Word Studies: Jephthah's Vow Lexicon¶

All entries in this study have canonical library files; fresh search_strongs.py lookups were NOT needed. This file SUMMARIZES each library entry and highlights the data most load-bearing for the question. File paths are cited for the analysis agent to follow up.

Part 1: Lexical Choices in Jdg 11:31 — Register Comparison Table¶

The most decisive word-level datum in this study is the lexical register Jephthah's vow belongs to, compared to known OT dedication-vows and to known OT sacrificial commands. Four vocabulary clusters define four registers; Jdg 11:31 tracks cluster 3 (sacrificial), not cluster 1 (dedication) or cluster 2 (redemption/valuation).

Cluster	Verb + object collocation	OT exemplars	Lifelong-service?	Sacrifice?
1. DEDICATION/LIVING-SERVICE	נתן (natan) la-YHWH + כָּל־יְמֵי חַיָּיו	1 Sam 1:11 (Hannah/Samuel); Num 3:9, 8:16, 8:19 (Levites "netunim laYHWH")	YES (living service at sanctuary)	NO
2. REDEMPTION/VALUATION	יַפְלִא נֶדֶר + בְּעֶרְכְּךָ (Lev 27:2)	Lev 27:1-8 (priestly age/sex-graded tariff — vowed persons redeemed by silver)	(person goes home, silver paid)	NO — explicitly redeemable
3. SACRIFICE/IMMOLATION	עלה Hiphil (ha'alah) + עולה (olah)	Gen 8:20 (Noah); Gen 22:2, 13 (Akedah command + ram); Lev 17:8; 2 Kgs 3:27 (Mesha's son — wayya'alehu olah); 2 Chr 1:6	NO	YES — technical cultic collocation for burnt-offering presentation
4. FIRSTBORN CONSECRATION	קדש Piel (qaddesh) + כָּל־פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם (firstborn)	Exo 13:2 (sanctify every firstborn) — firstborn son REDEEMED by lamb/5 shekels (Exo 13:13, Num 18:15-16)	—	REDEEMED, not sacrificed

Jephthah's vow uses Cluster 3:¶

Jdg 11:31 verbatim: וְהָיָה לַיהוָה וְהַעֲלִיתִהוּ עֹלָה

וְהָיָה לַיהוָה ("shall be to YHWH") — plain hayah + dative; NOT Hannah's natan + kol yemei chayyav; NOT Lev 27:2's yaphli neder + be'erkekha; NOT Exo 13:2's qaddesh + kol peter rechem
וְהַעֲלִיתִהוּ עֹלָה (Hiphil perfect weqatal עלה + noun עולה) — this is the technical cultic burnt-offering collocation. Every other canonical OT occurrence of this exact verb-stem + object-noun pairing (Noah, Abraham's ram in the thicket, Mesha the Moabite's son) reports an ACTUAL burnt-offering presentation.

The lexical verdict on the vow-utterance: Jephthah chose the register of sacrifice, not dedication. If he had meant "lifelong dedication," the Hannah-register lexicon was available and familiar; he did not deploy it.

However: The VOW UTTERANCE (v. 31) and the VOW EXECUTION (v. 39) employ different lexicons: - Jephthah's OWN UTTERANCE (v. 31): SACRIFICIAL-register (Hiphil alah + olah) - The NARRATOR'S REPORT OF EXECUTION (v. 39): NEUTRAL-register (wayya'as lah = "he did to her")

The narrator's deliberate lexical restraint at v. 39 is the disjunctive hinge of the whole debate — see Part 3 below on H2076 zabach.

