God"s Spirit then clothed Jephthah, giving the promise of divine enablement and victory in the approaching encounter with the Ammonite army ( Judges 11:29; cf. Judges 3:10; Judges 6:34; Judges 14:6; Judges 14:19; 1 Samuel 10:10). [source][source][source]
"The spirit may be an effective power; but it seems that it is not automatically effective, at least not in terms of effecting deliverance. The spirit comes upon or possesses human beings; therefore, it must be embodied with cooperation and faithfulness if deliverance is to be effected ..." [1][source]
Jephthah traveled through Gilead, in the tribal territory of Gad, and eastern Prayer of Manasseh , to the north, recruiting soldiers. He led his troops back to Mizpah in Gilead (cf. Judges 11:11) and then eastward into Ammon. [source][source][source]
Jephthah made a vow before going into battle. He promised that if the Lord would give him victory he would give God whatever came out of the door of his house when he returned from the conflict ( Judges 11:30-31). He would offer this person or animal either as a sacrifice of dedication to the Lord or as a burnt offering of worship ( Judges 11:31). [source][source][source]
"The making of the vow is an act of unfaithfulness. Jephthah desires to bind God rather than embrace the gift of the spirit. What comes to him freely, he seeks to earn and manipulate. The meaning of his words is doubt, not faith; it is control, not courage. To such a vow the deity makes no reply." [2][source]
Compare Gideon"s similar response to the gift of God"s Spirit. The masculine gender of the Hebrew word translated "whatever" can apply to a person or an animal, but Jephthah was probably thinking of an animal. [source][source][source]
"His negotiations with the elders, his diplomacy with the Ammonites, and his vow, have all amply displayed Jephthah"s facility with words. Jephthah, we know, is good at opening his mouth. (How ironical that his name means literally "he opens"!). What has precipitated the crisis with his daughter is that he has opened his mouth to Yahweh, that Isaiah , he has tried to conduct his relationship with God in the same way that he has conducted his relationships with men. He has debased religion (a vow, an offering) into politics." [3][source]
Webb pointed out, in the helpful article quoted above, that Israel had done the same thing Jephthah did. This tendency to negotiate with God marked and marred her relationship with Yahweh during this period of her history. [source][source][source]
The Lord gave Jephthah success in the battle, and he destroyed20 cities in Ammon. He broke the Ammonites" strong power, so they ceased oppressing Israel ( Judges 11:33). [source][source][source]
The writer wrote Judges 11:29-32 using a chiastic structure. This section begins and ends with the promise and fulfillment of God giving Jephthah victory. When the Spirit came on him there was no doubt that he would defeat the enemy. The center of the chiasm relates Jephthah bargaining with God to ensure victory. He did not need to make this vow. He had already testified that God had given His people victory in the past ( Judges 11:21; Judges 11:24). Apparently his faith was not as strong as it might have been, and this weakness led him to seek a guarantee of success by making the vow. [source][source][source]
Jephthah"s vow reveals that he had a rather unenlightened concept of Yahweh. His commitment to the Lord was strangely strong, but his understanding of God was not Scriptural. He did not know what the Law revealed about Yahweh, or he had forgotten this. His concept of God bears the marks of Canaanite influence. His belief that he needed to bargain with and bribe God to get Him to bless His people was unfortunate (cf. Jeremiah 29:11). He also believed that Yahweh took pleasure in what hurts people, that He is sadistic. This idea is also inaccurate and pagan. Furthermore he believed that God might abandon him before he finished his battle. God had promised that He would not do this as long as His people trusted and obeyed Him ( Deuteronomy 28:1; Deuteronomy 28:7). Jephthah made his tragic vow because he did not have a Scriptural view of God. [4] He should have vowed to offer the inhabitants of the cities he would conquer as sacrifices to God ( Numbers 21:2). [source][source][source]
The secret to Jephthah"s success was his essential trust in and obedience to Yahweh. This is always the key to spiritual success. His life teaches us that God can and does use people with tough backgrounds. God does not produce His instruments with a cookie cutter. Each one is different. He even uses people whom others reject because of their families and lifestyles. He prepares His tools throughout their lives and uses everything in their backgrounds to equip them to conduct a unique ministry for Himself. [source][source][source]