The story of Jephthah and his daughter has always left me with more questions than answers. Perhaps you can help shed some light…
If you’re not familiar with the story it concerns Jephthah the Gileadite and a vow he made unto the Lord. I won’t post the entire chapter, but would ask that you read it before offering an opinion: Judges chapter 11
Beginning with verse 29,
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
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. 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. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
Over the years I’ve questioned a number of respected bible teachers about the Vow Jephthah made–if it was carried out in the manner in which Jephthah promised:
If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
To my reading there is no reason to believe it wasn’t, but according to bible teachers (I’ve questioned) it actually ‘doesn’t mean’ what it says;
And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed.
Even Matthew Henry has doubts:
It is hard to say what Jephthah did in performance of his vow; but it is thought that he did not offer his daughter as a burnt-offering. Such a sacrifice would have been an abomination to the Lord; it is supposed she was obliged to remain unmarried, and apart from her family. (link)
What say you?
I don’t see any evidence that leads us to believe that the text doesn’t mean exactly what it says. The bible never says that God was pleased with this. I always took away the idea that I shouldn’t make foolish promises to The Lord. I’ve always wondered about this story too.
Laz, see i don’t either. To make it mean something different, it appears we have to ignore the plain text,
And add to it ideas or interpretations which just are not presented in the text.
I’ve done a bit of trawling around the internet and my view was the same as BBC in that the text surely means exactly what it says. However this is quite convincing – it seems to turn on the translation of v.31 which some commentators suggest that the most accurate Hebrew translation is – I will consecrate it to the Lord or I will offer it for a burnt offering so that whatever came out of his house if it were suitable as a burnt offering that it what would happen but if not then it would be consecrated.
http://www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkejud11.htm
I found the study interesting even though I am very fickle and seem to sometimes go with whatever good argument is put up at the time of reading!!
Thanks Jan…
The amplified, which claims to “capture the full meaning behind the original Greek and Hebrew” reads,
Whether that means anything or not..who knows!
(You can see why this chapter is so controversial. ahahahaha)
Squeamish and fastidious as I am, understanding the burnt offering from the point of view of Abraham’s burnt offering offering up of Isaac and Hannah’s vow, giving Samuel to the Lord and the law of the burnt offering offering for rash vows, my guess is, and it is only that, a squeamish and fastidious guess, that once the sin was understood, Jephthah probably did two things.
One, he went to the Priest and asked for a burnt offering to be made for the sin of the vow and two, he gave his daughter over to the service of the Priesthood so she remained a handmaiden unto the Lord, never to marry, for the rest of her life, which caused a greater anquish of soul to come upon the Children of Israel because of the law of the inheritance.
Two things I would note from Judges.
Jdg 11:31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
Here we see the word “whatever” not “whoever”. I don’t know about you, but I have a couple of children and they are not “whats”, they are “whos”.
Jdg 11:38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.
Jdg 11:39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel
Jdg 11:40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
Here we see her entire future suddenly changed and the reference made to her that she had never known a man, never marrying and bringing forth children into the world ends Jephthah’s hope of passing on his rightful inheritance onto his own name into the future generations of his family. Jephthah had her as his only daughter.
Remember that provision was made already by God through Moses for the inheritance to pass on to the daughter of a man when his wife bore him no sons to carry his name forward, Numbers 27 and Zelophehad.
Here, with this story, we see the indication that Jephthah was in a double bind, having only one daughter and no sons and now she cannot marry ending the line of succession of her name. I don’t believe she was put to death.
What is it then for the Jews to do but what the Scripture say?
Jdg 11:40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
So, we see from Leviticus that a burnt offering could be offered for the sin of a man making a rash vow:::>
Lev 5:4 or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these;
Lev 5:5 when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed,
Lev 5:6 he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
And we see that there is provision for the inheritance to pass onto the daughters of a man without sons::::>
Num 27:1 Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
Num 27:2 And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying,
Num 27:3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons.
Num 27:4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
One final thought, when considering her plight and the words of the Prophet Isaiah at 49:21 and 54:1, I would say she then has become one of those prophetic beacons of the Bride of Christ, the virgin daughter, pure, spotless without a wrinkle, soon to be joined at the Wedding of the Lamb to become His Wife forever!
Yes, it was for that reason i have always believed she grieved the most.
Hey PJ-
I have come to the conclusion that Jephthah did not offer her as a burnt sacrifice. In the law there was provision for a person to be offered to the LORD, but to be a kind of living sacrifice. A Nazarite was one example. The value of persons are accounted in Leviticus 27. If someone wanted to buy back what they had previously dedicated, these were the prices that had to be paid.
The entire context makes no sense to me if she was offered as a sacrifice. First off, instead of bewailing the fact that she would lose her life, she is sorrowing that she is still a virgin at the time of this dedication. Second, the daughters of Israel came yearly to remember her virginity. The idea is that she was still alive with women in Israel coming to remember her selflessness in allowing her father to follow through with his vow. Third, the context determines what was meant by Jephthah following through on his vow. It states:
“who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed”
which means
“and she knew no man”
It seems strange for me to see it any other way right now especially considering that the Holy Spirit was him when he made the vow. The Holy Spirit certainly knew what would come out of his doors. The context never states that anything untoward was vowed by Jephthah.
Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13
-The Orange Mailman
I just noticed this footnote at the end of chapter 11 at bible gateway:
(interesting)
Just thinking out-loud here, but it would seem, especially in that time period and under those circumstances (the daughter being a unmarried only child) that the grieving over her virginity was actually a grieving over her barrenness; Her life being ended before she could have children. Anyway that’s how i always understood it.
Yes but the question is, was it the Holy Spirit who inspired Jephthah’s vow, or did Jephthah speak it recklessly out of his own mind?
We today, who have the Holy Spirit living in us, speak recklessly on occasion too. (at least i do)
Also don’t we have to take into consideration the words in Deut. 23,
21When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.
22But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.
23That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
I’m not arguing the point that she was sacrificed, only that i have never seen any evidence [in the word] that she wasn’t.
Like i said, this entire episode has always left me with more questions then answers. LOL
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. … 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.
Maybe Jephthah simply knew what God’s thoughts on the matter were…