Part 2: Word Studies From the Library¶

H5087 — נָדַר (nadar) "to vow"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5087-nadar.md - 28 unique verses, 35 tokens — always Qal - Always paired with cognate noun H5088 neder (figura etymologica "vow a vow" = נָדַר נֶדֶר) - First occurrence: Gen 28:20 (Jacob); key instances: Num 21:2 (Israel/Hormah); Jdg 11:30 (Jephthah); 1 Sam 1:11 (Hannah) - LXX bridge: G2172 εὔχομαι (primary) - Jephthah's vow at Jdg 11:30 is formally a נֶדֶר — not a חֵרֶם (cherem/ban) nor a שְׁבוּעָה (shebuah/oath). This formal classification matters for Lev 27 law: neder falls under Lev 27:1-8 (always redeemable via priestly 'erek); only cherem falls under Lev 27:28-29 (non-redeemable, death penalty).

H5088 — נֶדֶר (neder) "a vow"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5088-neder.md - 64 tokens in 57 unique verses; 15 books - Domain: conditional "if-then" promise, always directed to God; never to another human - Legal class distinct from נְדָבָה (nedabah, freewill offering) and from שְׁבוּעָה (shebuah, sworn oath) - Num 30 governs annulment of women's vows (father/husband authority); Num 30:2 governs A MAN'S own vow — "he shall not break his word" - LXX bridge: G2171 εὐχή - Jephthah's vow (Jdg 11:30) is explicitly classified as neder by the narrator ("vayyiddar Yiphtach NEDER laYHWH"). Distinguishing from cherem is decisive for the Lev 27 framework.

H5927 — עָלָה (ʻalah) "go up / [Hiphil] offer up"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5927-alah.md - 817 unique verses (1,122 tokens) — one of the most frequent OT verbs - Stem distribution: Qal 606 (intransitive motion), Hiphil 262 (causative — "bring up / offer up" cultic) - Semantic category #4 "Cultic offering": Gen 8:20 (Noah post-flood); Gen 22:2 (Abraham Akedah); Gen 22:13 (ram); Lev 2:12; 2 Chr 1:6 (Solomon's 1000 burnt offerings) - Jdg 11:31 וְהַעֲלִיתִהוּ (Hiphil.Perf.1s+3ms) "I will cause it/him to go up" — a Hiphil ascent clause with a personal-suffix object in a sacrificial context. The Hiphil + pronominal-suffix + עולה collocation appears in parallels that DO report literal burnt-offerings (2 Kgs 3:27 Mesha). - LXX bridge: G305 ἀναβαίνω / G399 ἀναφέρω (the latter specifically for Hiphil "offer up," → Heb 7:27, 1 Pet 2:24).

H5930 — עֹלָה (ʻolah) "burnt offering"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5930-olah.md - 302 tokens in 262 unique verses; 23 books - "The sacrifice that goes up entirely to God... no portion retained by priest or worshipper; the whole animal is consumed on the altar." - Torah-regulated: Lev 1:3-17 (founding Torah of the burnt-offering) — "male without blemish"; "hand-laying"; "flaying, washing of inwards and legs"; "all burned" - 96% of KJV renderings = "burnt offering"; the verb + noun pair עלה Hiphil + olah is the irreducibly cultic collocation - LXX bridge: G3646 ὁλοκαύτωμα (from "holos" + "kaio" — ALL-BURNED, whence English "holocaust"). Heb 10:6, 8 quotes Ps 40:6 LXX; Heb 7:27, 1 Pet 2:24 use ἀναφέρω for the Hiphil alah + olah action. - Jdg 11:31 uses olah as the adverbial accusative object of Hiphil alah: עֹלָה — "as a burnt offering." This SPECIFIES the mode of offering; it is not "dedication" but "total-consumption burnt-offering."

H2076 — זָבַח (zabach) "slaughter / sacrifice"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2076-zabach.md - 127 unique verses (149 tokens); 24 books - Standard OT verb for the slaughter of sacrifice — the KILL-STEP in cultic offering - CRITICALLY ABSENT from Jdg 11:39. The narrator does NOT say "וַיִּזְבַּח אֶת־בִּתּוֹ" ("and he sacrificed his daughter"). The narrator's lexical restraint at v. 39 avoids zabach, shachat (technical priestly slaughter), saraph (burn), and even the Hiphil alah + olah collocation Jephthah himself used at v. 31. - LXX bridge: G2380 θύω (primary). - See also word-studies/H5930-olah.md row "Easily confused words" — zabach (slaughter, with slaughter-event emphasis) vs. olah (the whole-burn noun-class). Heb 10:5-10 uses both concepts.

