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Judges 11

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1 καὶ Ιεφθαε ὁ Γαλααδίτης δυνατὸς ἐν ἰσχύι καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν υἱὸς γυναικὸς πόρνης καὶ ἔτεκεν τῷ Γαλααδ τὸν Ιεφθαε 2 καὶ ἔτεκεν ἡ γυνὴ Γαλααδ αὐτῷ υἱούς καὶ ἡδρύνθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἐξέβαλον τὸν Ιεφθαε καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ οὐ κληρονομήσεις ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν ὅτι γυναικὸς υἱὸς ἑταίρας εἶ σύ 3 καὶ ἀπέδρα Ιεφθαε ἐκ προσώπου τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ κατῴκησεν ἐν γῇ Τωβ καὶ συνελέγοντο πρὸς τὸν Ιεφθαε ἄνδρες λιτοὶ καὶ συνεξεπορεύοντο μετ' αὐτοῦ 4 καὶ ἐγένετο μεθ' ἡμέρας καὶ ἐπολέμησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων μετὰ Ισραηλ 5 καὶ ἐγενήθη ἡνίκα ἐπολέμουν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων μετὰ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Γαλααδ παραλαβεῖν τὸν Ιεφθαε ἐν γῇ Τωβ 6 καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς Ιεφθαε δεῦρο καὶ ἔσῃ ἡμῖν εἰς ἡγούμενον καὶ πολεμήσωμεν ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς Αμμων 7 καὶ εἶπεν Ιεφθαε τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις Γαλααδ οὐχ ὑμεῖς ἐμισήσατέ με καὶ ἐξεβάλετέ με ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ ἐξαπεστείλατέ με ἀφ' ὑμῶν καὶ τί ὅτι ἤλθατε πρός με ἡνίκα ἐθλίβητε 8 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Γαλααδ πρὸς Ιεφθαε οὐχ οὕτως νῦν ἤλθομεν πρὸς σέ καὶ συμπορεύσῃ ἡμῖν καὶ πολεμήσομεν ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς Αμμων καὶ ἔσῃ ἡμῖν εἰς κεφαλήν πᾶσιν τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν Γαλααδ 9 καὶ εἶπεν Ιεφθαε πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Γαλααδ εἰ ἐπιστρέφετέ με ὑμεῖς πολεμῆσαι ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς Αμμων καὶ παραδῷ κύριος αὐτοὺς ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ ἐγὼ ὑμῖν ἔσομαι εἰς κεφαλήν 10 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Γαλααδ πρὸς Ιεφθαε κύριος ἔσται ὁ ἀκούων ἀνὰ μέσον ἡμῶν εἰ μὴ κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου οὕτως ποιήσομεν 11 καὶ ἐπορεύθη Ιεφθαε μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων Γαλααδ καὶ κατέστησαν αὐτὸν ἐπ' αὐτῶν εἰς κεφαλὴν εἰς ἡγούμενον καὶ ἐλάλησεν Ιεφθαε πάντας τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον κυρίου ἐν Μασσηφα

1 There was at that time Jephte, the Galaadite, a most valiant man, and a warrior, the son of a woman that was a harlot, and his father was Galaad. 2 Now Galaad had a wife of whom he had sons: who, after they were grown up, thrust out Jephte, saying: You can not inherit in the house of our father, because you are born of another mother. 3 Then he fled and avoided them, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered to him needy men and robbers, and they followed him as their prince. 4 In those days the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And as they pressed hard upon them, the ancients of Galaad went to fetch Jephte out of the land of Tob to help them: 6 And they said to him: Come, and be our prince, and fight against the children of Ammon. 7 And he answered them: Are not you the men that hated me, and cast me out of my father's house, and now you have come to me, constrained by necessity? 8 And the princes of Galaad said to Jephte: For this cause we are now come to you, that you may go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be head over all the inhabitants of Galaad. 9 Jephte also said to them: If you be come to me sincerely, that I should fight for you against the children of Ammon, and the Lord shall deliver them into my hand, shall I be your prince? 10 They answered him: The Lord, who hears these things, he himself is mediator and witness that we will do as we have promised. 11 Jephte therefore went with the princes of Galaad, and all the people made him their prince. And Jephte spoke all his words before the Lord in Maspha.

