Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 7

In this essay I’ll consider three occurrences of yârêʼ (תירא), the first two very briefly.  They simply mean fear, the fear of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do.[1]

Numbers 21:33-35 (NET)

Deuteronomy 3:1-4 (NET)

Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan.  And King Og of Bashan and all his forces marched out against them to do battle at Edrei.  And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear (yârêʼ, תירא) him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand.  You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. Next we set out on the route to Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei.  The Lord, however, said to me, “Don’t be afraid (yârêʼ, תירא) of him because I have already given him, his whole army, and his land to you.  You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon.”
So they defeated Og, his sons, and all his people, until there were no survivors, and they possessed his land. So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left.  We captured all his cities at that time – there was not a town we did not take from them – sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the dominion of Og in Bashan.


I also commanded Joshua at the same time
, Moses continued, “You have seen everything the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) your God did to these two kings; he (yehôvâh, יהוה) will do the same to all the kingdoms where you are going.  Do not be afraid (yârêʼ, תיראום) of them, for the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) your God will personally fight for you.”[2]

The third occurrence of yârêʼ requires more consideration (Deuteronomy 4:10 NET):

You stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands.  Then they will learn to revere (yârêʼ, ליראה) me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.”

The Hebrew word was yârêʼ.  The Tanakh reads: ‘Assemble Me the people, and I will make them hear My words that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.’[3]  The Septuagint reads: “Assemble the people to me, and let them hear (ἀκουσάτωσαν, a form of ἀκούω; See Luke 16:29) my words so that they may learn to fear me all the days as long as they live on the earth and may teach their sons…”[4]  Yet the NET translators chose revere and I don’t have any quarrel with it.  Doing this study has helped me realize that something is happening to the fear of yehôvâh.

I’ve already heard Moses associate this fear with faith.  Here, too, it is associated with something like faith.  Moses said (Deuteronomy 4:1-4 NET):

Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.  Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to you.  You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, how he eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor.  But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you.

The Hebrew word translated remained faithful was dâbêq (הדבקים), clinging, adhering to in the NET dictionary.  But ye that did cleave unto HaShem your G-d are alive every one of you this day.[5]  I picture a child clinging to her parent’s leg for comfort and security.  It reminded me of President Obama’s gaffe on the campaign trail:[6]

For a second day, Mr. Obama sought to explain his remarks at a recent San Francisco fund-raiser that small-town Pennsylvania voters, bitter over their economic circumstances, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” as a way to explain their frustrations.

A believer looking back might easily perceive the clinging of those who did not join themselves to Baal Peor as a kind of faith.  In the Septuagint it was προσκειμενοι (a form of προσκαρτέρησις; translated held fast in English): “strong perseverance which prevails by interacting with God.”

I’ve been thinking lately about the ubiquity of the hero’s journey as a function of the religious mind, the pride (ἀλαζονεία, a form of ἀλαζονεία) of life.  Looking back—after the judgment and condemnation (Numbers 25:4, 5) that distinguished those who engaged in πορνεία with the Moabite women and their gods (Numbers 25:1-3) from those who did not—the latter group may seem the more heroic whether through a “strong perseverance which prevails by interacting with God” or having remained faithful.  But Moses’ choice of dâbêq (הדבקים) may reflect the actual situation when the next step on the hero’s journey seemed to be a love and peace initiative with the descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot through his eldest daughter (Genesis 19:37), while the less heroic in Israel clung to yehôvâh’s commands regarding idolatry and adultery.

The only other occurrence of dâbêq (הדבקים) in the Old Testament was in Solomon’s proverb: there is a friend who sticks closer (dâbêq, דבק) than a brother.[7]  I have no idea what that meant to Solomon.  To someone who knows the Holy Spirit it is difficult not to think of Him as that friend.  Moses continued, a significantly different attitude toward the law than Luther/Graebner indicated  (Deuteronomy 4:5-8 NET):

Look!  I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in the land you are about to enter and possess.  So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise people.”  In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him?  And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this whole law that I am about to share with you today?

Then Moses recalled the giving of the law:

Exodus 20:18-20 (NET)

Deuteronomy 4:9, 10 (NET)

All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking – and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance.  They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”  Moses said to the people, “Do not fear (yârêʼ, תיראו), for God has come to test you, that the fear (yirʼâh, יראתו) of him may be before you so that you do not sin.” Again, however, pay very careful attention, lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.  You stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands.  Then they will learn to revere (yârêʼ, ליראה) me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.”

Here Moses chose yârêʼ for the fear that was yirʼâh in Exodus.  The translation revere seems cognizant at least of a meaning other than simple fear.  “We want it understood that we do not reject the Law as our opponents claim,” Luther/Graebner asserted in their “Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians” under the heading The Twofold Purpose of the Law. “On the contrary, we uphold the Law.”

Their twofold purpose was “to check civil transgression, and to magnify spiritual transgressions.”  Paul added another purpose: through the law comes the knowledge of sin.[8]  Luther/Graebner allowed:

The Law is also a light like the Gospel. But instead of revealing the grace of God, righteousness, and life, the Law brings sin, death, and the wrath of God to light. This is the business of the Law, and here the business of the Law ends, and should go no further.

I would add under this rubric of light that the law like all Scripture is a way to knowthe only true God, and Jesus Christ.[9]

Luther/Graebner recognized “three ways in which the Law may be abused”[10] (actually, four ways):

First, by the self- righteous hypocrites who fancy that they can be justified by the Law. Secondly, by those who claim that Christian liberty exempts a Christian from the observance of the Law…Thirdly, the Law is abused by those who do not understand that the Law is meant to drive us to Christ. When the Law is properly used its value cannot be too highly appraised. It will take me to Christ every time.

The fourth way the law may be abused is to be ignorant of it.  Luther/Graebner cited this as the introduction to the other three ways: “The doctrine of the Law must therefore be studied carefully lest we either reject the Law altogether, or are tempted to attribute to the Law a capacity to save.”  I was ignorant of Leviticus 5:4-6 (though I had certainly read it) while Numbers 30:1-2 stuck with me.

Numbers 30:1, 2 (NET)

Leviticus 5:4-6 (NET)

Moses told the leaders of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what the Lord has commanded [Table]: If a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath of binding obligation on himself, he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised [Table].” …when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths [Table]– when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things he must confess how he has sinned [Table], and he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin [Table].

I hope Jephthah (Judges 11:34-40) was ignorant of Leviticus 5:4-6 (though I just stumbled across an essay that claims Jephthah didn’t sacrifice his daughter but merely consigned her to a life of celibacy [according to her own will]).[11]  I had thought that Jephthah’s sacrifice was necessary and in some sense “good,” given my understanding of the law.  Now I consider Jephthah’s attempt to justify himself by law a failure, whether he sacrificed his daughter or consigned her to celibacy, for he did not confess his thoughtless oath.  As James wrote (James 2:10, 11 NET Table):

For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.  For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.”  Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law.

This time however I see the hero’s journey as an aspect of the religious mind as well.  It seems so much more “heroic” (in the sense that I pay the price of obedience to God’s law) to sacrifice one’s daughter, whether to death or celibacy, than to confess one’s sin.  To confess sin is a weakness and a disgrace by comparison to a hero’s journey.