H2763 — חָרַם (charam) "devote / utterly destroy"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2763-charam.md - 57 tokens in 48 verses; "devote to religious uses (especially destruction); consecrate" - PRIMARY Hiphil usage = judicial ban in conquest (Josh 6:17, Jericho; Num 21:2-3, Hormah; 1 Sam 15:3, Amalek) - Lev 27:29 + Lev 27:28 use Hophal ("shall be devoted") to mark the non-redeemable category - Num 21:2's apodosis is וְהַחֲרַמְתִּי אֶת־עָרֵיהֶם — the vow uses charam, not olah. Therefore Num 21 is a different vow-class from Jdg 11; Num 21 is lawful conquest-ban on an enemy's cities.

H2764 — חֵרֶם (cherem) "ban / devoted thing"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2764-cherem.md - 39 tokens in 31 verses; the NOUN form of the ban-class - Lev 27:28-29 is the key legal text: cherem is NOT redeemable; cherem-devoted persons are PUT TO DEATH. - The cherem category covers: apostate cities (Deut 13:15), Molech-worshipers (Lev 20:2-5), Amalek/conquest-enemies, Achan (Josh 7). - CRITICAL LEGAL DISTINCTION: Lev 27:1-8 (ordinary neder — redeemable by priest-valuation) ≠ Lev 27:28-29 (cherem — not redeemable, death-penalty). Jephthah's vow at Jdg 11:30 is explicitly a neder (H5088), NOT a cherem. Therefore Lev 27:28-29 does NOT authorize Jephthah's daughter's death; Lev 27:1-8 applies and authorizes priestly redemption.

H1330 — בְּתוּלָה (bethulah) "virgin"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H1330-bthuwlah.md - 50 unique verses, 51 tokens - Primary meaning: sexually inexperienced young woman - Figurative: personified city or nation (virgin daughter of Zion, etc.) - Gen 24:16 is the controlling definition: "bethulah, neither had any man known her" — explicit gloss showing bethulah alone doesn't always specify sexual inexperience without clarifying context; the standard clarification is the lo-yada-ish formula - LXX bridge: G3933 παρθένος - Note from library: "Highest concentration in lament/exile literature (Lam, Jer, Amos, Joel) and Persian court narrative (Esther)." Lam 1:4 and 2:10 have virgins mourning in the temple — a LIVING-virgin-mourning idiom parallel to Jdg 11:37-38.

H1331 — בְּתוּלִים (bethulim) "virginity [state or tokens]"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H1331-bthuwliym.md - 10 tokens in 9 verses — ALL in Lev 21:13; Deut 22:14-20; Ezek 23:3, 8; Jdg 11:37-38 - Plural of abstraction / condition: "state of virginity, tokens of virginity" - The plural ending -îm here = abstract state (like נְעוּרִים "youth," זְקֻנִים "old age") - EVERY canonical occurrence describes a LIVING woman's virginity-state: - Lev 21:13 — priestly marriage qualification (living bride) - Deut 22:14-20 — bride-defamation trial tokens (living woman on trial) - Ezek 23:3, 8 — "breasts of their virginity" (figurative youth of Israel, but living-subject imagery) - Jdg 11:37-38 — Jephthah's daughter mourning her bethulim for two months on the mountains - NO OT occurrence describes a deceased woman's past virginity. Mourning OVER bethulim (as Jephthah's daughter does) is NOT a mourning of impending death; it is mourning the CONTINUING STATE OF UNMARRIED CHILDLESSNESS. - LXX bridge: G3932 παρθενία (used in Luke 2:36 of Anna — "from her virginity" meaning her pre-married years).

