Juízes 11

Juízes 11

Morgan - The one thing which we emphasize is that God did not count the wrong for which he was not responsible, a disqualification. He raised him up; He gave him His Spirit; He employed him to deliver His people in the hour of their need.” Gary Inrig writes that "The Lord does not produce Christians the way General Motors produces cars, rolling them off an assembly line, differing only in a few options. We search Scripture in vain for the stereotype into which we must fit before He can uses us. Yet many Christians suffer from a severe inferiority complex because they do not "fit the mold". Sometimes the fault is their's; often the complex comes from listening to other Christians. Thank God as Jephthah shows there is no such mold, the man nobody wanted. Driven out, he was alone in the world. Alone except for God. I do not have to be a prisoner of my past no matter how desperate that past was. God delights by using the unusable and in making what may appear ugly to men beautiful in His eyes." (Borrow Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay) James Jordan: Bastards could not be full citizens of Israel until the tenth generation (Dt. 23:2). . . Judah was the royal tribe in Israel; yet most of Judah were bastards (Gen. 38). Thus, they had to wait ten generations before they could take up full citizenship in Israel, and thus it was ten generations before any Judahite could become king. The genealogy in Ruth 4:18-22 shows that David was ten generations away from his bastard ancestor. This fact shows one of the reasons why Israel was not to have a king during the period of the Judges. Only someone from Judah could be king, and virtually all of Judah was temporarily excluded. This fact shows the folly of what Jephthah tried to accomplish . . . And Gilead was the father of Jephthah.: Gilead is here a person’s name, in contrast to Jdg 10:17 and elsewhere (cf. Jos17:1, 3) where it refers to a place. Gilead in contrast to Gideon was apparently not a polygamist (as best we can discern from the text and context) but he was an adulterer, doing what was right in his own eyes! (Jdg 21:25). Keith Krell - Jephthah’s name means “he opens,” and he is quite good at opening his mouth and speaking. Unfortunately, his mouth ends up getting him in a lot of trouble. Jeff is the Peter of the Old Testament. Yet, initially he is the victim, not the victimizer. When Jeff’s dad dies and the inheritance is to be divided, his brothers drive him away because he is the son of a harlot. Little do Jeff’s brothers realize they are rejecting the man that would deliver them and all of Israel. Jephthah is in good company though. Joseph was rejected by his brothers and later became their savior. It also took King David seven years to gain the full support of the twelve tribes of Israel. Even Jesus was rejected by His people (Jn 1:11), but will be received by them when He comes again (Zech 12:10+). Indeed, God has a huge sense of humor and He shows it here. Jephthah turns out to be the most gifted guy in the family. What a great reminder that God chooses the weak and foolish people of this world to shame the wise and strong (1Cor 1:27+). (Failure in the Family) George Bush - Now Jephthah—was a mighty man of valor. More properly perhaps, ‘had become.’ The original היה hâyâh, is not merely a verb of existence, but denotes the transition of its subject, from one state to another . When its meaning is simply ‘is,’ or ‘was,’ it is almost invariably omitted in the original. Here, however, it is inserted, and probably hints at the process by which Jephthah had gradually become distinguished. (ED: THIS A GOOD THOUGHT AND PICTURES HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPING IN THE MIDST OF HIS ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES) The son of an harlot. Heb. אשה זונה ishâh zonâh, Literally = a woman, a harlot. Not begotten in lawful wedlock. The Jewish commentators, for the most part, give a softening exposition of the term here employed, as if it imported merely a concubine, or a gentile, i. e. a foreign or strange woman, not one of the Israelitish race, as she is termed in Jdg 11:2. But without doing violence to its ordinary and most legitimate sense, we know not how to depart from the rendering of the text. At the same time, it is to be observed, that our limited knowledge of the actual state of manners and society in those ancient periods, prevents us from affirming, that the word conveys precisely the idea of public addictedness to degrading vice, which its modern acceptation imports. It may have indicated a character somewhat less vile and iniquitous, but the ambiguity of the term is not sufficient to cover all disgrace in Jephthah’s origin. His extraction, however, whatever it was, was the fault and disgrace of his parents rather than of himself, and a man should not be reproached with the unhappiness of his birth, when his own conduct bespeaks him deserving a more honorable relation. Gilead begat Jephthah. One of the descendants of the Gilead mentioned Nu 32:1; Josh. 17:1, 3, and bearing his name. To what tribe he belonged is not certain, but probably that of Manasseh beyond the Jordan. 