What Does Judges 11:36 Mean in the King James?
And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The vow leaves the father’s mouth as speech and returns as a claim his daughter must bear.
THE MEANING
This verse holds a father’s victory over Ammon beside the cost his daughter bears under his vow. She names the vow as what has gone out of his mouth, and her words place her beneath its terms. Her exposure remains visible alongside his victory.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A father’s vow affects only himself; here, his daughter bears its consequence.
THE ROOT
יָצָא
yatsa
GROWS FROM
יצא
To go out, come forth.
“proceeded” in this verse is yatsa. The verse pairs an opened mouth with what has gone out from it: the vow is pictured as an utterance that has crossed into the world. The same root appears in Numbers 30:2 for what proceeds from a person’s mouth, treating speech as something issued and actionable.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: To go out, come forth.
יָצָא
This verb in the verse makes the father’s vow something that has left his mouth and entered the situation.
motsa: A going out; that which proceeds.
מוֹצָא
Deuteronomy 8:3 uses this noun for what proceeds from the mouth of the LORD, echoing the image of words as what comes forth from a mouth.
עֲשֵׂה
aseh
GROWS FROM
עשה
To do, make, act.
“do” in this verse is aseh. The Hebrew moves from יָצָא, what goes out, to עָשָׂה, what is done: the verse sets the spoken vow beside the action she asks her father to carry out. Speech exits, then action is named.
ALSO GROWS
ma’aseh: A deed, work, or action.
מַעֲשֶׂה
The same root can name a deed, showing the movement from his utterance toward an act.
oseh: One who does; a maker.
עֹשֶׂה
This form keeps the doer in view as the verse turns from the vow to what her father is asked to do.
THE PATTERN
Words vowed before God are treated as binding speech that becomes an obligation.
If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.THE THREAD
If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.The Hebrew verb translated “proceeded” in Judges and “proceedeth” in Numbers is יָצָא (yatsa), “to go out, come forth.” Numbers states the same movement directly: what goes out of the mouth is bound to be done, giving the daughter’s words their grim weight.
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