In the book of Esther, Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.[12]  Esther interceded with the king on behalf of her people: let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.[13]

But the king’s decree could not be rescinded: Any decree that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be rescinded.[14]  The only solution was to write another decree authorizing a day of civil war in the kingdom: The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves – to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, and to confiscate their property.[15]

When Moses interceded with yehôvâh, pleading for the lives of the descendants of Israel (Exodus 32:9-14), the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה), unlike the king of Persia, repented (nâcham, וינחם; Septuagint: ἱλάσθη, a form of ἱλάσκομαι) of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.[16]  Follow me, Jesus said.  John wrote (1 John 1:8-2:2 NET):

If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.  (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.)  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.

The fear of yehôvâh might compel one to sacrifice his daughter, whether to death or celibacy.  To confess one’s sin and bring the appropriate sacrifice, So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin is something else altogether.  To revere yehôvâh is not an altogether unworthy attempt to encapsulate that difference in a word.


[1] Luke 12:4 (NET)

[2] Deuteronomy 3:21, 22 (NET)

[3] Deuteronomy 4:10b (Tanakh)

[4] Deuteronomy 4:10b (Septuagint)

[5] Deuteronomy 4:4 (Tanakh)

[6] New York Times, April 13, 2008, On the Defensive, Obama Calls His Words Ill-Chosen, by KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and JEFF ZELENY

[7] Proverbs 18:24b (NET)

[8] Romans 3:20b (NET)

[9] John 17:3b (NET)

[10] Commentary on Galatians 3:23

[11] The opposing view is defended adequately in “Jephthah’s Vow

[12] Esther 3:13 (NET)

[13] Esther 8:5b (NET)

[14] Esther 8:8b (NET)

[15] Esther 8:11 (NET)

[16] Exodus 32:14 (KJV)

Apostles and Prophets, Part 3

Lori Eldridge’s[1] argument “Why there are no Apostles today[2] continued:

The apostles claimed to be eyewitnesses:    

Acts 5:32, Peter and the other apostles stated, “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Therefore, ALLLLLLL the apostles were eye witnesses to Christ and his Resurrection.

On the surface of it the structure of the sentence in Acts 5:32—we areand so is—doesn’t sound like the kind of exclusive claim Ms. Eldridge wants to make of it.  But I want to address something else first; namely, the Holy Spirit whom God has given (ἔδωκεν, a form of δίδωμι) to those who obey him.”[3]  The note in the NET reads:  “Those who obey.  The implication, of course, is that the leadership is disobeying God.”  What I object to is the implication that the Holy Spirit has been given as a result of human “obedience.”  And I don’t think Peter was at fault here.

The Greek word translated obey (πειθαρχοῦσιν, a form of πειθαρχέω) is a combination of πείθω:

A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty)

NET: 1) persuade 1a) to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to believe 1b) to make friends of, to win one’s favour, gain one’s good will, or to seek to win one, strive to please one 1c) to tranquillise 1d) to persuade unto i.e. move or induce one to persuasion to do something 2) be persuaded 2a) to be persuaded, to suffer one’s self to be persuaded; to be induced to believe: to have faith: in a thing 2a1) to believe 2a2) to be persuaded of a thing concerning a person 2b) to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with 3) to trust, have confidence, be confident

and ἄρχω:

A primary verb; to be first (in political rank or power)

NET: 1) to be chief, to lead, to rule.

It is a reference back to Peter’s response to the council and the high priest[4]: We must obey (πειθαρχεῖν, another form of πειθαρχέω) God rather than people.[5]  And he said this as he refused to heed or be persuaded by the highest religious authority in Israel: We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name.[6]  Had πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ θεῷ been translated “we must trust God as leader” and πειθαρχοῦσιν αὐτῷ as “trust him as leader” we would have a better translation of Peter’s point without inducing him to propound a false concept.  And the Holy Spirit would be seen as the cause of human obedience rather than a reward for good behavior.

The structure of Ms. Eldridge’s argument is: The apostles claimed to be eyewitnesses in Acts 5:32, therefore all the apostles were eye witnesses to Christ and his Resurrection (and none other than eye witnesses can be apostles).  This argument depends on equating eyewitnesses (αὐτόπται, a form of αὐτόπτης) with witnesses (μάρτυρες, a form of μάρτυς) of these things (ρημάτων, a form of ῥῆμα; NET events).  These things (NIV) or events (NET) are specified: The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.[7]

Admittedly, translating ρημάτων as things or events makes the relationship to αὐτόπται seem strong, and makes μάρτυρες seem exclusive to that generation.  You killed the Originator (ἀρχηγὸν, a form of ἀρχηγός) of life, Peter said elsewhere, whom God raised (ἤγειρεν, a form of ἐγείρω) from the dead.  To this fact (οὗ, a form of ὅς) we are witnesses (μάρτυρες, a form of μάρτυς)![8]  The apostles saw Jesus seized and killed by hanging him on a tree.  If Peter meant raised from the dead by The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, the apostles certainly saw Jesus after his resurrection.    But if he meant God exalted him to his right hand as Leader  and Savior, was that something they saw with their eyes (Hebrews 2:6b-9 NET)?

What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him?  You made him lower than the angels for a little while.  You crowned him with glory and honor.  You put all things under his control.”  For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control.  At present we do not yet see (ὁρῶμεν, a form of ὁράω) all things under his control, but we see (βλέπομεν, a form of βλέπω) Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone.

I don’t think we are meant to take we see Jesus as proof that the letter to the Hebrews was penned before Jesus’ ascension.  The apostles did see Jesus taken up[9] (ἀνελήμφθη, a form of ἀναλαμβάνω) into the sky: while they were watching (βλεπόντων, another form of βλέπω), he was lifted up (ἐπήρθη, a form of ἐπαίρω) and a cloud hid him from their sight[10] (ὀφθαλμῶν, a form of ὀφθαλμός) But only Stephen, as he was stoned to death, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently (ἀτενίσας, a form of ἀτενίζω) toward heaven (οὐρανὸν, a form of οὐρανός) and saw (εἶδεν, a form of εἴδω) the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.[11]  The others must have “seen” this in some other way, similar perhaps to the way they “saw” Jesus give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Actually, the word (ρημάτων, a form of ῥῆμα) translated things or events in Acts 5:32 was translated words in: Then the women remembered his words[12] (ρημάτων), and If anyone hears my words (ρημάτων) and does not obey them, I do not judge him.[13]  Had Acts 5:32 been translated—And we are witnesses of these words—it would have been more obvious that the apostles became witnesses by believing what they heard rather than seeing with their eyes.  I could quote many instances of forms of ῥῆμα translated as word or words.  It will be more efficient to look into those which were translated differently.

But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter (ρῆμα, another form of ῥῆμα) may be established.[14]  (This is the third time I am coming to visit you.  By the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter (ρῆμα, another form of ῥῆμα) will be established.[15])  The differences in the various translations prompts the question: What is being established (NET, DNT, NIV, ASV, KJV, NKJV, YLT, NAB), stood upon (DNT, YLT), clarified (TMSG), confirmed (ISVNT), verified (ISVNT, GWT), attested (MSNT), sustained (MSNT), proved true (CEV), upheld (TEV)?  Is it the word (ρῆμα) of the witnesses (μαρτύρων)?  Or is it the brother’s sin?[16]  Or is it both?