H3045 — יָדַע (yada') "know [incl. sexually]"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H3045-yada.md - 873 unique verses (1,099 tokens); one of the most frequent OT verbs - Category 4 (sexual euphemism): ~15 verses — Gen 4:1, 17, 25; Gen 19:5, 8; Gen 24:16; Gen 38:26; Num 31:17-18, 35; Jdg 11:39; Jdg 19:25; 21:11-12; 1 Kgs 1:4 - The FEMININE formulation (feminine subject + lo yada' ish) is rare — Gen 24:16 Rebekah; Num 31:17-18, 35 Midianite women; Jdg 11:39 Jephthah's daughter; Jdg 21:12 Jabesh-Gilead virgins; 1 Kgs 1:4 Abishag (inverted — masculine subject "the king knew her not") - Every other occurrence of the feminine formulation describes a LIVING woman.

H5144 — נָזַר (nazar) "separate / consecrate"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5144-nazar.md - Root of Nazarite (H5139 nazir). Num 6:1-21 establishes the Nazarite law: separation-by-vow to YHWH. - Samson (Jdg 13:5, 7; 16:17), Samuel (via Hannah's vow 1 Sam 1:11 — "no razor upon his head"), Rechabites (Jer 35), John the Baptist (Lk 1:15) are instances. - All Nazarites serve YHWH WHILE LIVING — separation is for life-service, not immolation. - Nazarite category provides a ready biblical framework for "living consecration" if Jephthah's daughter were dedicated as such (with mountain-pilgrimage mourning her bethulim = unmarried state accompanying dedication).

H8567 — תָּנָה (tanah) "recount / commemorate / [KJV] lament"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H8567-tanah.md - DIS LEGOMENON — only 2 Piel occurrences: Jdg 5:11 (יְתַנּוּ) and Jdg 11:40 (לְתַנּוֹת) - Jdg 5:11 control context: שָׁם יְתַנּוּ צִדְקוֹת יְהוָה — "there they rehearse/recount the righteous acts of the LORD" — CELEBRATIVE recital at the watering places, after YHWH's victory through Deborah - Jdg 11:40 parallel construction: annual four-day rite לְתַנּוֹת לְבַת־יִפְתָּח — "to recount/commemorate for the daughter of Jephthah" - LXX splits the two: Jdg 5:11 → διηγέομαι (G1334 "recount, narrate"); Jdg 11:40 → θρηνεῖν (G2354 "lament, sing a dirge"). The Greek translators chose opposing emotional registers for the same Hebrew verb — reflecting their interpretive COMMITMENT to the literal-sacrifice reading at Jdg 11:40. - Syntactic frame: ל (of interest/benefit) + בַת־יִפְתָּח, NOT עַל (of object-of-mourning). One mourns עַל someone dead (Gen 37:35; 2 Sam 1:24); one recounts ל (for/to) someone being commemorated. This frame-preposition (ל, not עַל) supports "recount/commemorate" over "lament." - Jdg 5:11 control governs the dis legomenon → commemorative-celebration reading is lexically on-point; KJV "lament" is interpretive importation from the literal-sacrifice reading of the surrounding narrative, not from the verb itself.

H2403 — חַטָּאָה (chattaah) "sin / sin-offering"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2403-chattaah.md - Relevant for Lev 5:4-13 — the rash-oath guilt-offering atonement pathway. Lev 5:6 specifies a female from the flock as a sin offering for a rash oath unwittingly sworn. This off-ramp was available to Jephthah.

