Another troubling episode recorded in the book of judges appears in 11. Did god really accepted human sacrifices from jephthah as reported in the book of judges. The bible mentions that jephthah made an oath to the lord to beat the ammonites in their battle that he would offer up as burnt sacrifice whatever comes out of doors of his house to god. I will explore why the story about the sacrifice of jephthahs daughter is included in the book of judges. The story of jephthahs daughter is famous as an example of child sacrifice, yet certain clues in the biblical text imply she may have suffered a very different fate.
The story begins at the end of the previous chapter of the book of judges. Hank hanegraaff, the host of the bible answer man, explains jephthahs vow and sacrifice of his daughter in judges 11. In fact, if one promises to transgress any law of the torah, his promise is not binding rashi to numbers 30. Many critics make this charge in reference to jephthahs rash vow in judges 11. The writer of the book of hebrews would not have endorsed that particular atrocity any more than he would have sanctioned abrahams lying genesis 12.
Indeed, this tale of a nameless young woman, with scarcely a voice of her own and with her violent fate precipitated and carried out by her own father. That the daughters of israel went yearly to lament the daughter of jephthah the gileadite four days in a year. The judge jephthah had just won a battle over the ammonites, and vowed that he would offer the first thing that came out of his house as a burnt offering to yahweh. The sacrifice of jephthahs daughter is not the focus of jephthahs narrative.
It was one of the darkest times in israels history you might almost call it the dark. Did jephthah sacrifice his daughter to almighty god. Jephthah, in judges 11, vowed to god that if he were victorious in battle, he would sacrifice to god whoever came through the doors of his house upon his return from battle. Contextthe interpretation that jephthahs daughter was offered as a burnt offering best fits the context of the book of judges. This is a minority opinion among scholars and is not viewed highly by most. Jephthah was a leader in israel during the time of the judges. The story of jephthahs daughter judges 11 tells us that jephthah the gileadite made a vow to the lord before going into battle with the ammonites. Israel continues the vicious cycle through several more judges most notably jephthah, whose honorbound sacrifice of his only daughter is one of the more depressing episodes in judges, which is saying a lot until we arrive at the main attraction.
In truth, the commentators to the book of judges unanimously explain that jephthah or yiftach did not literally sacrifice his daughter rashi, radak, ralbag, metzudat david, malbim. Figuratively speaking, it sometimes seems like the women in judges live on one of two planets. Rethinking jephthahs foolish vow the gospel coalition. Based on this idea, many of the biblical commentators4 maintain that jephthah did not offer his daughter as a sacrifice. This implies that she was set apart for service to god, and not killed.
Judges is not a book about heroes whom we are to imitate. We recently received numerous responses to the article i wrote concerning jephthahs vow in judges 11. The tension is between our moral restraints which are good that tells us that this is not something god would ask and the working through the. The book of judges contains some of the most horrific events in the history of. Did jephthah literally offer his daughter as a sacrifice. If god hates human sacrifice, why would he allow jephthah to sacrifice his daughter. The judge jephthah had just won a battle over the ammonites, and. This morning i completed matthew pooles summary of the history of interpretation which includes a large digest of louis cappels work on the subject, so formative in pooles own opinion. Jephthahs vow and the fate of his daughter is one of the great mysteries of the book of judges.
It is hard to clearly understand whether japhthahs daughter was really sacrificed or not. First, if jephthah offered his daughter as a burnt sacrifice, he did so without gods approval, for the law of moses condemned human sacrifice deuteronomy 18. Did god really accept human sacrifices from jephthah as. Did jephthah sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering. Did jephthah, a judge of israel, sacrifice his daughter as. It was a foolish vow that he made, and then to save face he kept it. Prior to a battle with the ammonites, jephthah promised that if god granted him victory he would, upon his return, sacrifice as. The sacrifice that you have mentioned is but one more horror story in this book. The story of jephthahs daughter is famous as an example of child. We find the story in the book of judges of the old testament. The author of judges includes this story as one of several horrific examples of what happened in the days when israel had no king and everyone did. But theres still one instance in particular in which we find jephthah, one of the judges of israel, offering up human sacrifice his own daughter. Why did god accept and allow jepthaths sacrifice of his.
You are not going to get any inheritance in our family, they said, because you are the son of another woman. Jephthah appears in the book of judges as a judge who presided over israel for a period of six years judges 12. In the old testament, did jephthah really sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering. He vowed that if he succeeded in battle he would offer up to the lord as a burnt offering whatever first came forth from his doors of his house to meet him. Jephthah was the commander of the israelite army in gilead at the time the ammonites were oppressing israel. The old testament book of judges relates a story that almost defies belief. The bible records many illicit actions carried out by numerous individuals throughout history, without an accompanying word. The tragedy of jephthahs vow and the sacrifice of his daughter is a highly debated topic among religious scholars. This chapter gives as the history of jephthah, another of israels judges, and numbered among the worthies of the old testament, that by faith did great things heb. So why would good, cleanliving christians study a book like judgesa book that would easily be rated r for its content if produced for the modern screen. I affirm, however, that god abhors human sacrifice, and that it is prohibited in the old testament law, and that the sacrifice of jephthahs daughter was not pleasing to god. Jephthahs little princess was given two months to mourn with her friends because she would never marry judges 11. Here is the context and summery of judges 11, from verse 1 to verse 40. There is death and slaughter, human sacrifice and betrayal, illicit.