A single witness (Septuagint: μάρτυς) may not testify (Septuagint: μαρτυρῆσαι[17]) against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits.  A matter (Hebrew: dâbâr; Septuagint: ῥῆμα) may be legally established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.[18]  In the context of the original verse Jesus’ quoted, it is fairly clear that the word of the witnesses was being legally established.  The words dâbâr or ῥῆμα might have been translated accusation, but I see no credible reason to translate them matter until I look at the larger context and its implications (Deuteronomy 19:16-19a NET).

If a false witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime [Table], then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days [Table].  The judges will thoroughly investigate the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and to have given false testimony against the accused [Table], you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused [Table].

Those who malign the Lord (as I have done) for the law’s death penalty for very human offenses never mention this little gem.  The gossip who sees a man sneaking out of the widow’s house in the middle of the night must consider her own jeopardy before accusing them of a capital offense.  And as I begin to argue in my own mind that gossips would never be punished as severely as adulterers, I hear the law addressed directly to judges who would practice such injustice (Deuteronomy 19:19b-21 NET).

In this way you will purge evil from among you [Table].  The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil [i.e., gossiping, becoming a false witness] among you [Table].  You must not show pity; the principle will be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot [Table].

The judges had no discretion regarding the sentencing of false witnesses.  It truly is a beautiful law.  Deuteronomy 19:15-21 all but guarantees (as much as any law weakened through the flesh[19] can “guarantee” anything pertaining to human behavior) that only the most flagrant and egregious sins would ever come up for adjudication.  But none of this justifies the translation of dâbâr/ῥῆμα as matter in my mind until I ask, what triggers the investigation of the false witness?

I assume it is the same thing that triggers the procedural acceleration in Mathew 18:16, But if he does not listen (ἀκούσῃ, a form of ἀκούω).  If the accused hears the word of the witnesses, does not accuse them of lying, the matter is legally establishedon the testimony of two or three witnesses as a matter of procedure.  The procedure is at its end.  In this sense I can barely justify translating dâbâr/ῥῆμα as matter, with the proviso that it hides the fact from the non-Hebrew-non-Greek-studying English-speaking world that the word of the witnesses was the primary focus and concern of the Word of God.

Given the time and place I came of age I can’t help but wonder if yehôvâh/Jesus, both in the law and in the Gospel of Matthew, hasn’t instituted the most virulent form of thought police ever conceived.  But let me take some of the things, events or words (ρημάτων, a form of ῥῆμα) the apostles “saw” (or heard and believed) seriously (Acts 5:31 NET):

God exalted [Jesus] to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness (ἄφεσιν, a form of ἄφεσις) of sins.

The words do not say, God exalted [Jesus] to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to institute the most virulent form of thought police ever conceived.  Through hearing with faith I can stand up to the socially constructed reality of my upbringing and accept that what I may think was instituted as thought police was actually instituted to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.  It transforms my outlook.

What if an avid student of the law had heard Jephthah’s thoughtless oath?[20]  If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me [Table], then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice [Table].[21]  Maybe the avid law student didn’t recognize it as a thoughtless oath until Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines.[22]

Or perhaps the law didn’t come to his mind until Jephthah ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no!  My daughter!  You have completely ruined me!  You have brought me disaster!  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”[23]  Or if that didn’t do it maybe her answer jogged his memory, My father, since you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised.  After all, the Lord vindicated you before your enemies, the Ammonites.[24]  Or if that fell on deaf ears, what if the law came to him any time during the two months Jephthah’s daughter wandered the hills with her friends to mourn her virginity?[25]

What if the avid law student came to Jephthah with two comrades who heard his oath? and said, “Jephthah, you have made a thoughtless oath in our hearing.  Now hear the word of the Lord (Leviticus 5:4-6 NET):

[W]hen a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths [Table]…he must confess how he has sinned [Table], and he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering.  So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin [Table].

The risk for the witnesses, the avid law student and his two comrades, was a female sheep or a female goat (a piece, I assume, less if they were poor[26]).  The benefit for Jephthah was his daughter’s life.  It is in keeping with the beautiful law, and the intent of God the Father and Jesus the Leader and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Jephthah may have rejected the word of the witnesses anyway.  The religious mind is capable of atrocities ordinary sinners shrink from committing.  But if he had rejected the word of the witnesses Jephthah would have been a rebellious son of Israel rather than the tragic victim of a pious good: After two months she returned to her father, and [Jephthah] did to her as he had vowed.[27]

Standing up to the religious mind, one’s own as well as those of others, is part and parcel of following Christ.  For some of us it is the cross[28] we bear.  I’ll return to Ms. Eldridge’s argument and more instances of ῥῆμα in the next essay.  A table of the translation in various Bibles of dâbâr/ῥῆμα from the three verses considered above follows.

Translation of ρῆμα[29] Matthew 18:16 2 Corinthians 13:1 Deuteronomy 19:15
matter NET, DNT, NIV NET, DNT, TMSG,[30] NIV NET, DNT, NIV, ASV, KJV, NKJV
word ASV, ISVNT, KJV, MSNT, NKJV, YLT ASV, KJV, NKJV
charges CEV
charge MSNT NAB
complaint CEV
accusation GWT, TEV GWT, ISVNT, TEV
saying YLT
fact NAB NAB
a case TMSG

Back to Romans, Part 55

[1] http://www.endtime-prophets.com/statement.html

[2] http://www.endtime-prophets.com/noproph.html

[3] Acts 5:32b (NET)

[4] Acts 5:27 (NET)

[5] Acts 5:29 (NET)

[6] Acts 5:28a (NET)

[7] Acts 5:30, 31 (NET)

[8] Acts 3:15 (NET)

[9] Acts 1:2 (NET)  The note in the NET reads: “The words ‘to heaven’ are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11.”  As they were still staring into the sky (οὐρανὸν, a form of οὐρανός) while he was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky (οὐρανὸν, a form of οὐρανός)?  This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven (οὐρανὸν, a form of οὐρανός) will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven (οὐρανὸν, a form of οὐρανός).” (Acts 1:10, 11 NET)

[10] Acts 1:9 (NET)

[11] Acts 7:55 (NET)

[12] Luke 24:8 (NET)

[13] John 12:47a (NET)

[14] Matthew 18:16 (NET)

[15] 2 Corinthians 13:1 (NET)

[16] Matthew 18:15 (NET)

[17] http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=marturh%3Dsai&la=greek&prior=moi (a form of μαρτυρέω)

[18] Deuteronomy 19:15 (NET) Table

[19] Romans 8:3-4 (NET)

[20] Leviticus 5:4 (NET)

[21] Judges 11:30b, 31 (NET)

[22] Judges 11:34a (NET) Table

[23] Judges 11:35 (NET) Table

[24] Judges 11:36 (NET) Table

[25] Judges 11:37, 38 (NET)

[26] Leviticus 5:7-13 (NET)

[27] Judges 11:39a (NET) Table

[28] Matthew 10:38, 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23, 14:27

[29] In Deuteronomy the word is dâbâr though ῥῆμα was used in the Septuagint.  The ISVNT and MSNT are New Testament only.  The CEV, GWT, and TEV are too paraphrased for me to tell which word is a translation of what.

