Today I wanna finish up the topic of Jephthah killing and sacrificing his daughter…
…and whether or not he really did it or not.
This will be a nice and concise systematic review of the main points of dispute that have been brought up over the centuries about this topic.
Let’s get started with the first point of contention.
POINT OF CONTENTION 1:
There’s a lot of controversy about the true meaning of verse 39 where it says after Yiftach’s daughter returned from mourning in the mountains, “Yiftach did with her what he had vowed”.
Later on (like a whopping 2000 years later on), a bunch of scholars came on the scene of both Jewish and gentile extract and started promoting the idea that instead of being made into a human burnt sacrifice, Yiftach instead gave her over to the order of the Levites to serve out the rest of her days as a female Tabernacle worker.
In other words, the so-called “sacrifice” was that Yiftach’s daughter had to live out the rest of her days never knowing a man and never bearing children…which in those days was considered a nightmare of gargantuan proportions.
Again, my rebuttal to this idea is the fact (and yes it is an undisputed FACT!) that ALL written documents and ALL oral tradition BEFORE the year 500 A.D. assert unequivocally that Jephthah did indeed kill his daughter and did indeed make a human sacrifice out of her.
It’s only 2000 years later did some new group of scholars arrive on the scene saying claiming something totally different happened.
POINT OF CONTENTION 2:
Folks argue (especially those in the Christian camp) that Jephthah really had some type of sacrificial animal (meaning a “clean animal”) in mind when he made this vow.
Alright, this is problematic on a couple of levels.
First, the original Hebrew makes it clear that Jephthah did not have a WHATEVER in mind he would sacrifice when he returned home.
He had a WHOEVER in mind when he made his vow.
In other words, he had a person, a human being in mind.
The Hebrew word used to refer to the so-called object Yiftach had in mind when he made his vow is ASHER and it can only refer to a human, NOT an animal.
Let me say that again for the stubborn and thick-headed.
The Hebrew term ASHER can only be used to refer to a person and NOT any type of creature that walks on four legs.
Got it?
I mean burn that freakin’ point into the deepest recesses of your cranium so you’ll NEVER forget it.
The second problem with saying that Yiftach had an animal in mind when he made his vow is that logically it doesn’t make any sense.
Here’s why.
Back in those days, both clean and unclean animals lived and frolicked together in the same space.
My point is if Jephthah had an animal in mind when he made his vow, he obviously would have been thinking only of a ritually clean animal such as a sheep or cow.
Now let me ask you this.
How probable is it that a sheep or a cow would rush out to greet Yiftach when he returned home as opposed to a dog for instance?
Seriously, what are the chances of that happening?
The chances are almost zero, don’t you think?
But again, I think I’m arguing an irrelevant point here because as I just said Yiftach wasn’t thinking of an animal when he made his vow.
The Hebrew language just doesn’t permit it. Period.
And that should really be the end of the argument.
In those days, it was common for the chief house servant to greet the master when he returned home from his journey.
Therefore, per typical Middle Eastern protocol, Jephthah probably had a servant in mind when he made his vow.
Instead his heart was broken into a million pieces when his daughter greeted him instead of one of his workers.
POINT OF CONTENTION 3
The fourth point of dispute is that in the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament, Jephthah appears as one of the great heroes of the Bible alongside other greats such as King David and Samson (men who also committed grievous sins in their time).
“How could a man who did such a detestable thing be considered a hero in God’s eyes?”…goes the argument.
Yeah, I appreciate the sentiment man, but from an evidential perspective, what the heck does that have to do with anything?
It’s just your subjective feelings going hog wild outta control on you there.
I could argue back…how could a detestable sinner and human being like me ever be considered a candidate for membership in the Lord’s Kingdom?
Or you for that matter as well?
You have no argument here.
Study the lives of the other characters in that Hall of Fame list in the book of Hebrews and you’ll find whoremongers, adulterers and even murderers in that list as well.
The Lord will have mercy on whom he will have mercy.
THE TAKEAWAY
Well, there are actually two takeaways.
FIRST, notice that nowhere do we have God acknowledging Yiftach’s vow as being valid or the right thing to do.
Should he not have heeded the wisdom of Yeshua when he said…
“Again, you have heard that our fathers were told,
‘Do not break your oath,’
and ‘Keep your vows to Adonai.’
But I tell you not to swear at all
— not ‘by heaven,’ because it is God’s throne;
not ‘by the earth,’ because it is his footstool;
and not ‘by Yerushalayim,’
because it is the city of the Great King.
And don’t swear by your head,
because you can’t make a single hair white or black.
Just let your ‘Yes’ be a simple ‘Yes,’
and your ‘No’ a simple ‘No’;
anything more than this has its origin in evil.”
-Matthew 5:33-37
SECOND, while I believe there’s always room for debate and disagreement on this topic, if you find yourself having to force an interpretation onto the plain reading of the text then that should be cause for suspicion.
The plain reading of Judges 11 which became the official historical account that fueled 2000 years of commentary and oral tradition on the matter ASSERTS Jephthah did indeed kill his daughter and make her a human sacrifice.
To suddenly set that plain-reading interpretation aside for some other Johnny-come-lately interpretation that is more palatable to our modern ideas of what is right and wrong should immediately raise suspicions.
And that’s where I stand folks.
I believe that Jephthah killed and made his daughter a human sacrifice.
I don’t like it and I don’t want to believe it.
I would much prefer the other interpretation that says she simply remained a virgin all her life and worked at the Tabernacle.
And if Jephthah did indeed kill his daughter because of his vow, make no mistake about it, what he did was so horribly wrong.
It goes against Torah and against everything the God whom we worship stands for.
Alrighty, I think I’ve beaten this topic to death and I’m moving onto to Judges Chapter 12 the next time we meet.
Oh and a shout out to Margalit who has been following my posts!
Aren’t you glad I’m finally moving onto the next topic?
See ya all next time.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN JUDGES CHAPTER 12
I think one other point is how the Bible narrative finishes telling us that the daughter remained a virgin.
For instance, in the Complete Jewish Bible it says she “had remained” a virgin, indicating clearly that she was no longer alive.
In the NIV it says she “was a virgin”, which could make an argument for her not being killed.
For my money, I trust the CJB interpretation much more than what any Gentile version says, if only because the CJB is written by a Jewish man who is fluent in Hebrew, and also knows Jewish thought patterns and culturally correct usage of the terms.
Great and educative, keep it up.
I don’t see people’s problem with all of this Avraham was prepared to sacrifice Itsaac if Hashem had not stepped in l, it would have happened. Also Itzaac allowed himself to be bound. Veronica