22:18–19), and that they were not associated with vows of thanksgiving. It seems counterintuitive that someone whose brief biographical interlude centrally featured an act contrary to God’s commands against human sacrifice ought to have been included in the Hebrews 11 “Faith Hall of Fame.”. It may be tempting for the critic to conceive of Jephthah as an ignorant and bloodthirsty tribal warrior engaging in semipagan sacrificial rituals, and having no knowledge of, or concern for, the correct sacrificial practices prescribed in the Deuteronomic covenant, but Jephthah is no mere peasant.
I believe that syncretistic thinking led Jephthah to make his tragic, profane, and detestable offering. Other gods demanded human sacrifices, so it follows that the syncretistic thinking of the Israelites led them to believe that Yahweh also delighted in human sacrifice. The following lengthy quote is taken from Keil and Delitzsch’s Old Testament commentary on Judges:”With regard to Jephthah’s vow, the view expressed so distinctly by Josephus and the Chaldee was the one which generally prevailed in the earlier times among both Rabbins and fathers of the church, viz., that Jephthah put his daughter to death and burned her upon the altar as a bleeding sacrifice to Jehovah. Second, Gideon appears to make a religious symbol that, at least to some extent, is to represent God or his will (Judges 8.27). Third, Jephthah himself appears to equate Yahweh, the true God, with Chemosh, the false God of the Ammonites by intimating that both "Gods" have the power to bless their people with physical resources such as land.
Many have understood this as meaning that part of the service to which she would be dedicated (in place of being offered as a burnt sacrifice) would require life-long celibacy. Many people have committed heinous acts in God's name - both in the Bible and throughout history - and we should count Jephthah among them for burning his daughter on an altar. And Jephthah judged Israel six years. But this doesn't mean that Jephthah didn't do it. The mystery of the gospel is that God is a God of infinite grace who pays for the debt of sinners - horrible sinners. This may, no doubt. How could God justify using Jephthah for his purposes when he has done such horrible things? This interpretation has the virtue of making sense of the commission of the vow causing Jephthah’s daughter to lament her perpetual virginity (11:37) rather than her impending death. The Ladies’ Lament?
Her death might even be regarded as an act of martyrdom, not unlike Samson’s willingness to die for the sake of his God and his people. Jephthah would have known that, and would have backed off when the first thing to come out of his house to greet him was not an animal, but instead a human being. Among apologists who believe that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, it is not uncommon to argue that houses in Jephthah’s time were surrounded by stockyards, so that Jephthah probably expected one of his animals to be the first to come out to him. Could Jephthah have had some other form of “ascent” in mind for his vow? The tragedy of Jephthah’s daughter is the origin of the Israeli custom of young girls in Israel expressing their sorrow for the girl for four days each year. These verses contain the story of Jephthah - one of the judges of Israel. While membership in this elite group is obviously not a guarantee of moral perfection, this particular episode is Jephthah’s most defining moment in the Old Testament, and indeed, the climax of the entire story of Jephthah. 11:29–40) is frequently singled out for condemnation. It is assumed that a “lament” indicates some tragic event such as a death. Article ID: JAP394 | By: James Patrick Holding. Clues found both in the cultural world of the Bible, and within the text, offer a viable alternative, which indicates that Jephthah’s vow was not one of the enacting of sacrifice but of entrance into service.
Kaiser rejects this interpretation of the vow, on the grounds that Jephthah could simply have paid the monetary redemption price (27:4) and gotten his daughter back. and Vulg., "in his city, Gilead" (i.e., Ramoth-Gilead or Mizpeh of Gilead), is furnished by a mere change of into The Sebee, in which Josephus says he was buried, may be a corruption of Mizpeh. The story of Jephthah is indeed a tragic one, though not in the way critics suppose it to be. Among apologists who believe that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, it is not uncommon to argue that houses in Jephthah’s time were surrounded by stockyards, so that Jephthah probably expected one of his animals to be the first to come out to him. Jephthah’s letter to the Ammonites (11:12–27) furthermore indicates his knowledge of the military history in Numbers 20–21, and the opening clause of his vow is identical to the vow reported in Numbers 21:2, other than the name of the opposition. The most shocking and controversial portion of the story is verses 11.30-40. 2. In fact, she asks her father to give her two months so she and her friends can go up into the mountains and weep not because of her impending demise, but because of her virginity. When considered as a whole, there's not much (if anything) about Jephthah's life that is commendable or worthy of admiration or emulation. But, still wanting to be faithful to his vow, Jephthah "sacrificed" his daughter to the Lord by dedicating her to his service for the rest of her life.
