Judges 11:39

37 She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

38 “Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains.

After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel

40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel
KJV
And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
WEB
At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It became a custom in Israel
ASV
And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew not man. And it was a custom in Israel,
DARBY
And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, and he performed on her the vow that he had vowed; and she had known no man. And it became a fixed custom in Israel,
BLB
And it was at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out with her his vow that he had vowed. And she knew not a man. And it became a custom in Israel
ÅB
Og da to måneder var omme, kom hun tilbake til sin far, og han gjorde med henne etter det løfte han hadde gjort; og hun hadde ikke visst av mann. Så ble det en skikk i Israel:
OTB
Etter to måneder vendte hun tilbake til sin far, og han gjorde med henne som han hadde lovet. Og hun var jomfru. Fra dette oppstod en skikk i Israel,
B1930
Og da to måneder var omme, kom hun tilbake til sin far, og han gjorde med henne efter det løfte han hadde gjort; og hun hadde ikke visst av mann. Så blev det en skikk i Israel:

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Isaiah 66:3

    Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

    Read in context
  • Judges 11:31

    then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

    Read in context
  • 1 Samuel 2:18

    Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

    Read in context
  • Leviticus 27:28–29

    Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.

    Read in context
  • 1 Samuel 1:24

    Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.

    Read in context
  • 1 Samuel 1:11

    And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”

    Read in context
  • Deuteronomy 12:31

    You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

    Read in context
  • 1 Samuel 1:28

    I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

    Read in context