e., Ramoth-Gilead or Mizpeh of Gilead), is furnished by a mere change of into The Sebee, in which Josephus says he was buried, may be a corruption of Mizpeh.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jephthah judged Israel six years,.... After the affair of the Ephraimites, he was acknowledged by all Israel as their judge and supreme governor, but did not live long; being perhaps depressed and worn away with grief, on account of his daughter, and other troubles that attended him:

then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead: it is not said in what city he was buried, but very probably it was in his own city Mizpeh, where he dwelt. Josephus (w) says it was in his own country, Sebee, a city of Gilead.

(w) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

His city. Maspha, in the country of Galaad, chap. xi. 34. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "in the cities;" whence the Rabbins have idly conjectured, that parts of his body were interred in different cities out of respect, or that they rotted off, in punishment of the sacrifice of his daughter. (Munster) --- Grotius compares Jepthe with the renowned Viriatus. His character, both in peace and war, deserves the highest commendations; and in many respects, he was a striking figure of Jesus Christ. (Calmet) --- The uncertainty of his birth, and the subsequent persecution which he endured from his brethren, foreshewed the deformity of the synagogues, and the conduct of the Jews (Haydock) towards their Messias, from whom alone they could expect salvation. Hence they are forced to have recourse to him, as the Israelites found themselves under a necessity of recalling Jepthe to lead them on to victory. Those who refused obedience to him, were deservedly exterminated, as the faithless Jews were by the arms of the Romans. Whether the daughter of Jepthe was immolated, or only consecrated to God, we may discover in her person a figure of the death and of the resurrection of our Saviour, who voluntarily made a sacrifice of his human nature to the justice of his father. See St. Augustine, q. 49.; Serarius, q. 26. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

In one of the cities, Heb. in the cities; the plural number put for the singular, as Gen 19:29, where Lot is said to dwell in the cities, i.e. one of the cities; and 1Sa 18:21, the twain is put for one of the twain; and Jdg 18:11, houses for house; and Jon 1:5, the sides for one of the sides.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Six years. Perhaps his sorrow for his daughter shortened his life. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite. Better, And Jephthah the Gileadite died. In one of the cities. His exact burial-place was perhaps unknown, and therefore the general phrase in the cities of Judah was used, Gen_13:12. Lot is said to have dwelt in the cities of the plain, Neh_6:2 San-ballat asked Nehemiah to meet him in the villages of the plain. Still the phrase is not what you would expect here, and it seems unlikely that Jephthah"s burial-place should be unknown. The Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions read, "in his city Gilead," as if Gilead had been the name of Jephthah"s paternal city. Another conjecture is that there might have been an Ar of Gilead as well as the well-known Ar of Moab, or there might have been a collection of towns called Arey-Gilead (the towns of Gilead), after the analogy of Havoth-jair Jud_1:10:4), but there is no evidence in support of these conjectures.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jephthah judged Israel six years, though most probably only the tribes on the east of the Jordan. When he died, he was buried in one of the towns of Gilead. The plural גלעד בּערי is used quite indefinitely, as in Gen 13:12; Neh 6:2, etc. (see Ges. Lehrgeb. p. 665), simply because the historian did not know the exact town.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Jephthah the Gileadite died and they buried him" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Jephthah

servant

judge, judges

Israel

Gilead

die

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.