Grammar Analysis: Judges 11:30–31 (Jephthah's Vow)¶
Text¶
Hebrew (v. 30): וַיִּדַּ֨ר יִפְתָּ֥ח נֶ֛דֶר לַיהוָ֖ה וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אִם־נָתֹ֥ון תִּתֵּ֛ן אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י עַמֹּ֖ון בְּיָדִֽי׃
Hebrew (v. 31): וְהָיָ֣ה הַיֹּוצֵ֗א אֲשֶׁ֨ר יֵצֵ֜א מִדַּלְתֵ֤י בֵיתִי֙ לִקְרָאתִ֔י בְּשׁוּבִ֥י בְשָׁלֹ֖ום מִבְּנֵ֣י עַמֹּ֑ון וְהָיָה֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה וְהַעֲלִיתִ֖הוּ עֹולָֽה׃
KJV (v. 30): And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
KJV (v. 31): Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
Word-by-Word Parsing¶
Judges 11:30¶
| # | Hebrew | Lemma | Parsing | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | וַ | ו | Conj | and |
| 2 | יִּדַּ֨ר | נדר | Verb.Qal.Wayq.3ms | vowed |
| 3 | יִפְתָּ֥ח | יפתח | PropN.ms.Abs | Jephthah |
| 4 | נֶ֛דֶר | נדר | Noun.ms.Abs | a vow |
| 5 | לַ | ל | Prep | to |
| 6 | יהוָ֖ה | יהוה | PropN.ms.Abs | YHWH |
| 7 | וַ | ו | Conj | and |
| 8 | יֹּאמַ֑ר | אמר | Verb.Qal.Wayq.3ms | said |
| 9 | אִם | אם | Conj | if |
| 10 | נָתֹ֥ון | נתן | Verb.Qal.InfAbs | giving |
| 11 | תִּתֵּ֛ן | נתן | Verb.Qal.Impf.2ms | thou shalt give |
| 12 | אֶת | את | Prep (object marker) | — |
| 13 | בְּנֵ֥י | בן | Noun.mp.Cst | sons of |
| 14 | עַמֹּ֖ון | עמון | PropN.s.Abs | Ammon |
| 15 | בְּ | ב | Prep | in(to) |
| 16 | יָדִֽי | יד | Noun.s.Abs.+1s | my hand |
Judges 11:31¶
| # | Hebrew | Lemma | Parsing | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | וְ | ו | Conj | and |
| 2 | הָיָ֣ה | היה | Verb.Qal.Perf.3ms (weqatal) | it shall be |
| 3 | הַ | ה | Art | the |
| 4 | יֹּוצֵ֗א | יצא | Verb.Qal.Ptcp.ms.Abs | one going out |
| 5 | אֲשֶׁ֨ר | אשׁר | Relative | who/that |
| 6 | יֵצֵ֜א | יצא | Verb.Qal.Impf.3ms | goes out |
| 7 | מִ | מן | Prep | from |
| 8 | דַּלְתֵ֤י | דלת | Noun.fd.Cst | doors of |
| 9 | בֵיתִי֙ | בית | Noun.ms.Abs.+1s | my house |
| 10 | לִ | ל | Prep | to |
| 11 | קְרָאתִ֔י | קרא | Verb.Qal.InfCon.+1s | meet me |
| 12 | בְּ | ב | Prep | in/when |
| 13 | שׁוּבִ֥י | שׁוב | Verb.Qal.InfCon.+1s | my returning |
| 14 | בְ | ב | Prep | in |
| 15 | שָׁלֹ֖ום | שׁלום | Noun.ms.Abs | peace |
| 16 | מִ | מן | Prep | from |
| 17 | בְּנֵ֣י | בן | Noun.mp.Cst | sons of |
| 18 | עַמֹּ֑ון | עמון | PropN.s.Abs | Ammon |
| 19 | וְ | ו | Conj | and |
| 20 | הָיָה֙ | היה | Verb.Qal.Perf.3ms (weqatal) | he/it shall be |
| 21 | לַֽ | ל | Prep | to / belonging to |
| 22 | יהוָ֔ה | יהוה | PropN.ms.Abs | YHWH |
| 23 | וְ | ו | Conj | and |
| 24 | הַעֲלִיתִ֖הוּ | עלה | Verb.Hiphil.Perf.1cs.+3ms (weqatal) | I will offer him/it up |
| 25 | עֹולָֽה | עלה | Noun.fs.Abs | as a burnt-offering |
Clause Structure¶
v. 30 (from hebrew_parser.py --clause)¶
| # | Type | Domain | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WayX | Narrative | וַיִּדַּר יִפְתָּח נֶדֶר לַיהוָה — "Jephthah vowed a vow to YHWH" |
| 2 | Way0 | Narrative | וַיֹּאמַר — "and said" (opens direct speech) |
| 3 | xYq0 | Quotation (protasis) | אִם־נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן בְּיָדִי — conditional |
v. 31¶
| # | Type | Domain | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WQt0 | Quotation | וְהָיָה — weqatal apodosis head ("then it shall be") |
| 2 | CPen (casus pendens) | Quotation | הַיּוֹצֵא — fronted nominative absolute ("the one coming out…") |
| 3 | xYq0 (relative) | Quotation | אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִדַּלְתֵי בֵיתִי — "who goes out from the doors of my house" |
| 4 | InfC | Quotation | לִקְרָאתִי — "to meet me" (purpose) |
| 5 | InfC | Quotation | בְּשׁוּבִי בְשָׁלוֹם מִבְּנֵי עַמּוֹן — "when I return in peace" (temporal) |
| 6 | WQt0 | Quotation | וְהָיָה לַיהוָה — "shall belong to YHWH" (weqatal #2) |
| 7 | WQt0 | Quotation | וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עוֹלָה — "and I will offer him/it up as a burnt-offering" (weqatal #3) |
Construct chains: בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן (sons of Ammon, vv. 30, 31); דַּלְתֵי בֵיתִי (doors of my house, v. 31).
