Bible Strands

Judges 11:37

She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jephthah’s daughter addresses her father immediately after accepting his vow, requesting a two-month delay to grieve with her companions before fulfilling her fate.

The words — The verb יֵעָשֶׂה (ye'aseh) declares “let it be done” regarding the vow, while הַרְפֵּה (harpeh) commands her father to “refrain” or hold back from his response.

The thread — The biblical pattern of God removing disgrace through reproductive reversal appears in Luke 1:25 and 1 Samuel 1:6, where women directly tie their social standing to their fertility status.

Why it lands — The text records a daughter’s explicit claim to mourn her virginity without commentary, requiring the reader to confront the literal weight of a vow’s consequence.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙va./To.merand/ she saidאֶל־'el-toאָבִ֔יהָ'a.Vi./hafather/ herיֵעָ֥שֶׂהye.'A.sehlet it be doneלִּ֖יl/ifor <the>/ meהַדָּבָ֣רha./da.Varthe/ thingהַזֶּ֑הha./Zeh<the>/ thisהַרְפֵּ֨הhar.Pehrefrainמִמֶּ֜נִּיmi.Me./nifrom/ meשְׁנַ֣יִםshe.Na.yimtwoחֳדָשִׁ֗יםcho.da.Shimmonthsוְאֵֽלְכָה֙ve./'e.le.Khahso/ let me goוְיָרַדְתִּ֣יve./ya.rad.Tiand/ I will go downעַל־'al-onהֶֽהָרִ֔יםhe./ha.Rimthe/ mountainsוְאֶבְכֶּה֙ve./'ev.Kehso/ I may weepעַל־'al-onבְּתוּלַ֔יbe.tu.La/ivirginiti<es>/ myאָנֹכִ֖י'a.no.KhiIוְרֵעוֹתָֽי׃ve./ra.'i.t/iand/ companions/ my

King James Version

And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

Cross-references