[30] If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again (Matthew 18:16 TMSG).  I have no idea how ρῆμα was translated here.

Jephthah and Moses

Jephthah was somewhat unique among the Judges.  His leadership style hearkened back to someone more like Moses than the other Judges up to his time (compare Ehud,1 for instance).  Though I wouldn’t expect a marauding leader of lawless men, the exiled son of a professional (or eager amateur) devotee of one of the Baals or Ashtars, to be an avid student of the five books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy), Jephthah did not rush into battle with the king of the Ammonites (Judges 11:12, 13 NET).

Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have you come against me to attack my land?”  The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan.  Now return it peaceably!”

Perhaps Jephthah’s ancestry and personal history made him more careful than others to imitate Moses of old.  Whether he knew the history himself or enlisted priests or prophets to help him, Jephthah’s response to the Ammonite king was a relatively detailed Bible2 study.

Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.

Judges 11:14, 15 (NET)

When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh.  Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request.

Judges 11:16, 17a (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:1-8 (NET)

Numbers 20:14-21 (NET)

Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate.  So Israel stayed at Kadesh.  Then Israel went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab.  They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border).

Judges 11:17b, 18 (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:9 (NET)

Numbers 21:11-13 (NET)

Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.”  But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory.  He assembled his whole army, camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.  The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them.  Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.  They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west.  Since the Lord God of Israel has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them?  You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us.

Judges 11:19-24 (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:24-37 (NET)

Numbers 21:21-25 (NET)

Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab?  Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them?  Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years!  Why did you not reclaim them during that time?

Judges 11:25, 26 (NET)

Numbers 22-25 (NET)

I have not done you wrong, but you are doing wrong by attacking me. May the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה), the Judge (šāp̄aṭ, השפט), judge (šāp̄aṭ, ישפט) this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”  But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah.

Judges 11:27, 28 (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:17-19 (NET)

The next part of Jephthah’s story was introduced by the statement, The Lord’s spirit empowered Jephthah.3  And by the Lord’s spirit, Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.  He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out!  The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.4  But after the Lord’s spirit empowered him, and before he defeated the Ammonites, on the way to battle, probably in the hearing of his officers and men (Judges 11:30, 31 NET):

Jephthah made (nāḏar, וידר) a vow (neḏer, נדר) to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me [Table], then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice [Table].”

Whether he studied the scroll himself or with the aid of priests or Levites the information Jephthah shared with the Ammonite king came largely from Numbers.  In Numbers 30:1, 2 (NET), Moses told the leaders of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what the Lord has commanded:  If a man makes (nāḏar, ידר) a vow (neḏer, נדר) to the Lord or takes (šāḇaʿ, השבע) an oath (šᵊḇûʿâ, שבעה) of binding obligation on himself, he must not break (ḥālal, יחל) his word, but must do whatever (kōl, ככל) he has promised (yāṣā’ היצא, מפיו) [Table].

The plot thickens (Judges 11:34, 35 NET):

When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines.  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.  When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no!  My daughter!  You have completely ruined me!  You have brought me disaster!  I made (pāṣâ, פציתי) an oath (, פי) to the Lord, and I cannot break (šûḇ, לשוב) it.”

Though it is a tricky thing to do it might be possible to infer a few things about this marauding leader of lawless men, the exiled son of a professional (or eager amateur) devotee of one of the Baals or Ashtars, as a father by his daughter’s response.  “My father, since you made (pāṣâ, פציתה) an oath (, פיך) to the Lord, do to me as you promised (‘ăšer, כאשר; yāṣā’, יצא; , מפיך; literally: “whatever went out from your mouth”).  After all, the Lord vindicated you before your enemies, the Ammonites.”5  And it was not only before the Ammonites that Jephthah was vindicated.

The story concluded (Judges 11:37-40 NET):

She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish.  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.”  He said, “You may go.”  He permitted her to leave for two months.  She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills.  After two months she returned (šûḇ, ותשב) to her father, and he did to her as he had (neḏer, נדרו) vowed (nāḏar, נדר).  She died a virgin.  Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.  Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days [Table].

For a long time I accepted this story as a tragic example of the high price of righteousness, or justification, by the works of the law.  The repetition of the words וידר (nāḏar) and נדר (nāḏar) in Judges 11:30 , and נדר (neḏer) and נדרו (neḏer) in Judges 11:39, as they appear in Numbers 30:2 (nāḏar, ידר and neḏer, נדר), leads me to believe that the author of Judges probably thought that, too.  The Bible I used at the time did not have a topical heading that read: A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter.  I’m not sure I would have believed it if it had.  It was only after encountering the divorce dilemma in Ezra and Malachi that I began to rethink Jephthah’s dilemma.  I wasn’t prepared yet to find salvation for Jephthah’s daughter in the law (Leviticus 5:4-6a NET).

…when a person swears an oath (šāḇaʿ, תשבע), speaking thoughtlessly (bāṭā’, לבטא) with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly (bāṭā’, יבטא) in an oath (šᵊḇûʿâ, בשבעה), even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths – when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things he must confess how he has sinned, and he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord for his sin that he has committed…

 

Addendum: August 5, 2021
Tables comparing Judges 11:12; 11:13; 11:14; 11:15; 11:16; 11:17; 11:18; 11:19; 11:20; 11:21; 11:22; 11:23; 11:24; 11:25; 11:26; 11:27; 11:28; 11:32; 11:33; Numbers 30:1 (30:2); Judges 11:34; 11:35; 11:37; 11:38; 11:39; Leviticus 5:4; 5:5 and 5:6 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Judges 11:12; 11:13; 11:14; 11:15; 11:16; 11:17; 11:18; 11:19; 11:20; 11:21; 11:22; 11:23; 11:24; 11:25; 11:26; 11:27; 11:28; 11:32; 11:33; Numbers 30:1 (30:2); Judges 11:34; 11:35; 11:37; 11:38; 11:39 (11:39, 40a); Leviticus 5:4; 5:5 and 5:6 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Judges 11:12 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:12 (KJV)

Judges 11:12 (NET)

And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have you come against me to attack my land?”

Judges 11:12 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ιεφθαε ἀγγέλους πρὸς βασιλέα υἱῶν Αμμων λέγων τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί ὅτι ἥκεις πρός με σὺ πολεμῆσαί με ἐν τῇ γῇ μου Καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ᾿Ιεφθάε ἀγγέλους πρὸς βασιλέα υἱῶν ᾿Αμμὼν λέγων· τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, ὅτι ἦλθες πρός με τοῦ παρατάξασθαι ἐν τῇ γῇ μου

Judges 11:12 (NETS)

Judges 11:12 (English Elpenor)

And Iephthae sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is there between you and me that you have come against me to fight me in my land?” And Jephthae sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have I to do with thee, that thou hast come against me to fight in my land?

Judges 11:13 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:13 (KJV)

Judges 11:13 (NET)

And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt—from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan.  Now return it peaceably!”