In fact, it is stated overtly: "And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made." You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, and Manfred T. Brauch. Indeed, it is difficult to find a single redeeming quality in the man's story in scripture. He also would have known that the burnt offerings prescribed by the Law had to be male (Lev. Being a man of his word, Jephthah laments that he will now have to offer up his daughter as a burn offering to the Lord.
When interpreting the Bible, there's a rule of thumb that is almost always true: "the plain reading of the text is almost always the correct reading." her father (Jephthah), who did to her his vow which he had vowed.
A Public Vow. Some scholars believe that, instead of sacrificing his daughter, Jephthah merely dedicated her to the service of the Lord, perhaps in some fashion at the Tabernacle or in some other means. I believe that syncretistic thinking led Jephthah to make his tragic, profane, and detestable offering. Because he was a man of some means, a mere thirty shekels of silver would have been no sacrifice at all compared to losing a member of his household. The subject of the vow “ascends” to God in the sense of being a personal offering to YHWH, who is in heaven. However, this is answered by pointing out that Jephthah’s daughter was a willing volunteer for the vow, and so apparently did not desire redemption. I affirm, however, that God abhors human sacrifice, and that it is prohibited in the Old Testament Law, and that the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter was not pleasing to God. The primary reason that some believe that Jephthah didn't actually kill his daughter as a sacrifice is because the Old Testament clearly prohibits the practice of human sacrifice.
There are several reasons why I believe this to be the case with Jephthah. The public nature of the vow indicates that the end of the vow was not going to be some form of ritual immolation, regardless of who or what stepped out of the doorway of Jephthah’s house. He was buried in one of the cities of the region of Gilead.
And she knew no man." Jephthah is described as a hero of faith in Hebrews 11:32.
Jephthah's spiritual life was syncretistic.
Richard Dawkins describes this account as a “story of human sacrifice” that ended unhappily.1 Former preacher turned atheist Dan Barker says that Jephthah “found it hard to murder his daughter, but he was obligated by a vow to God to go through with it, and he did, without condemnation.”2, Admittedly, even some Christian apologists say that Jephthah went through with a literal human sacrifice. But this argument is unnecessary if Jephthah’s vow was made publicly. For that reason, Jephthah was surely familiar enough with the Deuteronomic law to realize that it forbade human sacrifice (Deut. 11:36). It is also used in Ezekiel 40:26, where it is universally translated as “to go up” within the context of a staircase. Is there any solution that avoids the difficulty of Jephthah’s blatant disobedience? It is my opinion that Jephthah did actually sacrifice his daughter to the Lord as a burnt offering.
Invariably, some things get left on the cutting room floor. The literal meaning transmits the fact that the sacrifice “ascends” as smoke.4. Human sacrifice fits with Jephthah's pattern of life and behavior. Nowhere in the story of Jephthah is it even ever intimated that Jephthah did something other with his daughter than what he said he would do. The Real Vow? There are several reasons that many have arrived at this interpretation. It is my belief that many have attempted to explain away Jephthah's barbaric action of sacrificing his daughter in an attempt to justify him, or to make him seem not as bad as he looks, as though Jephthah would have been a stand-up fellow if it weren't for that human sacrifice business. They mix themselves into other cultures and religious thinking all the time.
This is blasphemy. This kind of thinking is unnecessary, though, and in fact, diminishes the glory of the gospel. It’s the support of friends like you that enables CRI to keep these articles FREE. Israel had become so influenced by other cultures and religions that their religion was virtually indistinguishable from other religions. Jephthah, after being threatened by Ephraim, reminds them that their help was requested but that they refused (Judges 12:2 - 3).
As head of a band of freebooters (roving raiders) (11:3), and despite having the social stigma of being an outcast from his family (11:1–2), his reputation for war is so great that the elders of Gilead lay aside all of this and ask him to lead their military. For this reason I thought it might be helpful to pick up some of those scraps on Monday and try to learn from them.
Biblical scholar Walter Kaiser notes that interpreters up through the Middle Ages believed that Jephthah had sacrificed his daughter, and argues for the same view. The literal meaning of the word used (‘olah) is ascent, and does not by itself carry the semantic connotation of burning. It states, ".
The plain reading of the text indicates that Jephthah carried through with his original vow. But does he, really? In support of the interpretation of a literal human sacrifice, both critics and some Christian apologists may point out that Jephthah says that he plans to turn the subject of his vow into a “burnt offering” (Judg. The purpose of a vow in the biblical world was not merely to make a promise. 3.
According to the Bible, the work of women includes childbearing (Gen. 3:16). No doubt Jephthah assumed that one of his animals would be the first thing out of his house to meet him, but this was tragically not the case.
He finds it to be "abominable."
17:6, 21:25).3, While some may find this argument satisfactory, it is beset with a critical difficulty.