H3173 — יָחִיד (yachid) "only [child / darling / solitary]"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H3173-yachiyd.md - 12 OT occurrences; 7 books - Clustered in sacrifice-of-only-child contexts (5 of 12 = 42%): - Gen 22:2, 12, 16 — Isaac at the Akedah (averted) - Jdg 11:34 — Jephthah's daughter (contested) - Zech 12:10 — the pierced Messianic one (prophetic) - Jdg 11:34 is the ONLY OT verse where LXX renders yachid with BOTH ἀγαπητή (G27 "beloved") AND μονογενής (G3439 "only-begotten") — importing the full Akedah-echo vocabulary into the Jephthah narrative. - The NT Christological titles μονογενής (John 1:14, 18; 3:16; 1 John 4:9; Heb 11:17 of Isaac) and ἀγαπητός (Mat 3:17; 17:5 — of Jesus at baptism/transfiguration) both trace back to this yachid word-family. - Lexical echo Jdg 11 ↔ Gen 22: yachid (Jdg 11:34) + Hiphil alah + olah (Jdg 11:31) = yechidkha (Gen 22:2) + Hiphil alah + olah (Gen 22:2). This is the TIGHTEST intertextual link in Jdg 11 — the narrator is cuing the Akedah.

H6187 — עֵרֶךְ (ʻerek) "valuation / estimation"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H6187-erek.md - 35 tokens in 29 verses; 20 in Leviticus (Lev 27 redemption tariff + Lev 5 trespass) - Lev 27:1-8 establishes the canonical Torah off-ramp: when a person is vowed to YHWH, the priest assigns a silver valuation calibrated by age and sex: - Adult male 20-60 = 50 shekels - Adult female 20-60 = 30 shekels - Female 5-20 = 10 shekels - Poverty clause (Lev 27:8) scales the tariff to the vower's ability to pay. NO ONE is excluded from the redemption off-ramp. - LXX bridge: G5092 τιμή ("price, value"). NT echo 1 Cor 6:20 "ye are bought with a price (τιμή)"; 1 Pet 1:18-19. - Library entry explicitly states: "The category [Lev 27:1-8 'erek] EXPLICITLY CONTEMPLATES THE SCENARIO OF JDG 11 — a hastily-sworn person-vow. Torah's answer is: pay the priestly valuation. The silver discharges the vow; the person goes home." - This is the legal ground for the Targum Jonathan / Phinehas argument (via Clarke 28231): Jephthah's fault lay in not invoking Lev 27:1-8 redemption via priestly consultation with Phinehas (Jdg 20:27-28 places Phinehas at the Ark in the immediately-preceding Benjamin war — chronologically accessible to Jephthah).

H6942 — קָדַשׁ (qadash) "consecrate / sanctify"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H6942-qadash.md - 153 unique verses (186 tokens); 23 books - The DEDICATION-CONSECRATION verb. Used for: - Sacred TIME (Sabbath — Gen 2:3; Deut 5:12) - Sacred SPACE/OBJECTS (tabernacle Num 7:1; Solomon's court 1 Kgs 8:64) - Sacred PERSONS (firstborn Exo 13:2; prophets Jer 1:5; Levite priests Exo 19:10; Nazarites) - RITUAL SELF-PREPARATION (Josh 3:5; 1 Sam 16:5) - LXX bridge: G37 ἁγιάζω (119 co-occurrences — near-exclusive pairing). - Exo 13:2's firstborn-consecration uses Piel qaddesh — the lexical register of consecration proper: קַדֶּשׁ־לִי כָל־בְּכוֹר כָּל־פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם. Jdg 11:31 does NOT use qadash. - This confirms: Jephthah had THREE Torah-authenticated vocabularies for consecrating a person to YHWH for life-service available: (1) natan (Hannah); (2) 'erek valuation (Lev 27:1-8); (3) qaddesh (Exo 13:2 firstborn formula). He used none of them. His chosen vocabulary was Hiphil alah + olah = SACRIFICIAL register.