1 Fuit illo tempore Jephte Galaadites vir fortissimus atque pugnator, filius mulieris meretricis, qui natus est de Galaad. 2 Habuit autem Galaad uxorem, de qua suscepit filios : qui postquam creverant, ejecerunt Jephte, dicentes : Hæres in domo patris nostri esse non poteris, quia de altera matre natus es. 3 Quos ille fugiens atque devitans, habitavit in terra Tob : congregatique sunt ad eum viri inopes, et latrocinantes, et quasi principem sequebantur. 4 In illis diebus pugnabant filii Ammon contra Israël. 5 Quibus acriter instantibus perrexerunt majores natu de Galaad, ut tollerent in auxilium sui Jephte de terra Tob: 6 dixeruntque ad eum : Veni et esto princeps noster, et pugna contra filios Ammon. 7 Quibus ille respondit : Nonne vos estis, qui odistis me, et ejecistis de domo patris mei? et nunc venistis ad me necessitate compulsi. 8 Dixeruntque principes Galaad ad Jephte : Ob hanc igitur causam nunc ad te venimus, ut proficiscaris nobiscum, et pugnes contra filios Ammon, sisque dux omnium qui habitant in Galaad. 9 Jephte quoque dixit eis : Si vere venistis ad me, ut pugnem pro vobis contra filios Ammon, tradideritque eos Dominus in manus meas, ego ero vester princeps? 10 Qui responderunt ei : Dominus, qui hæc audit, ipse mediator ac testis est quod nostra promissa faciemus. 11 Abiit itaque Jephte cum principibus Galaad, fecitque eum omnis populus principem sui. Locutusque est Jephte omnes sermones suos coram Domino in Maspha.

12 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ιεφθαε ἀγγέλους πρὸς βασιλέα υἱῶν Αμμων λέγων τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί ὅτι ἥκεις πρός με σὺ πολεμῆσαί με ἐν τῇ γῇ μου 13 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 14 καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν οἱ ἄγγελοι πρὸς Ιεφθαε καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ιεφθαε ἀγγέλους πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα υἱῶν Αμμων 15 λέγων τάδε λέγει Ιεφθαε οὐκ ἔλαβεν Ισραηλ τὴν γῆν Μωαβ καὶ τὴν γῆν υἱῶν Αμμων 16 ἐν τῇ ἀναβάσει αὐτῶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἀλλ' ἐπορεύθη Ισραηλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἕως θαλάσσης ἐρυθρᾶς καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως Καδης 17 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 18 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 19 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ισραηλ ἀγγέλους πρὸς Σηων βασιλέα Εσεβων τὸν Αμορραῖον καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ισραηλ παρελεύσομαι διὰ τῆς γῆς σου ἕως τοῦ τόπου μου 20 καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν Σηων διελθεῖν τὸν Ισραηλ διὰ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτοῦ καὶ συνήγαγεν Σηων πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ παρενέβαλεν εἰς Ιασσα καὶ ἐπολέμησεν μετὰ Ισραηλ 21 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 22 καὶ ἐκληρονόμησεν πᾶν τὸ ὅριον τοῦ Αμορραίου ἀπὸ Αρνων καὶ ἕως τοῦ Ιαβοκ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ ἕως τοῦ Ιορδάνου 23 καὶ νῦν κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ἐξῆρεν τὸν Αμορραῖον ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ σὺ κληρονομήσεις αὐτὸν ἐπὶ σοῦ 24 οὐχὶ ὅσα κατεκληρονόμησέν σοι Χαμως ὁ θεός σου αὐτὰ κληρονομήσεις καὶ πάντα ὅσα κατεκληρονόμησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ἀπὸ προσώπου ἡμῶν αὐτὰ κληρονομήσομεν 25 καὶ νῦν μὴ κρείσσων εἶ σὺ τοῦ Βαλακ υἱοῦ Σεπφωρ βασιλέως Μωαβ μὴ μάχῃ ἐμαχέσατο μετὰ Ισραηλ ἢ πολεμῶν ἐπολέμησεν αὐτοῖς 26 ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ ἐν Εσεβων καὶ ἐν ταῖς θυγατράσιν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν Ιαζηρ καὶ ἐν ταῖς θυγατράσιν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς πόλεσιν ταῖς παρὰ τὸν Ιορδάνην τριακόσια ἔτη τί ὅτι οὐκ ἐρρύσαντο αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ 27 καὶ ἐγὼ οὐχ ἥμαρτόν σοι καὶ σὺ ποιεῖς μετ' ἐμοῦ πονηρίαν τοῦ πολεμῆσαι ἐν ἐμοί κρίναι κύριος ὁ κρίνων σήμερον ἀνὰ μέσον υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον υἱῶν Αμμων 28 καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν βασιλεὺς υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν τῶν λόγων Ιεφθαε ὧν ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς αὐτόν

