Jephthah's daughter

[NJA]

Did she become a burnt offering orust a perpetual virgin?
A straight reading of Judges 11 indicates the former.
This guy argues the latter.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[Kersh]

Sometimes, when we encounter uncomfortable bits of Scripture, even the best of us try to make it say something less objectionable. This is one those cases. A literal reading of the story of Jephthah is clear about what happened to his daughter. It's made more awkward by Jephthah's inclusion in Hebrews 11 as a faithful witness. But, if we are going to value Scripture, we need to accept it and glean value from what it actually says. This approach leaves the reader with a lot of questions , but we should learn to be okay with being uncomfortable and having questions, even questions that don't have good answers, when we read Scripture.

 

[hedrick]

Judges 11:39 makes it clear that he killed her. Remember, however, that Judges as a book describes Israel as suffering from anarchy: "In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes."

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[AgapeBible]

If Jephthah's daughter knew she was going to die, she could have run away while lamenting her virginity and never come back. Now that I think about it, she probably was spared to be a servant in God's temple. Our lives can be willing sacrifices if we choose to serve God with everything He gave us. I think some of the Bible is metaphor and symbolism, with moral stories. It is not all meant to be taken literally. We need wisdom and discernment to properly interpret the Bible, such wisdom comes from the Lord. I was deeply upset and depressed over some old testament Bible verses and stories, then someone helped me to understand it better, that it was not meant to be taken literally, it was a metaphor, or stories passed down several thousands of years before being written down.

 

[Tree of Life]

Did she become a burnt offering orust a perpetual virgin?
A straight reading of Judges 11 indicates the former.
This guy argues the latter.

Hard to say. Likely a burnt offering, I think. What does it matter either way?

 

[NJA]

Hard to say. Likely a burnt offering, I think. What does it matter either way?

What does anything matter?

 

[Tree of Life]

What does anything matter?

Good point.

 

[-V-]

He killed her.

For those who think, "we can sacrifice ourselves to God by living in service to Him," note that the text does NOT say Jephthah promised to merely sacrifice his daughter; but rather, the text specifically has Jephthah vowing that whatever comes out will be a "BURNT offering", and then specifies that Jephthah did "according to the vow he made". If she simply went to live in the temple, that is in no way a "burnt" offering.

It's also important to note that nowhere does God condone what Jephthah did. While Hebrews may show him as a faithful person, that doesn't mean God condoned everything Jephthah did. Remember that David was a man "after God's own heart", yet God clearly did not support everything David did (like the murder of Uriah).

 

[NJA]

Good point.

Not a good answer though . . . what really matters?
And, have you attended to it?

 

[Tree of Life]

Not a good answer though . . . what really matters?
And, have you attended to it?

lol wut?

 

[WebersHome]

-
● Judg 11:30-32 . . And Jephthah made a vow to Yhvh and said: If you will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.

The words of this verse prove conclusively that Jephthah intended his vow to apply to human beings, not animals: for only one of his household could be expected to come forth from the door of his house to meet him. They also preclude any other meaning than that Jephthah contemplated a human sacrifice. This need not, however, surprise us, when we recollect his Syrian birth and long residence in a Syrian city, where such fierce rites were probably common.

The Syrians and Phoenicians were conspicuous among the ancient pagan nations for human sacrifices, and the transfer, under such circumstances, to Yahweh of the rites with which the false gods were honored, is just what one might expect.

The circumstance of the Spirit of the Lord coming on Jephthah (Judg 11:29) is no difficulty; as it by no means follows that because the Spirit of God endued him with supernatural valor and energy for vanquishing the Ammonites, He therefore also endued him with spiritual knowledge and wisdom. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, but that did not prevent his erring in the matter of the ephod. (Judg 8:27)

Long story short: Yhvh gave Jephthah the victory and the first person to meet him coming home was his 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." (Judg 11:35)

Jephthah was right in not being deterred from keeping his vow by the loss and sorrow to himself, just as Abraham was right in not withholding his son, his only son, from God, when commanded to offer him up as a burnt-offering. But Jephthah was wholly wrong in that conception of the character of God which led to his making the rash vow. And he would have done right not to slay his child, though the guilt of making and of breaking such a vow would have remained. Josephus well characterizes the sacrifice as "neither sanctioned by the Mosaic law, nor acceptable to God."