Judges 11:13 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν βασιλεὺς υἱῶν Αμμων πρὸς τοὺς ἀγγέλους Ιεφθαε διότι ἔλαβεν Ισραηλ τὴν γῆν μου ἐν τῇ ἀναβάσει αὐτοῦ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἀπὸ Αρνων ἕως Ιαβοκ καὶ ἕως τοῦ Ιορδάνου καὶ νῦν ἐπίστρεψον αὐτὰς μετ᾽ εἰρήνης καὶ εἶπε βασιλεὺς υἱῶν ᾿Αμμὼν πρὸς τοὺς ἀγγέλους ᾿Ιεφθάε· ὅτι ἔλαβεν ᾿Ισραὴλ τὴν γῆν μου ἐν τῷ ἀναβαίνειν αὐτὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἀπὸ ᾿Αρνὼν ἕως ᾿Ιαβὸκ καὶ ἕως τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου· καὶ νῦν ἐπίστρεψον αὐτὰς ἐν εἰρήνῃ, καὶ πορεύσομαι

Judges 11:13 (NETS)

Judges 11:13 (English Elpenor)

And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Iephthae, “Because Israel took away my land in their journey up out of Egypt, from Arnon up to Iabok and up to the Jordan, and now restore them in peace.” And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthae, Because Israel took my land when he went up out of Egypt, from Arnon to Jaboc, and to Jordan: now then return them peaceably and I will depart.

Judges 11:14 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:14 (KJV)

Judges 11:14 (NET)

And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king

Judges 11:14 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν οἱ ἄγγελοι πρὸς Ιεφθαε καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ιεφθαε ἀγγέλους πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ προσέθηκεν ἔτι ᾿Ιεφθάε καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἀγγέλους πρὸς βασιλέα υἱῶν ᾿Αμμών

Judges 11:14 (NETS)

Judges 11:14 (English Elpenor)

And the messengers returned to Iephthae, and Iephthae sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, And Jephthae again sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon,

Judges 11:15 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:15 (KJV)

Judges 11:15 (NET)

And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.

Judges 11:15 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)

λέγων τάδε λέγει Ιεφθαε οὐκ ἔλαβεν Ισραηλ τὴν γῆν Μωαβ καὶ τὴν γῆν υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ οὕτω λέγει ᾿Ιεφθάε· οὐκ ἔλαβεν ᾿Ισραὴλ τὴν γῆν Μωὰβ καὶ τὴν γῆν υἱῶν ᾿Αμμών

Judges 11:15 (NETS)

Judges 11:15 (English Elpenor)

saying: “This is what Iephthae says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the sons of Ammon and said to him, Thus says Jephthae, Israel took not the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;

Judges 11:16 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:16 (KJV)

Judges 11:16 (NET)

But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh.

Judges 11:16 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐν τῇ ἀναβάσει αὐτῶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἀλλ᾽ ἐπορεύθη Ισραηλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἕως θαλάσσης ἐρυθρᾶς καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως Καδης ὅτι ἐν τῷ ἀναβαίνειν αὐτοὺς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐπορεύθη ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἕως θαλάσσης Σὶφ καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Κάδης

Judges 11:16 (NETS)

Judges 11:16 (English Elpenor)

in their journey up out of Egypt; rather, Israel went in the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kades. for in their going up out of Egypt Israel went in the wilderness as far as the sea of Siph, and came to Cades.

Judges 11:17 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:17 (KJV)

Judges 11:17 (NET)

Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto.  And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto.  And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh. Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us to pass through your land.”  But the king of Edom rejected the request.  Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate.  So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

Judges 11:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν Ισραηλ ἀγγέλους πρὸς βασιλέα Εδωμ λέγων παρελεύσομαι διὰ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσεν βασιλεὺς Εδωμ καί γε πρὸς βασιλέα Μωαβ ἀπέστειλεν καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν καὶ ἐκάθισεν Ισραηλ ἐν Καδης καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἀγγέλους πρὸς βασιλέα ᾿Εδὼμ λέγων· παρελεύσομαι δὴ ἐν τῇ γῇ σου· καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσε βασιλεὺς ᾿Εδώμ. καί γε πρὸς βασιλέα Μωὰβ ἀπέστειλε, καὶ οὐκ εὐδόκησε. καὶ ἐκάθισεν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐν Κάδης

Judges 11:17 (NETS)

Judges 11:17 (English Elpenor)

And Israel sent out messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘I will pass through your land,’ and the king of Edom did not listen.  And indeed he sent to the king of Moab, but he did not consent.  And Israel resided at Kades. And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I will pass, if it please thee, by thy land: and the king of Edom complied not: and [Israel] also sent to the king of Moab, and he did not consent; and Israel sojourned in Cades.

Judges 11:18 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:18 (KJV)

Judges 11:18 (NET)

Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. Then Israel went through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab.  They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border).

Judges 11:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ διῆλθεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ ἐκύκλωσεν τὴν γῆν Εδωμ καὶ τὴν γῆν Μωαβ καὶ παρεγένετο κατ᾽ ἀνατολὰς ἡλίου τῆς γῆς Μωαβ καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐν τῷ πέραν Αρνων καὶ οὐκ εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὸ ὅριον Μωαβ ὅτι Αρνων ἦν ὅριον Μωαβ καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ ἐκύκλωσε τὴν γῆν ᾿Εδὼμ καὶ τὴν γῆν Μωὰβ καὶ ἦλθεν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου τῇ γῇ Μωὰβ καὶ παρενέβαλεν ἐν πέραν ᾿Αρνὼν καὶ οὐκ εἰσῆλθεν ἐν ὁρίοις Μωάβ, ὅτι ᾿Αρνὼν ὅριον Μωάβ

Judges 11:18 (NETS)

Judges 11:18 (English Elpenor)

And he journeyed through in the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived at sunrise of the land of Moab, and they camped on the other side of the Arnon.  And they did not enter the territory of Moab, for Arnon was the boundary of Moab. And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I will pass, if it please thee, by thy land: and the king of Edom complied not: and [Israel] also sent to the king of Moab, and he did not consent; and Israel sojourned in Cades.

Judges 11:19 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:19 (KJV)

Judges 11:19 (NET)

And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.”

Judges 11:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ισραηλ ἀγγέλους πρὸς Σηων βασιλέα Εσεβων τὸν Αμορραῗον καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ισραηλ παρελεύσομαι διὰ τῆς γῆς σου ἕως τοῦ τόπου μου καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἀγγέλους πρὸς Σηὼν βασιλέα τοῦ ᾿Αμορραίου βασιλέα ᾿Εσεβών, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ᾿Ισραήλ· παρέλθωμεν δὴ ἐν τῇ γῇ σου ἕως τοῦ τόπου ἡμῶν

Judges 11:19 (NETS)

Judges 11:19 (English Elpenor)

And Israel sent messengers to Seon, king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and Israel said to him, ‘I will pass through your land to my place.’ And Israel sent messengers to Seon king of the Amorite, king of Esbon, and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, by thy land to our place.

