Judges 12:3

“And when I saw that ye delivered me not, etc.] Gave him no assistance against their common enemy, did not attempt to save him and his people out of their hands, but left them to defend themselves: I put my life in my hands; ready to deliver it up in the defence of his country; the meaning is, that he exposed himself to the utmost danger, hazarded his life in going with a few troops into an enemy’s country to fight him, and so liable to lose his life; which was in as much danger, as some observe, as any brittle thing contained in the hand is in danger of falling, or of being snatched out of it: and passed over against the children of Ammon: took a long and fatiguing march over the land of…”

“when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands--A common form of speech in the East for undertaking a duty of imminent peril. This Jephthah had done, having encountered and routed the Ammonites with the aid of his Gileadite volunteers alone; and since the Lord had enabled him to conquer without requiring assistance from any other tribe, why should the Ephraimites take offense? They ought rather to have been delighted and thankful that the war had terminated without their incurring any labor and danger.”

“I put my life in my hands - Compare 1 Samuel 19:5; 1 Samuel 28:21. The phrase expresses the utmost possible risk, knowingly incurred. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Put my life - That is, I exposed myself to the utmost danger; as a man that carries a brittle and precious thing in his hand, which may easily either fall to the ground, or be snatched from him. Wherefore - Why do you thus requite my kindness in running such hazards to preserve you and yours? Judges 12:4”

“put: Jdg 9:17; Sa1 19:5, Sa1 28:21; Job 13:14; Psa 119:109; Rom 16:4; Rev 12:11 wherefore: Jdg 11:27; Ch2 13:12 Judges 12:4”