Judges 11:30–40
Jephthah's vow: whatever or whoever?
All the witnesses checked agree that Jephthah vowed a burnt offering and "did with her according to his vow." The debate turns on the Hebrew: "whatever" or "whoever" comes out, and whether "and" in "shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it" could mean "or."
Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
Two readings
- Sacrifice
- The majority reading: the vow was carried out as a burnt offering (Josephus, rabbis, early church, most modern scholars).
- Dedication
- Reading vav as "or": either dedicated to the LORD or offered; she was dedicated to celibacy (Kimchi and later readers).
- The text's emphasis
- "She knew no man" (11:39) and the yearly lament; both readings appeal to these.
Every witness, in order
Unknown (debated)
Original Judges
No original survives.
Translated c. 2nd century BC
Septuagint (library text: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Le premier qui… franchira les portes de ma maison… sera au Seigneur; je le lui offrirai en holocauste
The first who… crosses the doors of my house… shall be the Lord's; I will offer it to him as a holocaust
Uses a personal form, "the first who." One Greek text via Giguet's French; Greek A and B not checked separately.
c. AD 400
Jerome's Vulgate
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
quicumque primus fuerit egressus… eum holocaustum offeram Domino
whoever first comes out… him I will offer as a holocaust to the Lord
Personal: "whoever."
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
הַיּוֹצֵא אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא… וְהָיָה לַיהוָה וְהַעֲלִיתִהוּ עוֹלָה
the one coming out who comes out… shall be the LORD's, and I will offer him/it up as a burnt offering
The participle can be personal or neuter.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
whatsoever cometh forth… shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering
Neuter: "whatsoever."
What changed, and why
This is not a manuscript difference but a translation and interpretation question. The ancient translations chose the personal form, which supports the view that Jephthah expected a person.
What the evidence shows
- The Greek and Latin use personal forms in 11:31. One Greek text via Giguet's French; Greek A and B not checked separately.
- Jephthah's daughter was sacrificed.
Source: B. P. Robinson, "The Story of Jephthah and His Daughter: Then and Now," Biblica 85 (2004) ↗
Sources
Related lessons
- Jephthah and His Daughter →Jephthah, son of a prostitute, driven out by his brothers, is called back to lead Gilead against Ammon. He argues history with the Ammonite king, then vows to offer as a burnt offering whatever comes out of his house to meet him. His only child, a daughter, comes out dancing. The text says he did to her as he had vowed. Whether she was killed or dedicated is one of the Bible's hardest questions.
- Journey of a Passage: Ancient Judges Texts →A guide to the passages in Judges where ancient copies and translations differ, or where the difference is between two compositions rather than two copies. Each has its own passage page with the witnesses laid out side by side.