Key Grammatical Features¶
1. Wayyiqtol narrative chain: וַיִּדַּר… וַיֹּאמַר (v. 30)¶
- Form: Two consecutive Qal wayyiqtols, 3ms (Waltke-O'Connor's "waw-relative" / "waw-resultative" of the prefix conjugation).
- Function: Sequentially advances the storyline — "and Jephthah vowed a vow… and said…" The second wayyiqtol does not introduce a new independent event but marks the natural narrative hand-off from act to speech: the vow is then unpacked in direct discourse (IBHS §33.2.1). This is the classic narrative backbone frame within which the vow is embedded.
- Paronomastic object: נדר + נֶדֶר ("vowed a vow") is cognate-accusative paronomasia — a stylistic device that raises the rhetorical weight of the vow. Compare Num 6:2; 30:3; 1 Sam 1:11.
- Significance: The narrator marks the vow as a solemn speech-act before quoting it. Everything that follows inside direct speech leaves the wayyiqtol register and shifts to the votive register of protasis (אִם + imperfect) + weqatal apodosis — a register switch that carries the exegetical weight of the passage.
2. Infinitive-absolute paronomasia: נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן (v. 30)¶
- Form: Qal infinitive absolute נָתוֹן preceding the finite Qal imperfect 2ms תִּתֵּן of the same root נתן ("give, deliver"). Standard "paronomastic" or "tautological" infinitive construction (IBHS §35.3.1; GKC §113l–n; BDB-Grammar p.118 notes ~470 of the ~875 OT inf. absolutes occur this way).
- Function: Emphatic confirmation of the finite verb — "if thou wilt indeed give," "if thou wilt surely deliver." Waltke-O'Connor (§35.3.1h), following Muraoka, stresses that the emphasis lies in the doubling itself, not in the inf. abs. as such.
- Significance: Inside the protasis of the conditional (אִם-clause), this construction lends solemn rhetorical weight to the condition Jephthah sets: he is not hedging but underscoring the seriousness of the request he places before YHWH. This matches the paronomasia already seen in נדר נֶדֶר — the whole oath is framed by doubled-root emphasis.
3. Conditional vow structure: אִם-protasis + weqatal apodosis (vv. 30–31)¶
- Form (protasis, v. 30): אִם + (inf. abs. +) imperfect — standard real-future conditional. Clause type in the parser is
xYq0in quotation domain. - Form (apodosis, v. 31): a chain of three weqatal (waw-consecutive perfect) clauses — וְהָיָה… וְהָיָה לַיהוָה… וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עוֹלָה. The initial וְהָיָה functions as an apodosis-marker ("then it shall be…"; IBHS §32.2.3–5, §38.2; GKC §112ff, §143d).
- Construction: The apodosis opens with a fronted nominative absolute (casus pendens) הַיּוֹצֵא אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא — "the one going out who goes out" (articular participle + relative clause headed by a cognate yiqtol of יצא). This topic-fronting gives the protasis' reward-object its own syntactic slot before the apodosis resolves it with a 3ms pronoun (implicit in וְהָיָה לַיהוָה, then overtly in the +3ms suffix of וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ).
- Significance: This is the canonical Hebrew vow template (Gen 28:20–22 [Jacob]; Num 21:2 [Israel]; 1 Sam 1:11 [Hannah]). Jephthah's vow conforms to it with one unusual feature: the referent of הַיּוֹצֵא is left radically unspecified — the construction names whatever comes out, not whoever. The grammar does not settle whether animal or human is in view; that is a lexical/pragmatic question the syntax deliberately leaves open.
