1997 jeep grand cherokee will not idle

My 1997 jeep grand cherokee will not idle. It runs great but as soon as you take your foot off the gas it dies. I was driving it around my back yard in deep snow with everything working fine. I parked it and about an hour later I went to town, went in to the store and when I came back out it would not start. I tried to jump it but nothing happened? It acted like the battery was dead. So I called a freind and we hooked up the jumper cables and let it charge. while we were waiting we remove the airhose and were planning to put a little starting fluid in. Well before we had the starting fluid we tried to start it and it started up. So I hooked up the air hose again as it was running rough it ran a little better after I hooked it back up, but if you took your foot off the gas it would die. I have had problems with this jeep starting hard lately, I think that could be just a bad connection. But as to it not wanting to idle I am at a loss??? I would be greatful for any information on this problem.