H5414 — נָתַן (natan) "give / assign / dedicate"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5414-nathan.md - 1,814 unique verses (2,285 tokens) — one of the top 10 most frequent OT verbs - Category 4 (dedication/vow): "giving persons or things over to YHWH": - 1 Sam 1:11 — "then I will give him (unetattiw) unto the LORD all the days of his life" (Hannah's vow formula — the paradigmatic LIVING-dedication construction) - Num 3:9, 8:16, 8:19 — the Levites are wholly "given" (netunim netunim) to YHWH in substitution for the firstborn — note the DOUBLED natan marks irrevocable dedication - Num 18:6 — Levites as "a gift (matanah) for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle" - Library entry explicitly states: "When a person or animal is natan-ed to YHWH, the verb marks transfer of custody — typically for ONGOING SERVICE (Levites, Samuel). When a sacrifice is made, Hebrew reaches for he'alah (H5927 hiphil, 'cause to ascend, offer up as burnt offering') or hiqrib (H7126 hiphil, 'bring near, present'). Jdg 11:31 (Jephthah's vow) uses wehayah laYHWH ('shall be to YHWH') + wehaʻalitihu ʻolah ('and I will offer it up a burnt offering') — it does NOT use natan. The switch from the Hannah/Levite natan-dedication pattern to the ʻolah-sacrificial pattern is the pivotal lexical datum whenever Jephthah's vow is analyzed."

H3318 — יָצָא (yatsa') "go out / come forth"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H3318-yatsa.md - 1,069 tokens in 990 unique verses — 14th most frequent OT verb - Qal participle ms absolute (הַיּוֹצֵא) referent distribution (51 + 12 construct = 63 total occurrences): - Human individual (~14): named person exits a place - Human collective (~20): military/civic "going out" - Offspring from loins (4): Gen 15:4, 17:6, 1 Ki 8:19, 2 Chr 6:9 - YHWH/divine agent (5) - Inanimate/natural (15) - Animal subject: ZERO direct cases - Formulaic frame "whosoever cometh forth of the doors of X": Jdg 11:31 is the UNIQUE OT instance of הַיּוֹצֵא + "doors of my house" to-meet-me. Closest idiomatic neighbors (Num 27:17 "go out and come in"; 1 Ki 3:7; Prov 7:15 "came forth to meet") all describe HUMAN leadership/social movement. - Grammatical pattern יוֹצֵא + לִקְרָאתִי (going out to meet me) skews strongly toward human referent — "meeting" (qara / liqrat) is a social act performed by persons, not animals, across its ~100 OT occurrences. - CONTRA POINT: Josephus Ant. 5.7.10 paraphrases the vow-referent as "what LIVING CREATURE soever" — a generic/universal reading. The Gileadite house-courtyard setting could technically accommodate livestock. But the Hebrew GRAMMATICAL DEFAULT for this specific construction is HUMAN. - This datum pushes AGAINST the pure disjunctive-vow defense that says "Jephthah expected an animal and was surprised by a human" — lexically, the formulation already skewed human from the start.

H7311 — רוּם (rum) "be high / exalt"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H7311-ruwm.md - Peripheral to this study; semantically close to H5927 עלה but STATIVE (be high) vs. DYNAMIC (move up). No direct impact on Jdg 11 analysis.

H8199 — שָׁפַט (shaphat) "to judge"¶

Source: D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H8199-shaphat.md - Relevant for Jdg 11:27 ("the LORD the Judge be judge this day") and Jdg 12:7 ("Jephthah judged Israel six years"). Confirms Jephthah's canonical judge-status; post-vow narrative records no disqualification for him.