1 Chron. 7:14. (Judges 11 Commentary) A R Fausset - Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he (was) the son of [a woman] an harlot [or concubine. In 1 Chron. 7:14, Manasseh’s concubine, who bare Machir father of Gilead, is described as an ‘Aramitess’ or Syrian. Jephthah, at his father’s death, fled to the land of Tob, an Aramean settlement (2 Sam. 10:6, margin); probably to the land of his mother’s kindred. Therefore she was probably a Syrian. The vicinity of the Gileadite half tribe of Manasseh to Syria led to marriages with Syrians, and to apostasy to “the gods of Syria” (ch. 10:6)]; and Gilead [not the original founder of the clan, but a descendant who bore the name of his famous ancestor] begat Jephthah. (Judges 11 Commentary) Related Resource: Who was Jephthah? | GotQuestions.org Valiant (strength) (02428) chayil strength, wealth, army. This word has the basic idea of strength and influence. C P Weber - In the sense of "strength," "power," or "might" in general, ḥayil is used about twenty times: of God (Psalm 59:11), from God (Ps 18:32), physical strength of a man (Eccles. 10:10), or even of plant life (Joel 2:22). As wealth is often related to power, ḥayil is thus used to mean "wealth" about thirty times being translated "wealth," "riches," "substance," or "goods." It may be the wealth of a nation (Tyre, Ezekiel 28:4-5) an individual (e.g. Job 31:25), the wicked (Job 15:29), or from God (Dt. 8:18, etc.). Approximately eighty-five times ḥayil is used as an attribute of people. It follows ʾîsh "man" ("valiant man," 1 Kings 1:42), sometimes bēn, son" ("valiant man," 2 Sa 17:10), and most often follows gibbôr "mighty (man)" ("mighty man of valor"). The individual designated seems to be the elite warrior similar to the hero of the Homeric epic, and it may be that the gibbôr hayil was a member of a social class. Although in most contexts his military prowess was involved, he was wealthy enough to bear special taxes (2 Kings 15:20, translated because of context, "mighty men of wealth"). The use in 1 Kings 1:52 indicates that the ben ḥayil (translated "worthy man") was also to be honorable or reputable. Adonijah's life was in danger because of his treachery, not because of lack of strength or wealth. ḥayil also designates men of ability to care for Joseph's sheep (Genesis 47:6, translated "men of activity"), or to judge the people (Exodus 18:21, 25, translated able men"). Uses of chayil in Judges - Jdg. 3:29; Jdg. 6:12; Jdg. 11:1; Jdg. 18:2; Jdg. 20:44; Jdg. 20:46; Jdg. 21:10; Warrior (01368) gibbor cp related verb gabar = be strong, accomplish, excel, prevail) is from a root which is commonly associated with warfare and has to do with the strength and vitality of the successful warrior. And thus this adjective means powerful, strong, Gibbor in Judges - Jdg 5:13 = "warriors", Jdg 5:23 = "warriors", Jdg 6:12 = "O valiant warrior" (Gideon), Jdg 12:1 Harlot (actually two words in Hebrew - ishshah = woman + zanah) (02181)(zanah is a verb meaning to fornicate, to prostitute and refers to marital infidelity or unfaithfulness. It was word used elsewhere in the OT to describe prostitution (Lev 21:7, Pr 7:10). Many of the uses of zanah are figurative describing Israel 's (Jehovah's "wife") commission of "spiritual prostitution" by having "intercourse" so to speak with other gods (cp 1 Co 6:16). Indeed, idolatry is looked upon as prostitution (Isa 50:1-3; 54:6, 7, 8; Jer 2:1-3; 3:1ff; Hos 2:1ff; Jas 4:4+; Rev 2:4+). In addition zanah describes Israel’s improper relationships with other nations (Isa. 23:17; Ezek. 23:30; Nah. 3:4). "The thought seems to be of having relations with these nations for the sake of political and monetary benefit, although in the case of Nineveh the added element of alluring, deceitful tactics leading on to oppressive dominance is implied. A third figurative meaning is found in Isa 1:21, where the Israelites’ departure from God’s approved moral standards is called harlotry." (link to TWOT online) CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REMAINDER OF THIS LENGTHY DEFINITION BELOW Cyril