12 And he sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, to say in his name: What have you to do with me, that you have come against me, to waste my land? 13 And he answered them: Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the confines of the Arnon unto the Jaboc and the Jordan: now, therefore, restore the same peaceably to me. 14 And Jephte again sent word by them, and commanded them to say to the king of Ammon: 15 Thus says Jephte: Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: 16 But when they came up out of Egypt, he walked through the desert to the Red Sea, and came into Cades. 17 And he sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Suffer me to pass through your land. But he would not condescend to his request. He sent also to the king of Moab, who, likewise, refused to give him passage. He abode, therefore, in Cades, 18 and went round the land of Edom at the side, and the land of Moab: and came over against the east coast of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon: and he would not enter the bounds of Moab. 19 So Israel sent messengers to Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon, and they said to him: Suffer me to pass through your land to the river. 20 But he, also despising the words of Israel, allowed him not to pass through his borders: but gathering an infinite multitude, went out against him to Jasa, and made strong opposition. 21 And the Lord delivered him, with all his army, into the hands of Israel, and he slew him, and possessed all the land of the Amorrhite, the inhabitant of that country, 22 and all the coasts thereof from the Arnon to the Jaboc, and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So the Lord, the God of Israel, destroyed the Amorrhite, his people of Israel fighting against him, and will you now possess his land? 24 Are not those things which your god Chamos possesses, due to you by right? But what the Lord our God has obtained by conquest, shall be our possession: 25 Unless, perhaps, you are better than Balac, the son of Sephor, king of Moab: or can show that he strove against Israel, and fought against him, 26 whereas he has dwelt in Hesebon, and the villages thereof, and in Aroer, and its villages, and in all the cities near the Jordan, for three hundred years. Why have you for so long a time attempted nothing about this claim? 27 Therefore I do not trespass against you, but you wrong me by declaring an unjust war against me. The Lord be judge, and decide this day, between Israel and the children of Ammon. 28 And the king of the children of Ammon would not hearken to the words of Jephte, which he sent him by the messengers.

12 Et misit nuntios ad regem filiorum Ammon, qui ex persona sua dicerent : Quid mihi et tibi est, quia venisti contra me, ut vastares terram meam? 13 Quibus ille respondit : Quia tulit Israël terram meam, quando ascendit de Ægypto, a finibus Arnon usque Jaboc atque Jordanem : nunc ergo cum pace redde mihi eam. 14 Per quos rursum mandavit Jephte, et imperavit eis ut dicerent regi Ammon: 15 Hæc dicit Jephte : Non tulit Israël terram Moab, nec terram filiorum Ammon: 16 sed quando de Ægypto conscenderunt, ambulavit per solitudinem usque ad mare Rubrum, et venit in Cades. 17 Misitque nuntios ad regem Edom, dicens : Dimitte me ut transeam per terram tuam. Qui noluit acquiescere precibus ejus. Misit quoque ad regem Moab, qui et ipse transitum præbere contempsit. Mansit itaque in Cades, 18 et circuivit ex latere terram Edom et terram Moab : venitque contra orientalem plagam terræ Moab, et castrametatus est trans Arnon : nec voluit intrare terminos Moab. (Arnon quippe confinium est terræ Moab.) 19 Misit itaque Israël nuntios ad Sehon regem Amorrhæorum, qui habitabat in Hesebon, et dixerunt ei : Dimitte ut transeam per terram tuam usque ad fluvium. 20 Qui et ipse Israël verba despiciens, non dimisit eum transire per terminos suos : sed infinita multitudine congregata, egressus est contra eum in Jasa, et fortiter resistebat. 21 Tradiditque eum Dominus in manus Israël cum omni exercitu suo : qui percussit eum, et possedit omnem terram Amorrhæi habitatoris regionis illius, 22 et universos fines ejus, de Arnon usque Jaboc, et de solitudine usque ad Jordanem. 23 Dominus ergo Deus Israël subvertit Amorrhæum, pugnante contra illum populo suo Israël, et tu nunc vis possidere terram ejus? 24 nonne ea quæ possidet Chamos deus tuus, tibi jure debentur? quæ autem Dominus Deus noster victor obtinuit, in nostram cedent possessionem: 25 nisi forte melior es Balac filio Sephor rege Moab; aut docere potes, quod jurgatus sit contra Israël, et pugnaverit contra eum, 26 quando habitavit in Hesebon et viculis ejus, et in Aroër et villis illius, vel in cunctis civitatibus juxta Jordanem, per trecentos annos. Quare tanto tempore nihil super hac repetitione tentastis? 27 Igitur non ego pecco in te, sed tu contra me male agis, indicens mihi bella non justa. Judicet Dominus arbiter hujus diei inter Israël, et inter filios Ammon. 28 Noluitque acquiescere rex filiorum Ammon verbis Jephte, quæ per nuntios mandaverat.

