Judges 11:38

Judges 11:38

And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

a. ASV: And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

b. YLT: And he saith, 'Go;' and he sendeth her away two months, and she goeth, she and her friends, and she weepeth for her virginity on the hills;

c. Amplified Bible Classic: And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months, and she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

d. Septuagint: And he said, Go: and he sent her away for two months; and she went, and her companions, and she bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

e. Rubin Edition Early Prophets Joshua & Judges: He said, “Go!” and he released her off for two months. She went with her friends and wept over her virginity upon the mountains.

1. “And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months..”

a. [And he] said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, ×expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

b. Go [Strong: 3212 yâlak, yaw-lak'; a primitive root (compare H1980); to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses):—× again, away, bear, bring, carry (away), come (away), depart, flow, follow(-ing), get (away, hence, him), (cause to, made) go (away, -ing, -ne, one's way, out), grow, lead (forth), let down, march, prosper, pursue, cause to run, spread, take away (-journey), vanish, (cause to) walk(-ing), wax, × be weak.]

c. [And he sent] her [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

d. away [Strong: 7971 shâlach, shaw-lakh'; a primitive root; to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications):—× any wise, appoint, bring (on the way), cast (away, out), conduct, × earnestly, forsake, give (up), grow long, lay, leave, let depart (down, go, loose), push away, put (away, forth, in, out), reach forth, send (away, forth, out), set, shoot (forth, out), sow, spread, stretch forth (out).]

e. [for] two [Strong: 8147 shᵉnayim, shen-ah'-yim; dual of H8145; feminine שְׁתַּיִם shᵉttayim; two; also (as ordinal) twofold:—both, couple, double, second, twain, twelfth, twelve, twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.]

f. months [Strong: 2320 chôdesh, kho'-desh; from H2318; the new moon; by implication, a month:—month(-ly), new moon.]

2. “...and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.”

a.  [and she] went [Strong: 3212 yâlak, yaw-lak'; a primitive root (compare H1980); to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses):—× again, away, bear, bring, carry (away), come (away), depart, flow, follow(-ing), get (away, hence, him), (cause to, made) go (away, -ing, -ne, one's way, out), grow, lead (forth), let down, march, prosper, pursue, cause to run, spread, take away (-journey), vanish, (cause to) walk(-ing), wax, × be weak.]

b. [with her] companions [Strong: 7464 rêʻâh, ray'-aw; feminine of H7453; a female associate:—companion, fellow.]

c. [and] bewailed [Strong: 1058 bâkâh, baw-kaw'; a primitive root; to weep; generally to bemoan:—× at all, bewail, complain, make lamentation, × more, mourn, × sore, × with tears, weep.]

d. [her] virginity [Strong: 1331 bᵉthûwlîym, beth-oo-leem'; masculine plural of the same as H1330; (collectively and abstractly) virginity; by implication and concretely, the tokens of it:—× maid, virginity.]

e. upon [Strong: 5921 `al al properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications (as follow):--above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, X as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, X both and, by (reason of), X had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-)on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, X with.]

f. [the] mountains [Strong: 2022 har, har; a shortened form of H2042; a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively):—hill (country), mount(-ain), × promotion.]

1). Note in Amplified Bible: Scholars fail to agree as to what Jephthah really did. For example, “This plain and restrained statement that ‘he did with her according to his vow’ is best taken as implying her actual sacrifice. Although human sacrifice was strictly forbidden to Israelites, we need not be surprised at a man of Jephthah’s half-Canaanite antecedents following Canaanite usage in this matter” (F. Davidson, ed., The New Bible Commentary). And, “Although the lapse of two months might be supposed to have afforded time for reflection and a better sense of his duty, there is but too much reason to conclude that he was impelled to the fulfillment by the dictates of a pious but unenlightened conscience” (Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown, A Commentary). And, “The religious system of Israel had fallen into suspension. From the days of Phinehas (Judg. 20:28) to the time of Samuel, we hear nothing of the high priest, the ark or the tabernacle” (The Cambridge Bible). On the other hand, J.P. Lange (A Commentary) articulates the position of many scholars when he calls attention to stories in Greek mythology in which the virginity of a goddess was celebrated by Greek maidens with song and dance. Summing up, Lange says, “At all events, it does not ‘stand there in the text,’ as Luther wrote, that she was offered in sacrifice.” And the fact that the maidens mourned her virginity and not her death seems to prove that she did not die.