Part 3: The Narrator's Lexical Restraint at Jdg 11:39 — The Diagnostic Absence¶

At the climax of the narrative, the narrator reports Jephthah's fulfillment with:

וַיַּעַשׂ לָהּ אֶת־נִדְרוֹ אֲשֶׁר נָדָר "and he did to her his vow which he had vowed" (Jdg 11:39)

The verb is עשׂה (asah) — bare "do/make" — chosen over ALL available sacrificial-reporting verbs that the same Hebrew author could have used:

Available Hebrew verb	KJV gloss	Used where reporting human immolation	Used at Jdg 11:39?
זבח (zabach, H2076)	slaughter/sacrifice	Lev 17:5; 1 Ki 14:23; Ps 106:37-38 (demons)	ABSENT
שׁחט (shachat, H7819)	slaughter (technical)	Gen 22:10 (Abraham about to kill Isaac); Lev priestly slaughter	ABSENT
שׂרף (saraph, H8313)	burn	Jer 7:31 "to burn their sons and daughters"; 2 Kgs 23:16	ABSENT
עלה Hiphil + עולה	offer up as burnt-offering	2 Kgs 3:27 Mesha: wayya'alehu olah ("he offered him up as burnt-offering") — EXACTLY the construction Jephthah used at 11:31	ABSENT
הֶעֱבִיר בָּאֵשׁ (he'evir ba'esh)	pass through fire	2 Kgs 16:3, 21:6; Jer 32:35; Deut 18:10	ABSENT
נכה Hiphil (hikkah)	smite/kill	various	ABSENT
מות Hiphil (hemiit)	put to death	Lev 27:29 Hophal יוּמָת ("shall be put to death")	ABSENT

The narrator had every standard Hebrew sacrifice-reporting verb available and chose NONE of them. Instead he used עשׂה (plain "do") and pointed the reader BACK to the vow-text of v. 31 — forcing the reader to reconstruct what "doing the vow" entailed.

Contrast with the immediate follow-up clause (v. 39b): - וְהִיא לֹא־יָדְעָה אִישׁ (WX-QATAL: waw + fronted pronoun + negative + qatal + noun) - The narrator DOES provide an interpretive gloss — but in SEXUAL/MARITAL TERMS (she had not known a man), not MORTALITY TERMS (she died, she was slain, her blood was poured out).

The narrator's chosen lexicon at v. 39 tracks the lifelong-virginity reading — the daughter's continuing living-state of unmarriedness as the outcome of her father's vow.

Part 4: LXX/Greek Bridges (relevant to NT echoes and ancient reception)¶

G1334 — διηγέομαι (diegeomai) "recount, narrate"¶

LXX Jdg 5:11 renders תנה with this verb
Heb 11:32 uses the cognate participle διηγούμενον ("recounting") of the author's own listing of the faith heroes — a verb-choice consciously evocative of Jdg 5:11 and (LXX-A presumably) Jdg 11:40's commemorative rite.

G2422 — Ἰεφθάε (Iephthae) "Jephthah"¶

Proper noun in Heb 11:32. Included in the faith-roll without qualification or specific commendation in v. 32. The nine aorist verbs of vv. 33-34 that specify the faith-acts all map to military-deliverance semantic field.

G3439 — μονογενής (monogenes) "only-begotten / only-one"¶

LXX rendering of yachid at Jdg 11:34 (paired with ἀγαπητή) and at Ps 22:20, 25:16, 35:17
Heb 11:17 uses μονογενῆ of Isaac — echoing LXX Gen 22:2 vocabulary
John 1:14, 18; 3:16; 1 John 4:9 — Christological title for Jesus
The lexical thread runs: yachid Hebrew → ἀγαπητός/μονογενής LXX → Christological NT. Jdg 11:34's daughter is in this thread.

G3646 — ὁλοκαύτωμα (holokautoma) "whole burnt offering"¶

LXX rendering of olah (Lev 1 throughout); Heb 10:6, 8 quotes via Ps 40:6. English "holocaust" derives.
LXX Jdg 11:31 uses ὁλοκαύτωμα for olah (both A-text and B-text). The Greek translators chose the cultic-technical term, interpreting Jephthah's vow sacrificially.

G2354 — θρηνέω (threneo) "lament, sing a dirge"¶

LXX Jdg 11:40's rendering of letannot. The Greek translators' interpretive commitment to the literal-sacrifice reading is evidenced by this verb-choice — but the verb is NOT cognate to Hebrew תנה; it is the Greek translator's interpretive paraphrase. The Hebrew verb itself (dis legomenon) is not lexically "lament"; the LXX-chosen θρηνεῖν is reading-dependent.