Chamos... The idol of the Moabites and Ammonites. He argues from their opinion, who thought they had a just title to the countries which they imagined they had conquered by the help of their gods: how much more then had Israel in indisputable title to the countries which God, by visible miracles, had conquered for them.

29 καὶ ἐγενήθη ἐπὶ Ιεφθαε πνεῦμα κυρίου καὶ διέβη τὴν γῆν Γαλααδ καὶ τὸν Μανασση καὶ διέβη τὴν σκοπιὰν Γαλααδ καὶ ἀπὸ σκοπιᾶς Γαλααδ εἰς τὸ πέραν υἱῶν Αμμων 30 καὶ ηὔξατο Ιεφθαε εὐχὴν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ εἶπεν ἐὰν παραδώσει παραδῷς μοι τοὺς υἱοὺς Αμμων ἐν χειρί μου 31 καὶ ἔσται ὃς ἂν ἐξέλθῃ ἐκ τῶν θυρῶν τοῦ οἴκου μου εἰς ἀπάντησίν μου ἐν τῷ ἐπιστρέψαι με ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ ἔσται τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἀνοίσω αὐτὸν ὁλοκαύτωμα 32 καὶ διέβη Ιεφθαε πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Αμμων τοῦ πολεμῆσαι πρὸς αὐτούς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς κύριος ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ 33 καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ Αροηρ καὶ ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν εἰς Σεμωιθ εἴκοσι πόλεις ἕως Αβελ ἀμπελώνων πληγὴν μεγάλην σφόδρα καὶ ἐνετράπησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων ἀπὸ προσώπου υἱῶν Ισραηλ

29 Therefore the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephte, and going round Galaad, and Manasses, and Maspha of Galaad, and passing over from thence to the children of Ammon, 30 he made a vow to the Lord, saying: If you will deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, 31 whosoever shall first come forth out of the doors of my house, and shall meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, the same will I offer a holocaust to the Lord. 32 And Jephte passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them: and the Lord delivered them into his hands. 33 And he smote them from Aroer till you come to Mennith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel, which is set with vineyards, with a very great slaughter: and the children of Ammon were humbled by the children of Israel.

29 Factus est ergo super Jephte spiritus Domini, et circuiens Galaad et Manasse, Maspha quoque Galaad, et inde transiens ad filios Ammon, 30 votum vovit Domino, dicens : Si tradideris filios Ammon in manus meas, 31 quicumque primus fuerit egressus de foribus domus meæ, mihique occurrerit revertenti cum pace a filiis Ammon, eum holocaustum offeram Domino. 32 Transivitque Jephte ad filios Ammon, ut pugnaret contra eos : quos tradidit Dominus in manus ejus. 33 Percussitque ab Aroër usque dum venias in Mennith, viginti civitates, et usque ad Abel, quæ est vineis consita, plaga magna nimis : humiliatique sunt filii Ammon a filiis Israël.

Whosoever, etc... Some are of opinion, that the meaning of this vow of Jephte, was to consecrate to God whatsoever should first meet him, according to the condition of the thing; so as to offer it up as a holocaust, if it were such a thing as might be offered by the law; or to devote it otherwise to God, if it were not such as the law allowed to be offered in sacrifice. And therefore they think the daughter of Jephte was not slain by her father, but only consecrated to perpetual virginity. But the common opinion followed by the generality of the holy fathers and divines is, that she was offered as a holocaust, in consequence of her father's vow: and that Jephte did not sin, at least not mortally, neither in making, nor in keeping, his vow: since he is no ways blamed for it in scripture; and was even inspired by God himself to make the vow (as appears from verses 29 and 30) in consequence of which he obtained the victory; and therefore he reasonably concluded that God, who is the master of life and death, was pleased on this occasion to dispense with his own law; and that it was the divine will he should fulfil his vow.