Judges 11:20 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:20 (KJV)

Judges 11:20 (NET)

But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory.  He assembled his whole army, camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

Judges 11:20 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:20 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν Σηων διελθεῗν τὸν Ισραηλ διὰ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτοῦ καὶ συνήγαγεν Σηων πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ παρενέβαλεν εἰς Ιασσα καὶ ἐπολέμησεν μετὰ Ισραηλ καὶ οὐκ ἐνεπίστευσε Σηὼν τῷ ᾿Ισραὴλ παρελθεῖν ἐν τῷ ὁρίῳ αὐτοῦ· καὶ συνῆξε Σηὼν πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ παρενέβαλον εἰς ᾿Ιασά, καὶ παρετάξατο πρὸς ᾿Ισραήλ

Judges 11:20 (NETS)

Judges 11:20 (English Elpenor)

And Seon did not want Israel to cross his boundaries, and Seon gathered all his people together and encamped at Iassa and fought with Israel. And Seon did not trust Israel to pass by his coast; and Seon gathered all his people, and they encamped at Jasa; and he set the battle in array against Israel.

Judges 11:21 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:21 (KJV)

Judges 11:21 (NET)

And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel, and they defeated them.  Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.

Judges 11:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ παρέδωκεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ τὸν Σηων καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν χειρὶ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτούς καὶ ἐκληρονόμησεν Ισραηλ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν τοῦ Αμορραίου τοῦ κατοικοῦντος ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ παρέδωκε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ᾿Ισραὴλ τὸν Σηὼν καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν χειρὶ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτόν· καὶ ἐκληρονόμησεν ᾿Ισραὴλ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν τοῦ ᾿Αμμοραίου τοῦ κατοικοῦντος τὴν γῆν ἐκείνην

Judges 11:21 (NETS)

Judges 11:21 (English Elpenor)

And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Seon and all his people in the hand of Israel, and he struck them down, and Israel inherited all the land of the Amorrite who inhabited the land. And the Lord God of Israel delivered Seon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote him; and Israel inherited all the land of the Amorite who dwelt in that land,
Judges 11:22 (Tanakh) Judges 11:22 (KJV)

Judges 11:22 (NET)

And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west.

Judges 11:22 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐκληρονόμησεν πᾶν τὸ ὅριον τοῦ Αμορραίου ἀπὸ Αρνων καὶ ἕως τοῦ Ιαβοκ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ ἕως τοῦ Ιορδάνου ἀπὸ ᾿Αρνὼν καὶ ἕως τοῦ ᾿Ιαβὸκ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐρήμου ἕως τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου

Judges 11:22 (NETS)

Judges 11:22 (English Elpenor)

And he inherited all the territory of the Amorrite from Arnon and up to Iabbok and from the wilderness and up to the Jordan. from Arnon and to Jaboc, and from the wilderness to Jordan.

Judges 11:23 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:23 (KJV)

Judges 11:23 (NET)

So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Since the Lord God of Israel has driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them?

Judges 11:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ νῦν κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ἐξῆρεν τὸν Αμορραῗον ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ σὺ κληρονομήσεις αὐτὸν ἐπὶ σοῦ καὶ νῦν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐξῇρε τὸν ᾿Αμορραῖον ἀπὸ προσώπου λαοῦ αὐτοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ σὺ κληρονομήσεις αὐτόν

Judges 11:23 (NETS)

Judges 11:23 (English Elpenor)

And now the Lord, the God of Israel, has removed the Amorrite from before his people Israel.  And shall you inherit them for yourself? And now the Lord God of Israel has removed the Amorite from before his people Israel, and shalt thou inherit his [land]?

Judges 11:24 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:24 (KJV)

Judges 11:24 (NET)

Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?  So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?  So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us.

Judges 11:24 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐχὶ ὅσα κατεκληρονόμησέν σοι Χαμως ὁ θεός σου αὐτὰ κληρονομήσεις καὶ πάντα ὅσα κατεκληρονόμησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ἀπὸ προσώπου ἡμῶν αὐτὰ κληρονομήσομεν οὐχὶ ἐὰν κληρονομήσει σε Χαμὼς ὁ θεός σου, αὐτὰ κληρονομήσεις, καὶ τοὺς πάντας, οὓς ἐξῇρε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν ἀπὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν, αὐτοὺς κληρονομήσομεν

Judges 11:24 (NETS)

Judges 11:24 (English Elpenor)

Should it not be that whatever your god Chamos has assigned you as an inheritance, that you will inherit?  And everything that the Lord our God has assigned as an inheritance from before us, that we will inherit. Wilt thou not inherit those possessions which Chamos thy god shall cause thee to inherit; and shall not we inherit the [land of] all those whom the Lord our God has removed from before you?

Judges 11:25 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:25 (KJV)

Judges 11:25 (NET)

And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab?  Did he dare to quarrel with Israel?  Did he dare to fight with them?

Judges 11:25 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:25 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ νῦν μὴ κρείσσων εἶ σὺ τοῦ Βαλακ υἱοῦ Σεπφωρ βασιλέως Μωαβ μὴ μάχῃ ἐμαχέσατο μετὰ Ισραηλ ἢ πολεμῶν ἐπολέμησεν αὐτοῗς καὶ νῦν μὴ ἐν ἀγαθῷ ἀγαθώτερος σὺ ὑπὲρ Βαλὰκ υἱὸν Σεπφὼρ βασιλέως Μωάβ; μὴ μαχόμενος ἐμαχέσατο μετὰ ᾿Ισραὴλ ἢ πολεμῶν ἐπολέμησεν αὐτόν

Judges 11:25 (NETS)

Judges 11:25 (English Elpenor)

And now, are you any better than Balak son of Sepphor, king of Moab?  Did he fight in a battle with Israel, or going to war, did he go to war with them? And now art thou any better than Balac son of Sepphor, king of Moab? did he indeed fight with Israel, or indeed make war with him,

Judges 11:26 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:26 (KJV)

Judges 11:26 (NET)

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for 300 years!  Why did you not reclaim them during that time?

Judges 11:26 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:26 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ ἐν Εσεβων καὶ ἐν ταῗς θυγατράσιν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν Ιαζηρ καὶ ἐν ταῗς θυγατράσιν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῗς πόλεσιν ταῗς παρὰ τὸν Ιορδάνην τριακόσια ἔτη τί ὅτι οὐκ ἐρρύσαντο αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἐν τῷ οἰκῆσαι ἐν ᾿Εσεβὼν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν γῇ ᾿Αροὴρ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς πόλεσι ταῖς παρὰ τὸν ᾿Ιορδάνην τριακόσια ἔτη, καὶ διατί οὐκ ἐρρύσω αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ

Judges 11:26 (NETS)

Judges 11:26 (English Elpenor)

In the house of Israel in Hesebon and in its daughters and in Iazer and in its daughters and in all the cities that are along the Jordan, for three hundred years, why is it they did not recover them within that time? when [Israel] dwelt in Esebon and in its coasts, and in the land of Aroer and in its coasts, and in all the cities by Jordan, three hundred years? and wherefore didst thou not recover them in that time?

