Abimelech and Jephthah

When Gideon died, his son Abimelech, whose mother was a concubine, killed his brothers with the backing of a crowd of wicked men, and above all with the help of the leading men of Shechem, and seized the kingdom. He was troubled by civil strife, and while he was pressing his own people hard in war, he tried to storm a certain tower in which they had taken refuge after losing their town. But as he came up to the place without enough caution, he was killed by a stone that a woman threw. He had held power for three years. Tola succeeded him and reigned twenty-two years. After him came Jair; and after he had held the chief place for the same length of time, twenty-two years, the people abandoned God and gave themselves up to idols. Because of this the Israelites were subdued by the Philistines and the Ammonites, and remained under their power for eighteen years. [a]

At the end of that time they began to call on God. But God’s answer was that they should rather call on their images for help, for he would no longer show his mercy to people who had been so ungrateful. But they confessed their fault with tears and begged for forgiveness. They threw away their idols and called on God earnestly, and so they obtained God’s compassion, though at first it had been refused. So, with Jephthah as their general, they gathered in great numbers to win back their freedom by arms. First they sent ambassadors to King Ammon, asking him to be content with his own territory and to keep from making war on them. But far from refusing battle, he at once drew up his army.

Then Jephthah, before the signal for battle was given, is said to have vowed that if he won the victory, the first person to meet him as he came home would be offered to God as a sacrifice. So when the enemy had been defeated and Jephthah was coming home, his daughter met him, having gone out joyfully with drums and dances to welcome her father as a conqueror. Then Jephthah, overwhelmed with sorrow, tore his clothes in his distress, and told his daughter of the binding force of his vow. But she, with a courage one would not expect from a woman, did not refuse to die. She asked only that her life be spared for two months, so that before she died she might have the chance to see the friends of her own age. When this was done, she willingly came back to her father and fulfilled the vow to God. Jephthah held the chief power for six years. Ibzan succeeded him, ruled in peace for seven years, and then died. After him Elon the Zebulunite ruled for ten years, and Abdon for eight years; but since their rule was peaceful, they did nothing that history might record.