First, israels main problem in the book of judges is idolatry. God used these men to win important victories in the book of judges. The book of judges contains some of the most horrific events in the history of israel. The womans father, jephthah, has a rather unconventional background. There is a second interpretation that asserts that jephthah never committed human sacrifice, but rather he dedicated his daughter over to the lord as mentioned in leviticus 27. If you give the ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when i return in triumph from the ammonites will be the. Unfortunately jephthah most likely did sacrifice his daughter after he vowed to make a burnt offering of whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when i return in triumph. Despite the possibilities of comprehending the narrative as part of the propaganda of the book of judges, the story of jephthahs daughter remains enigmatic and disturbing to todays readers. I argued that i believe jephthah did actually sacrifice his daughter to fulfill his rash vow.
In addition to the above we can be certain that jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter as a literal human sacrifice because such a thing was not practiced by true worshipers of jehovah yahweh. The first person through the door of jephthah, after he returned from his victory over the ammonites, was his only child. It was a characteristic of cruel pagan worship to baal and chemosh but not to the true god. And scripture is quite clearfrom the sacrifice of isaac onwardsthat god isnt asking his people to engage in human sacrifice. And jephthah vowed a vow unto the lord, and said, if thou shalt without fail deliver the children of ammon into mine hands. She was his daughter and was still a virgin judges 11. There are good reasons to think that ancient israelitejudahite religion did, in fact, involve human sacrifice. This event, and the belief by some that she was offered as a sacrifice to god, has been debated by both biblical scholars and bible students for years. The account of jephthahs daughter in the bible is very overwhelming. Great cloud of witnesses in hebrews 11, kregel publications, 1979, pp. Jephthahs daughter was offered as a burnt offering the theme of judges, not only a cycle, but a downward spiral, supports the reading that jephthahs daughter was offered as a burnt sacrifice. If jephthah were to be arrested for the killing of his daughter, the prosecutor would have some evidence, though largely circumstantial. I lean towards believing that jephthah did not offer his daughter as a burnt offering and will show the reasons why i believe he didnt. In any case, jephthahs vow brought him terrible grief.
The first, planet amazon, is where you live if you have any sort of powerphysical, sexual, social, spiritual, etc. First, we need to look at an overview of the book of judges. Judges 11 jephthah the gileadite was a mighty bible. The people would sin against god by worshiping the gods of the people in the land they failed to destroy. God was no more pleased with what jephthah did than he was with the immorality of samson. Then, in sham service to god, gileads new king lit the flame that gruesomely burned his daughter to ashes in a paganstyle ritual of human sacrifice judges 11.
Like other judges in the bible, jephthah was to conquer the enemies of gods people israel. Jephthahs daughter is a figure in the hebrew bible, whose story is recounted in judges 11. The period of the judges is that time after moses and joshua, but before the time of the kings. Jephthahs sacrifice of his daughter stands in stark contrast to the binding of isaac in the book of genesis, in which abraham was about to perform a divinelyordered sacrifice of his son, when an angel of god directly intervened and stopped the sacrifice some writers have observed that the israelites of the time were decidedly barbarous. Second, if jephthah offered his daughter as a human sacrifice, no indication is given in the text that god actually approved of the action. There are some stories in scripture that present us with challenging questions, often because they come from a world and a culture far removed from our own, and because we have certain ideas about. Jephthahs vow and sacrifice of his daughter in judges 11. Jeffthuh comes from the old testament book of judges, chapters 1112. Jephthah, the son of gilead, was a great and valiant captain. However, his only child, an unnamed daughter, came out to meet him dancing and playing a tambourine v.
The second, planet ingenue, is where you live if youre a victim of violence or marginalizationarranged marriage, murder, ritual sacrifice, rape, kidnapping, etc. The fact of human sacrifice in jephthahs story is secondary to the theme of the irrevocability of the vow. Jephthah was victorious in the battle against the ammonites judges 11. The record of jephthahs rash vow confronts us with one of those difficult passages of scripture. No legitimate priest would have helped jephthah carry out his vow if a human was to be the sacrifice. How should we understand old testament human sacrifice. The story of jephthah is well known by readers of the bible because of his willingness to sacrifice his daughter to celebrate his victory against the enemies of israel judges 10. Why does the holy bible condone human sacrifice child. Did jephthah, a judge of israel, sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering. Why did god accept a human sacrifice in the book of judges.
803 1362 1401 514 1562 861 1249 609 721 1566 1281 100 923 1498 847 228 1173 633 997 1464 657 574 1480 950 1353 794 1212 244 971 641 571 189 1375