Judges 11:27 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:27 (KJV)

Judges 11:27 (NET)

Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. I have not done you wrong, but you are doing wrong by attacking me.  May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”

Judges 11:27 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:27 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐγὼ οὐχ ἥμαρτόν σοι καὶ σὺ ποιεῗς μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ πονηρίαν τοῦ πολεμῆσαι ἐν ἐμοί κρίναι κύριος ὁ κρίνων σήμερον ἀνὰ μέσον υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ νῦν ἐγώ εἰμι οὐχ ἥμαρτόν σοι, καὶ σὺ ποιεῖς μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ πονηρίαν τοῦ παρατάξασθαι ἐν ἐμοί· κρίναι Κύριος ὁ κρίνων σήμερον ἀνὰ μέσον υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον υἱῶν ᾿Αμμών

Judges 11:27 (NETS)

Judges 11:27 (English Elpenor)

And as for me, I have not sinned against you, and you are the one who does evil against me, to make war against me.  May the Lord, who is judging, judge today between the sons of Israel and between the sons of Ammon.” And now I have not sinned against thee, but thou wrongest me in preparing war against me: may the Lord the Judge judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

Judges 11:28 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:28 (KJV)

Judges 11:28 (NET)

Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. But the Ammonite king disregarded the message sent by Jephthah.

Judges 11:28 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:28 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν βασιλεὺς υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν τῶν λόγων Ιεφθαε ὧν ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς αὐτόν καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσε βασιλεὺς ᾿Αμμὼν τῶν λόγων ᾿Ιεφθάε, ὧν ἀπέστειλε πρὸς αὐτόν

Judges 11:28 (NETS)

Judges 11:28 (English Elpenor)

And the king of the sons of Ammon did not pay heed, and he did not pay heed to the words of Iephthae that he sent him. But the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not to the words of Jephthae, which he sent to him.

Judges 11:32 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:32 (KJV)

Judges 11:32 (NET)

So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.

Judges 11:32 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:32 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ διέβη Ιεφθαε πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Αμμων τοῦ πολεμῆσαι πρὸς αὐτούς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς κύριος ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ παρῆλθεν ᾿Ιεφθάε πρὸς υἱοὺς ᾿Αμμὼν παρατάξασθαι πρὸς αὐτούς, καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς Κύριος ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ

Judges 11:32 (NETS)

Judges 11:32 (English Elpenor)

And Iephthae crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord gave them up in his hand. And Jephthae advanced to meet the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand.

Judges 11:33 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:33 (KJV)

Judges 11:33 (NET)

And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter.  Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter.  Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith—20 cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim.  He wiped them out!  The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.

Judges 11:33 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:33 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ Αροηρ καὶ ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῗν εἰς Σεμωιθ εἴκοσι πόλεις ἕως Αβελ ἀμπελώνων πληγὴν μεγάλην σφόδρα καὶ ἐνετράπησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων ἀπὸ προσώπου υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ ᾿Αροὴρ ἕως ἐλθεῖν ἄχρις ᾿Αρνὼν ἐν ἀριθμῷ εἴκοσι πόλεις καὶ ἕως ᾿Εβελχαρμὶμ πληγὴν μεγάλην σφόδρα, καὶ συνεστάλησαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Αμμὼν ἀπὸ προσώπου υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ.

Judges 11:33 (NETS)

Judges 11:33 (English Elpenor)

And he struck them down from Aroer and until one comes to Semoith, twenty cities, as far as Abel-of-the-vineyards, a very great blow.  And the sons of Ammon were humbled from before the sons of Israel. And he smote them from Aroer till [one] comes to Arnon, in number twenty cities, and as far as Ebelcharmim, with a very great destruction: and the children of Ammon were straitened before the children of Israel.

Numbers 30:2 (Tanakh)

Numbers 30:1 (KJV)

Numbers 30:1 (NET)

And Moses spoke unto the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is the thing which HaShem hath commanded. And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded. Moses told the leaders of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what the Lord has commanded:

Numbers 30:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 30:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐλάλησεν Μωυσῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῶν φυλῶν Ισραηλ λέγων τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ συνέταξεν κύριος καὶ ἐλάλησε Μωυσῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῶν φυλῶν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ λέγων· τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα, ὃ συνέταξε Κύριος

Numbers 30:2 (NETS)

Numbers 30:2 (English Elpenor)

And Moyses spoke to the rulers of the tribes of Israel, saying: This is the word that the Lord ordered: And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This [is] the thing which the Lord has commanded.

Judges 11:34 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:34 (KJV)

Judges 11:34 (NET)

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines.  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

Judges 11:34 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:34 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἦλθεν Ιεφθαε εἰς Μασσηφα εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἡ θυγάτηρ αὐτοῦ ἐξεπορεύετο εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτοῦ ἐν τυμπάνοις καὶ χοροῗς καὶ αὕτη μονογενὴς αὐτῷ ἀγαπητή καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ πλὴν αὐτῆς υἱὸς ἢ θυγάτηρ Καὶ ἦλθεν ᾿Ιεφθάε εἰς Μασσηφὰ εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἡ θυγάτηρ αὐτοῦ ἐξεπορεύετο εἰς ὑπάντησιν ἐν τυμπάνοις καὶ χοροῖς· καὶ αὕτη ἦν μονογενής, οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ ἕτερος υἱὸς ἢ θυγάτηρ

Judges 11:34 (NETS)

Judges 11:34 (English Elpenor)

And Iephthae came to Massepha, to his home, and see, his daughter was coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing.  And she was his beloved only child, and he had no son or daughter except her. And Jephthae came to Massepha to his house; and behold, his daughter came forth to meet him with timbrels and dances; and she was his only child, he had not another son or daughter.

Judges 11:35 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:35 (KJV)

Judges 11:35 (NET)

And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back. When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter!  You have completely ruined me!  You have brought me disaster!  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”

Judges 11:35 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:35 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐγενήθη ἡνίκα εἶδεν αὐτήν καὶ διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν οἴμμοι θύγατέρ μου ἐμπεποδοστάτηκάς με εἰς σκῶλον ἐγένου ἐν ὀφθαλμοῗς μου ἐγὼ δὲ ἤνοιξα τὸ στόμα μου περὶ σοῦ πρὸς κύριον καὶ οὐ δυνήσομαι ἀποστρέψαι καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὴν αὐτός, διέρρηξε τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν· ἆ ἆ, θυγάτηρ μου, ταραχῇ ἐτάραξάς με καὶ σὺ ἦς ἐν τῷ ταράχῳ μου, καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι ἤνοιξα κατὰ σοῦ τὸ στόμα μου πρὸς Κύριον καὶ οὐ δυνήσομαι ἀποστρέψαι

Judges 11:35 (NETS)

Judges 11:35 (English Elpenor)

And it came about, when he saw her that he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter!  You have got in my way; you have become for a thorn in my eyes.  But I opened my mouth about you to the Lord, and I cannot turn away.” And it came to pass when he saw her, that he rent his garments, and said, Ah, ah, my daughter, thou hast indeed troubled me, and thou wast the cause of my trouble; and I have opened my mouth against thee to the Lord, and I shall not be able to return from it.

