The Meaning of Judges 11:34 Explained

Judges 11:34

KJV: 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.

YLT: And Jephthah cometh into Mizpeh, unto his house, and lo, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and save her alone, he hath none, son or daughter.

Darby: Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

ASV: And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Judges 11:34 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 11:29-40 - A Shadowed Victory
All the nations around were accustomed to offer those dearest to them in sacrifice to their cruel national deities. This was pre-eminently the case with the neighboring country of Moab, which the prophet Micah rebuked, Micah 6:6-8. But in all that wild border-country, there was then no prophetic voice to arrest Jephthah, who probably felt that Chemosh should not claim from the king of Ammon more than he would surrender to Jehovah. Out of this arose, not the rash but the deliberate though mistaken vow of Judges 11:31. Before you judge him, ask whether you would be willing for your dearest to become a missionary in a heathen land. Have you ever yielded your all to the Man of Calvary? Do you love Him better than the best? You would not carry out your vow as probably Jephthah did, but are you as absolute in your dedication?
The reply of Jephthah's daughter is one of the noblest on record. Compare it with Luke 1:38. Her heart was full of filial love and patriotic passion, as she stood there, timbrel in hand; but the love of God overmastered all else and made her willing to yield all. See 2 Corinthians 5:14. [source]

Chapter Summary: Judges 11

1  The covenant between Jephthah and the Gileadites, that he should lead
12  The treaty of peace between him and the Ammonites is in vain
29  Jephthah's vow
32  His conquest of the Ammonites
34  He performs his vow on his daughter

What do the individual words in Judges 11:34 mean?

And when came Jephthah at Mizpah to his house and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing And only she [was] [his] child not he had Besides her son or daughter
וַיָּבֹ֨א יִפְתָּ֣ח הַמִּצְפָּה֮ אֶל־ בֵּיתוֹ֒ וְהִנֵּ֤ה בִתּוֹ֙ יֹצֵ֣את לִקְרָאת֔וֹ בְתֻפִּ֖ים וּבִמְחֹל֑וֹת וְרַק֙ הִ֣יא יְחִידָ֔ה אֵֽין־ ל֥וֹ מִמֶּ֛נּוּ בֵּ֖ן אוֹ־ בַֽת

וַיָּבֹ֨א  And  when  came 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
יִפְתָּ֣ח  Jephthah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִפְתָּח 
Sense: a son of Gilead and a concubine and the judge who defeated the Ammonites; after the victory because of a vow taken before the battle he sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering.
הַמִּצְפָּה֮  at  Mizpah 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְפָּה  
Sense: a place in Gilead north of Jabbok and location of Laban’s cairn.
בֵּיתוֹ֒  his  house 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
וְהִנֵּ֤ה  and  there  was 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
בִתּוֹ֙  his  daughter 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
יֹצֵ֣את  coming  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
לִקְרָאת֔וֹ  to  meet  him 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to encounter, befall, meet.
בְתֻפִּ֖ים  with  timbrels 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural
Root: כְּתֹף 
Sense: timbrel, tambourine.
וּבִמְחֹל֑וֹת  and  dancing 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, feminine plural
Root: מְחֹלָה  
Sense: dancing, dance.
וְרַק֙  And  only 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: רַק  
Sense: only, altogether, surely.
הִ֣יא  she  [was] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
יְחִידָ֔ה  [his]  child 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: יָחִיד  
Sense: only, only one, solitary, one.
ל֥וֹ  he  had 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
מִמֶּ֛נּוּ  Besides  her 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
בֵּ֖ן  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
בַֽת  daughter 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.