Part 5: Synthesis — Lexical Verdict¶

The vow-utterance (Jdg 11:31): Jephthah's vow employs the Hiphil alah + olah collocation that every canonical parallel uses for ACTUAL burnt-offering presentation. He did NOT employ the Hannah-style natan + kol yemei chayyav dedication-formula, nor the Lev 27:2 yaphli neder + 'erekh person-valuation formula, nor the Exo 13:2 qaddesh + kol peter rechem firstborn-consecration formula. Lexically, the vow IS phrased sacrificially.

The vow-execution (Jdg 11:39): The narrator reports the fulfillment with bare עשׂה, deliberately avoiding every Hebrew sacrifice-verb he had available. Lexically, the execution is NOT reported sacrificially.

The gloss-clause (Jdg 11:39b): The narrator supplies ONE circumstantial clause — in sexual/marital terms ("and she had not known a man") — parallel to the daughter's own bethulim-mourning vocabulary of 11:37-38 and to the living-virginal-chastity formula of Gen 24:16 / Num 31:18 / 1 Kgs 1:4.

The annual-rite clause (Jdg 11:40): The narrator uses the dis legomenon תנה, which the ONLY other canonical occurrence (Jdg 5:11) governs toward "recount/commemorate." Grammar (ל of benefit, not עַל of object-of-mourning) confirms.

Resolution options: - A. Literal-sacrifice: Jephthah's vow is SACRIFICIALLY phrased (Hiphil alah + olah); the narrator's restraint at 11:39 is euphemistic avoidance of naming the sordid act; "lo yada ish" is a retrospective observation about her status as she died; tanah = lament. REQUIRES: (1) narrator chose plain asah to soften a sacrificial reality; (2) WX-QATAL read sequentially against its typical function (cf. Gen 24:16 reads stative); (3) tanah read against its Jdg 5:11 control. The reading fits the vow-utterance but strains every narrator-choice at the execution. - B. Lifelong-dedication / perpetual virginity: Jephthah's vow uses sacrificial vocabulary because either (a) he rashly meant it that way and was ignorant/illiterate of Lev 27:1-8 redemption, or (b) he was employing disjunctive-waw intending "dedicated OR sacrificed according to what emerged." Either way, the narrator's lexical restraint at 11:39, the WX-QATAL circumstantial, the bethulim-mourning register, and the tanah-commemorative rite all POINT to a living-dedication resolution — possibly mediated by a priestly valuation invoked tacitly (Targum's Phinehas) or by a lifelong-virginity consecration (Samuel/Nazarite parallel).

Both readings HAVE to absorb some friction with the text. The analysis agent will weigh which friction-set is smaller.

Library file paths cited above (summary): - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5087-nadar.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5088-neder.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5927-alah.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5930-olah.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2076-zabach.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2763-charam.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2764-cherem.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H1330-bthuwlah.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H1331-bthuwliym.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H3045-yada.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5144-nazar.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H8567-tanah.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H2403-chattaah.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H3173-yachiyd.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H6187-erek.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H6942-qadash.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H5414-nathan.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H3318-yatsa.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H7311-ruwm.md (peripheral) - D:/bible/bible-studies/word-studies/H8199-shaphat.md (peripheral)

Grammar-reference file paths cited (summary): - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/passages/jdg-11-30-31.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/passages/jdg-11-37-40.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/hebrew/syntax-conditional-vow.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/hebrew/syntax-waw-conjunction.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/hebrew/weqatal-apodosis-vow.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/hebrew/syntax-wx-qatal-circumstantial.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/greek/lxx-disjunctive-waw-vows.md - D:/bible/bible-studies/grammar-reference/hebrew/stem-niphal.md (peripheral)