"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." (Judg 11:36)

The touching submission of Jephthah's daughter to an inevitable fate shows how deeply-rooted at that time was the pagan notion of the propriety of human sacrifice.

Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

FYI: Sacrificing one's children is prohibited by the covenant that Yhvh's people agreed upon with God. (Lev 18:21, Lev 20:2-5, Deut 12:31, Deut 18:10, cf. 2Kgs 16:3, 2Kgs 17:31, 2Kgs 23:10, 2Kgs 21:6, Ps 106:34, Ezk 20:31, Ezk 23:37, Jer 7:31, Jer 19:4, Jer 32:35).

This incident with Jephthah and his daughter serves to illustrate just how decadent Israel had become in the days of the Judges when every man did what was right in his own eyes.

/

 

[-V-]

Jephthah was right in not being deterred from keeping his vow by the loss and sorrow to himself, just as Abraham was right in not withholding his son, his only son, from God, when commanded to offer him up as a burnt-offering.

This is where I disagree with you. Jephthah was NOT right in keeping his vow.

The key difference with Abraham was that God instructed Abraham to offer his son, and God has the authority to demand our life at any moment. God made NO such request of Jephthah, and Jephthah had no such authority to sacrifice his daughter. You can say that breaking a vow to God is wrong, but so is murder. Plus, it was an exceedingly foolish vow to begin with. So, while you could argue it would have been sinful had Jephthah broken his vow, there's no denying that such a human sacrifice is a grievous sin. If one has to choose between breaking a foolish vow and committing murder, I'll go with breaking the vow. I'd rather seek forgiveness for uttering a foolish word than seek forgiveness for being a murderer.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back." (Judg 11:35)

A person's word was more binding than today's contracts, to be kept / honored even if they suffered great loss, even of their own life.
Like Jesus later said "Let your 'yes' by yes (uncompromisingly unchangeable no matter if it results in great loss), and your 'no' be no.

The touching submission of Jephthah's daughter to an inevitable fate shows how deeply-rooted at that time was the pagan notion of the propriety of human sacrifice.

She would do whatever her father directed her to do, not run from it.

If Jephthah's daughter knew she was going to die, she could have run away while lamenting her virginity and never come back.

So, no, no one in a family would go against the duty given them,
even though it meant death to one or more.

This is important throughout history and especially throughout Scripture - obedience, and keeping ones word, no matter the cost; especially after(if) being born again.

 

[WebersHome]

-

This is where I disagree with you.

I merely quoted Barne's Notes; I didn't compose them.

Jephthah was NOT right in keeping his vow.

"he would have done right not to slay his child"
Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft

Jephthah put himself in a catch 22. It would do wrong to spare his daughter and thus break his vow, and it would be wrong to slay his daughter and thus honor his vow. The poor guy couldn't win.

/

 

[hedrick]

Jephthah was right in not being deterred from keeping his vow by the loss and sorrow to himself, just as Abraham was right in not withholding his son, his only son, from God, when commanded to offer him up as a burnt-offering.

This is where I disagree with you. Jephthah was NOT right in keeping his vow.

I agree with the previous post that God spoke to Abraham and not Jephthah. But I also think Abraham knew that God would provide a way out that didn't involve killing Isaac.

Vows to do something immoral are not binding.

 

[Dan61861]

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

35Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

 

[amariselle]

This is where I disagree with you. Jephthah was NOT right in keeping his vow.

The key difference with Abraham was that God instructed Abraham to offer his son, and God has the authority to demand our life at any moment. God made NO such request of Jephthah, and Jephthah had no such authority to sacrifice his daughter. You can say that breaking a vow to God is wrong, but so is murder. Plus, it was an exceedingly foolish vow to begin with. So, while you could argue it would have been sinful had Jephthah broken his vow, there's no denying that such a human sacrifice is a grievous sin. If one has to choose between breaking a foolish vow and committing murder, I'll go with breaking the vow. I'd rather seek forgiveness for uttering a foolish word than seek forgiveness for being a murderer.

You are right. It was a foolish vow, and not a command or requirement given to him by God, who detests human sacrifice, and specifically condemns child sacrifice for the wickedness it is.

The question many have, is how could he not have know she would be the first one to come through that door, and not an animal of some kind?

It's difficult to understand why he did what he did.