Judges 11:37 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:37 (KJV)

Judges 11:37 (NET)

And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish.  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

Judges 11:37 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:37 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτῆς καὶ ποίησόν μοι τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο ἔασόν με δύο μῆνας καὶ πορεύσομαι καὶ καταβήσομαι ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ κλαύσομαι ἐπὶ τὰ παρθένιά μου καὶ ἐγὼ καὶ αἱ συνεταιρίδες μου καὶ ἥδε εἶπε πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτῆς· ποιησάτω δὴ πατήρ μου τὸν λόγον τοῦτον· ἔασόν με δύο μῆνας, καὶ πορεύσομαι καὶ καταβήσομαι ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ κλαύσομαι ἐπὶ τὰ παρθένιά μου, ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ αἱ συνεταιρίδες μου

Judges 11:37 (NETS)

Judges 11:37 (English Elpenor)

And she said to her father, “Also, do this word for me: Grant me two months, and I will go and descend on the mountains and bewail my virginity, both I and my companions.” And she said to her father, Let my father now do this thing: let me alone for two months, and I will go up and down on the mountains, and I will bewail my virginity, I and my companions.

Judges 11:38 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:38 (KJV)

Judges 11:38 (NET)

And he said, Go.  And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills.

Judges 11:38 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:38 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν πορεύου καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτὴν δύο μῆνας καὶ ἐπορεύθη αὐτὴ καὶ αἱ συνεταιρίδες αὐτῆς καὶ ἔκλαυσεν ἐπὶ τὰ παρθένια αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ εἶπε· πορεύου· καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὴν δύο μῆνας. καὶ ἐπορεύθη, αὐτὴ καὶ αἱ συνεταιρίδες αὐτῆς, καὶ ἔκλαυσεν ἐπὶ τὰ παρθένια αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη

Judges 11:38 (NETS)

Judges 11:38 (English Elpenor)

And he said, “Go,” and sent her away for two months.  And she went, she and her companions, and she bewailed her virginity on the mountains. And he said, Go: and he sent her away for two months; and she went, and her companions, and she bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

Judges 11:39 (Tanakh)

Judges 11:39 (KJV)

Judges 11:39 (NET)

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, 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, After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed.  She died a virgin.  Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.

Judges 11:39 (Septuagint BLB)

Judges 11:39 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τέλος δύο μηνῶν καὶ ἀνέκαμψεν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπετέλεσεν Ιεφθαε τὴν εὐχὴν αὐτοῦ ἣν ηὔξατο καὶ αὐτὴ οὐκ ἔγνω ἄνδρα καὶ ἐγενήθη εἰς πρόσταγμα ἐν Ισραηλ καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τέλει τῶν δύο μηνῶν καὶ ἐπέστρεψε πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐποίησεν ἐν αὐτῇ εὐχὴν αὐτοῦ, ἣν ηὔξατο· καὶ αὕτη οὐκ ἔγνω ἄνδρα. καὶ ἐγένετο εἰς πρόσταγμα ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ

Judges 11:39 (NETS)

Judges 11:39, 40a (English Elpenor)

And it came about after the end of two months that she returned to her father, and Iephthae fulfilled his vow that he had vowed.  And she had never known a man.  And it became for an ordinance in Israel: And it came to pass at the end of the two months that she returned to her father; and he performed upon her his vow which he vowed; and she knew no man: (40) and it was an ordinance in Israel,

Leviticus 5:4 (Tanakh)

Leviticus 5:4 (KJV)

Leviticus 5:4 (NET)

or if any one swear clearly with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall utter clearly with an oath, and it be hid from him; and, when he knoweth of it, be guilty in one of these things; Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. or when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, even if he did not realize it, but he has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths—

Leviticus 5:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Leviticus 5:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἢ ψυχή ἡ ἂν ὀμόσῃ διαστέλλουσα τοῗς χείλεσιν κακοποιῆσαι ἢ καλῶς ποιῆσαι κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐὰν διαστείλῃ ὁ ἄνθρωπος μεθ᾽ ὅρκου καὶ λάθῃ αὐτὸν πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ οὗτος γνῷ καὶ ἁμάρτῃ ἕν τι τούτων ἡ ψυχή, ἣ ἂν ὀμόσῃ διαστέλλουσα τοῖς χείλεσι κακοποιῆσαι ἢ καλῶς ποιῆσαι κατὰ πάντα, ὅσα ἐὰν διαστείλῃ ὁ ἄνθρωπος μεθ᾿ ὅρκου, καὶ λάθῃ αὐτὸν πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ οὗτος γνῷ, καὶ ἁμάρτῃ ἕν τι τούτων,

Leviticus 5:4 (NETS)

Leviticus 5:4 (English Elpenor)

or a soul who swears, determining with his lips to do evil or to do good, in any way that the person may speak forcefully by an oath, and if it excapes the notice of his eyes and if he comes to know it and should sin in any one of these, That unrighteous soul, which determines with his lips to do evil or to do good according to whatsoever a man may determine with an oath, and it shall have escaped his notice, and he shall [afterwards] know [it], and [so] he should sin in some one of these things:

Leviticus 5:5 (Tanakh)

Leviticus 5:5 (KJV)

Leviticus 5:5 (NET)

and it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that wherein he hath sinned; And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things he must confess how he has sinned,

Leviticus 5:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Leviticus 5:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐξαγορεύσει τὴν ἁμαρτίαν περὶ ὧν ἡμάρτηκεν κατ᾽ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐξαγορεύσει τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, περὶ ὧν ἡμάρτηκε κατ᾿ αὐτῆς,

Leviticus 5:5 (NETS)

Leviticus 5:5 (English Elpenor)

then he shall declare his sin concerning the things in which he has sinned. — then shall he declare his sin in the things wherein he has sinned by that sin.

Leviticus 5:6 (Tanakh)

Leviticus 5:6 (KJV)

Leviticus 5:6 (NET)

and he shall bring his forfeit unto HaShem for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin. And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin. and he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord for his sin that he has committed—a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering.  So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin.

Leviticus 5:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Leviticus 5:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ οἴσει περὶ ὧν ἐπλημμέλησεν κυρίῳ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἧς ἥμαρτεν θῆλυ ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων ἀμνάδα ἢ χίμαιραν ἐξ αἰγῶν περὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ ἧς ἥμαρτεν καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ ἡ ἁμαρτία καὶ οἴσει περὶ ὧν ἐπλημμέλησε Κυρίῳ, περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἧς ἥμαρτε, θῆλυ ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων, ἀμνάδα ἢ χίμαιραν ἐξ αἰγῶν, περὶ ἁμαρτίας· καὶ ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἥμαρτε, καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ ἡ ἁμαρτία

Leviticus 5:6 (NETS)

Leviticus 5:6 (English Elpenor)

And he shall bring to the Lord for whatever he has done amiss, for the sin that he has committed, a female from the sheep—a lamb, or a young nanny goat for sin.  And the priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed, and the sin will be forgiven him. And he shall bring for his transgressions against the Lord, for his sin which he has sinned, a ewe lamb of the flock, or a kid of the goats, for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he has sinned, and his sin shall be forgiven him.