Jephthah
Sign in to saveAlso known as Jephte, Jephtha, Jephthah the Gileadite
Jephthah (pronounced ; , Yiftāḥ) appears in the Book of Judges as a judge who presided over Israel for a period of six years (). According to Judges, he lived in Gilead. His father's name is also given as Gilead, and, as his mother is described as a prostitute, this may indicate that his father might have been any of the men of that area. Jephthah led the Israelites in battle against Ammon and, in exchange for defeating the Ammonites, made a vow to sacrifice whatever would come out of the door of his house first. When his daughter was the first to come out of the house, he immediately regrette
Key facts
- Person.name
- Jephthah
- Person.image
- Jephthah-Jephte.jpg
- Person.caption
- Portrait from Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum (1553) by Guillaume Rouillé
- Person.native_name_lang
- Hebrew
- Person.native_name
- יפתח
- Person.predecessor
- Jair
- Person.successor
- Ibzan
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Jephthah-Jephte.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Jephthah
- date of birth
- 1160-00-00
- date of death
- 1080-00-00
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~13 min read
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Biblical account
- Commentary
- Sacrifice of daughter
- Possible origins
- Jephthah and Samuel
- Burial
- Cultural influence
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Jephthah (pronounced ; , Yiftāḥ) appears in the Book of Judges as a judge who presided over Israel for a period of six years (). According to Judges, he lived in Gilead. His father's name is also given as Gilead, and, as his mother is described as a prostitute, this may indicate that his father might have been any of the men of that area. Jephthah led the Israelites in battle against Ammon and, in exchange for defeating the Ammonites, made a vow to sacrifice whatever would come out of the door of his house first. When his daughter was the first to come out of the house, he immediately regretted the vow, which bound him to sacrifice his daughter to God. Jephthah carried out his vow.
Traditionally, Jephthah ranks among the major judges because of the length of the biblical narrative referring to him, but his story also shares features with those of the minor judges, such as his short tenure—only six years—in office.