- Grammar reference: syntax-conditional-vow
4. Casus pendens + cognate-verb relative: הַיּוֹצֵא אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא (v. 31)¶
- Form: Definite Qal active participle הַיּוֹצֵא ("the one going out") fronted as a casus pendens (parser clause type
CPen), then re-specified by a relative clause אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא with a cognate yiqtol of the same root יצא ("who will go out"). - Function: The doubling is not redundant. The participle names the class (anyone/anything characterized by "going out"), and the relative + imperfect locates the event in the future contingent frame of the vow: "whatever shall actually come out." This is parallel in construction-type to the inf-abs paronomasia of v. 30 — a rhetorical doubling that broadens rather than narrows the referent.
- Significance: Grammatically, the subject of the apodosis is maximally indefinite. Translations that render "whatsoever" (KJV) are tracking the syntax correctly; the Hebrew is not committed to a human referent.
5. The disjunctive-waw question on וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹולָה (v. 31)¶
- Form: A third weqatal clause headed by וְ, continuing the apodosis chain — Hiphil perfect 1cs with 3ms object suffix (הַעֲלִיתִיהוּ, "I will cause it/him to go up"), followed by the adverbial accusative עוֹלָה ("as a burnt-offering").
- The exegetical question: Is the וְ at the head of וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ a conjunctive waw ("and I will offer it up"), so that the vow promises two things of the same referent — dedicate to YHWH and offer as a burnt-offering? Or is it a disjunctive waw ("or I will offer it up"), so that the vow offers YHWH two alternatives — if a person comes out, it will be dedicated to YHWH (as a lifelong servant); or if an animal comes out, I will offer it up as a burnt-offering?
- Grammatical assessment: IBHS §39.2.1–3 (Waltke-O'Connor p.650ff) and GKC §154 treat disjunctive ("or") waw as a recognized but marked and context-dependent sense of simple waw. Hebrew has no morphologically distinct "or" particle in this position — אוֹ is available but is not used here. The default value of waw + weqatal in apodosis is coordinate-sequential: each weqatal advances the apodosis chain in the same direction. The two preceding apodosis weqatals (וְהָיָה, וְהָיָה לַיהוָה) are uncontroversially conjunctive; a third weqatal in the same series, with no shift of subject or domain, defaults to the same relation.
- Lines of argument for disjunctive reading: (a) human sacrifice was forbidden and repugnant in Israelite religion (Deut 12:31; Lev 18:21); (b) הָיָה לַיהוָה in other votive contexts (Lev 27; 1 Sam 1:11, 22, 28) can denote dedication, not immolation; (c) GKC §143d and IBHS §38.2 acknowledge that waw-apodosis can be epexegetical rather than strictly additive. On this reading the two weqatals explicate one reward with two possible execution modes.
- Lines of argument for conjunctive reading: (a) the default force of continuing weqatal in an apodosis chain is and, not or; (b) the referent of הַיּוֹצֵא is marked as maximally indefinite and the narrative (vv. 34–40) treats the vow as sacrificial, not dedicatory; (c) nothing in the morphosyntax of וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ signals disjunction — no אוֹ, no particle of alternatives, no shift in clause type.
- Significance: The grammar does not unilaterally decide the question. The default, unmarked reading of the waw is conjunctive ("and"); the disjunctive reading is grammatically possible but must be imported from theological or lexical considerations (Lev 27 dedication parallels, prohibition of human sacrifice). The exegetical weight therefore falls on (a) the scope of הַיּוֹצֵא and (b) whether dedication vs. immolation can be read into הָיָה לַיהוָה + הַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עוֹלָה — not on the waw itself. The semantic grammar search (Waltke-O'Connor, Gesenius on waw) supports treating "or"-waw as the marked reading that bears the burden of proof.
Cross-References¶
- Grammar library:
- hebrew/syntax-conditional-vow.md — canonical conditional-vow pattern (Gen 28; Num 21; Jdg 11; 1 Sam 1)
- hebrew/syntax-waw-conjunction.md — waw polyfunctionality (conjunctive / disjunctive / epexegetical), central to the Jdg 11:31 debate
- hebrew/weqatal-apodosis-vow.md — weqatal in apodosis of vow/oath; Hiphil perfect consecutive (הַעֲלִיתִיהוּ) parallels Num 21:2, 1 Sam 1:11
- Parallel vows to compare:
- Gen 28:20–22 (Jacob at Bethel) — identical אִם + weqatal chain
- Num 21:2 (Israel vs. Arad) — אִם + infinitive absolute + yiqtol, weqatal apodosis (structurally identical to v. 30 protasis)
- 1 Sam 1:11 (Hannah) — אִם + yiqtol, weqatal apodosis with dedicatory לַיהוָה language
- Grammar textbooks (via
semantic_grammar.py): - Waltke-O'Connor IBHS §33.2 (waw-relative), §35.3.1 (infinitive absolute paronomasia), §38.2 (apodosis waw), §39.2 (other uses of waw, incl. disjunctive)
- Gesenius GKC §112ff (weqatal), §113l–r (inf. abs.), §143d (casus pendens), §154 (disjunctive waw)
- BDB-Grammar (2005) p.118 (inf. abs. frequency with finite verb)