34 καὶ ἦλθεν Ιεφθαε εἰς Μασσηφα εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἡ θυγάτηρ αὐτοῦ ἐξεπορεύετο εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτοῦ ἐν τυμπάνοις καὶ χοροῖς καὶ αὕτη μονογενὴς αὐτῷ ἀγαπητή καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ πλὴν αὐτῆς υἱὸς ἢ θυγάτηρ 35 καὶ ἐγενήθη ἡνίκα εἶδεν αὐτήν καὶ διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν οἴμμοι θύγατέρ μου ἐμπεποδοστάτηκάς με εἰς σκῶλον ἐγένου ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς μου ἐγὼ δὲ ἤνοιξα τὸ στόμα μου περὶ σοῦ πρὸς κύριον καὶ οὐ δυνήσομαι ἀποστρέψαι 36 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν πάτερ μου εἰ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἤνοιξας τὸ στόμα σου πρὸς κύριον ποίει μοι ὃν τρόπον ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου ἀνθ' ὧν ἐποίησέν σοι κύριος ἐκδικήσεις ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν Αμμων 37 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 38 καὶ εἶπεν πορεύου καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτὴν δύο μῆνας καὶ ἐπορεύθη αὐτὴ καὶ αἱ συνεταιρίδες αὐτῆς καὶ ἔκλαυσεν ἐπὶ τὰ παρθένια αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη 39 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 40 ἐξ ἡμερῶν εἰς ἡμέρας συνεπορεύοντο αἱ θυγατέρες Ισραηλ θρηνεῖν τὴν θυγατέρα Ιεφθαε τοῦ Γαλααδίτου τέσσαρας ἡμέρας ἐν τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ

34 And when Jephte returned into Maspha, to his house, his only daughter met him with timbrels and with dances: for he had no other children. 35 And when he saw her, he rent his garments, and said: Alas! My daughter, you have deceived me, and you yourself are deceived: for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I can do no other thing. 36 And she answered him: My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do unto me whatsoever you have promised, since the victory has been granted to you, and revenge of your enemies. 37 And she said to her father: Grant me only this, which I desire: Let me go, that I may go about the mountains for two months, and may bewail my virginity with my companions. 38 And he answered her: Go. And he sent her away for two months. And when she had gone with her comrades and companions, she mourned her virginity in the mountains. 39 And the two months being expired, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed, and she knew no man. From thence came a fashion in Israel, and a custom has been kept: 40 That, from year to year, the daughters of Israel assemble together, and lament the daughter of Jephte the Galaadite, for four days.

34 Revertente autem Jephte in Maspha domum suam, occurrit ei unigenita filia sua cum tympanis et choris : non enim habebat alios liberos. 35 Qua visa, scidit vestimenta sua, et ait : Heu me, filia mea! decepisti me, et ipsa decepta es : aperui enim os meum ad Dominum, et aliud facere non potero. 36 Cui illa respondit : Pater mi, si aperuisti os tuum ad Dominum, fac mihi quodcumque pollicitus es, concessa tibi ultione atque victoria de hostibus tuis. 37 Dixitque ad patrem : Hoc solum mihi præsta quod deprecor : dimitte me ut duobus mensibus circumeam montes, et plangam virginitatem meam cum sodalibus meis. 38 Cui ille respondit : Vade. Et dimisit eam duobus mensibus. Cumque abiisset cum sociis ac sodalibus suis, flebat virginitatem suam in montibus. 39 Expletisque duobus mensibus, reversa est ad patrem suum, et fecit ei sicut voverat, quæ ignorabat virum. Exinde mos increbruit in Israël, et consuetudo servata est, 40 ut post anni circulum conveniant in unum filiæ Israël, et plangant filiam Jephte Galaaditæ diebus quatuor.

Bewail my virginity... The bearing of children was much coveted under the Old Testament, when women might hope that from some child of theirs, the Saviour of the world might one day spring. But under the New Testament virginity is preferred. 1 Corinthians 7:35.