Tindale in Prol. to Leviticus says, ' They tliat be dead, yf they dyed in the faitli which that sacra- ment preacheth, they be sall'e and are past all jeoparuye,' where tiie word has assumed its modem spelling. The verb occurs often in Tindale and other writers of that time, as Kno.x, Jf'orUs, iii. 213, ' Why will ye jeoparde to loise eteniall life?'; Tind. Works, i. 173, 'Whosoever casteth not this aforehand, I must jeopard life, goods, honour, worship (and all that there is, for Christ's sake), deccivetn himself; Elyot, Govemour, ii. 2(>3, ' I name that Audatitie whiche is an exces.sife and inordinate truste to escape all daungers, and causeth a man to do suche actes as are nat to be jeoparded ' : and Dn 3^ Cov. ' that have altered the kynges comiuaundement and joperde their bodies therupon.'
Jeopardy occurs in AV, 2 S 23" ' is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives?' (Dcii^EW D-j^n.i, lit., as KVm, ' tliat went with their lives ' ; but the 3 is [as Driver] the Beth pretii, ' at the cost or risk of their lives ' ; W. K. Smith [I{S'' 230], 'the blood of the men that fetched it in jeopardy of their lives') ; 1 Ch 11 '»''«< 'Sliall 1 drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy ? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it' (AVm and KVm ' with their lives') ; 12'" ' He will fall to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads ' (i]'5'r-;3, AVm ■ on our heads,' but it is the Beth pretii, as before) ; 1 Mac 6" ' Eleazar also . . . put himself in jeop- ardy, to the end he might deliver liis people ' (ISuney iavrby, KV 'gave himself); Lk 8^ 'there came down a storm of wind on the lake ; and they were lilled with water and were in jeopardy ' (iK^vSvvtmi') ; 1 Co 15" 'And why stand we in jeopardy every hour ? ' (/tifSi/Kf i/o/tex) ; and in the Preface to AV 1611, ' Yea, why did the Catholicks (meaning Popish Romanists) alwayes go in jeop- ardie for refusing to go to heare it [tlie English translation of the Bible] ? '
The verb is rarer, .Ig 5" ' Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field' (mc^ 'ie'dj rpn, lit. ' that despised its life to death,' AVm ' exposed to reproach,' Moore, ' that recklessly exposed itself to death ') ; * 2 Mac 11' ' Then Maccabeus himself lirst of all took weapons, exhorting the other tliat tliey would jeopard themselves together with him to help their brethren' (SiaKivSweiioimit) ; 14** 'he [Razis] did boldly jeopard his body and life with all veheniency for the religion of the Jews' (Topa-
;3e;3Xj)M^>'os).
J. Hastings.
JEPHTHAH (nijD; ' he,' i.e. prob. J", ' will open ' ; cf. "';rno Ezr lu^ etc., ^S^P?: town in Zebulun, Jos 19'* ; nnc; also name of a town in Jiulah, Jos 15" ; '\tip6i). — Judge, and conqueror of the Ammonites (Jg 10'-12'; cf. IS 12"). The narrative Iuls an unusually long introduction Ii/-'" (cf. 2"-3«-'-"' g7-io [l)a]) ; it is ba-sed, however, on what waa probably a shorter introduction in the manner of E (vv."''- '• "■ "). The particulars in lO"- '" are derived from ch. 11 (cf. 8^"" from ch. 9), and come from D'. Apparently, this long introduction was
• See Moore in toe. for roff. to the UM of the verb ; and O. A. Smith in Kzjiot. ilh Str. vii. 108, and In lUiUL 422, tor illmtra- Uou of Uie chancier descriljed.
intended to include the Philistine as well aa th* Ammonite oppression (10'). The main interest of the story of Jephtliah clearly lies, not in his personal history or defeat of the Ammonites, but in his vow and its fulfilment, and the origin of an Israelite custom.
Of the antecedents of Jepbthah little is known beyond the fact that he was a Gileadite warrior, the son of a harlot. He was driven out of his home by the 'elders of Gilead ' (11'), and became the captain of a band of freebooters in the land of Tob in E. Syria (cf. IS 22"-, 2S 10"«).* The Ammonite invasion made it necessary for the Israelites east of Jordan to lind a leader; and there was nothing for it but to appeal to the outlawed Jei)hthah to come to the rescue. The elders of Gilead begged him to be their leader ; and, after expressin'; surprise that such a request should be made to liiiii, Jcphthah agreed, on the condition that he should become their chief when the Ammonites were defeated. A solemn compact was made accordingly, and Jephth;ih was aj)- pointed leader by popular acclamation (11*""'). At this moment, it would seem, when Jephtliah was at Mizpah of Gilead, he went to the holy [dace or altar, and there, ' before J",' registered a vow to sacrilice whomsoever should be the first to meet him when he returned victorious (w."- '""j.t That he had a human victim in his mind is clear from the language which he used.J
The long account of the negotiations between Jephthah and the king of the Ammonites (11'^-^) with regard to Israel's rights of possession in Gilead, is regarded by most critics as a late inter- polation, compiled from JE's narrative in Nu 20. 21, in some jjlaces word for word ; cf. ^t."'-"- ^ with Nu 20'*-" 21*- '»•-'•"• =». The remarkable thing about this section is, that althoui;h Jephthah is arguing with Ammonites, yet the language which he is made to use refers entirely to Moabites. Tlie Ammonites complain that Israel had seized their land between Arnon and Jabbok ; Jephthah replies that the district was taken from Sihon king of the Amorites, and not from Moab ( !). Moab never fought against Israel (but see Jos 24"), why sliould Ammon? Even Chemosh, god of the Moabites, is referred to as having given the Ammonites their territory. An extraordinary misunderstanding thus runs through the whole passage. §