Jepthah's Vow (Judges 11:30-40)

Copyright 2008 by Philip Thompson

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Judges 11:30-40 - "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."

            The text seems to indicate that Jepthah used his daughter as a human sacrifice.  This kind of sacrifice does not appear to square with God’s commands to Israel and His revelation regarding the sanctity of life.  The passage has become “one of the most debated issues of interpretation in the Bible” (Hindson, 489), and two explanations have been given to clarify the ethical problem contained in the text:

  1. Jepthah offered his daughter as a literal burnt offering.  This view understands the vow of Jepthah literally and holds early historical support with Josephus, Augustine, and Eusebius and was later held tentatively by Luther (Hindson, 489).  This view maintains that Jepthah sacrificed his daughter in an act that he thought would please the Lord.  Three subcategories of this view handle the reason why Jepthah vowed to offer as a burnt offering “whoever” (one possible translation of the pronoun) came out to greet him.
    1. He was acting foolishly or rashly (Sayings, 195).
    2. He was acting in a manner that he felt was pious (ExBC, 455).
    3. He was acting in a pagan manner (NAC, 367).
  2. Jepthah gave his daughter to serve at the tabernacle.  The earliest known proposal of this view came from Rabbi David Kimchi during the middle ages (Hidson, 489).  Those who hold this interpretation would argue that God knew who would come out to meet Jepthah and would have disallowed the circumstances.  Also, the mention of the girl’s virginity would be useless if she was simply going to be killed, and, therefore, should be paralleled to Hannah’s gift of Samuel to the ministry of the tabernacle (I Sam. 2:22; cf. Ex. 38:8).  Finally, this view upholds the many instances where God opposes human sacrifice (e.g. Lev. 18:21; Deut. 18:10-12). 

            The literal understanding of the passage is not without problems, but seems to be the clearest interpretation of the passage.  First, the literal interpretation fits with the theme of the book.  Judges demonstrates the slide of Israel from theocracy to anarchy, where “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (17:6; 21:25).  Also, the literal interpretation fits well with the details of the passage.  Elements such as the annual mourning for the girl indicate that she was indeed killed; especially the term “burnt offering” characterizes the total sacrifice of the girl.  Next, the literal interpretation adequately answers the moral problems in the passage.  This passage is not indicative of God’s will for His people.  In fact, it is an antithesis to His plan.  Just because Jepthah was used by God did not give him a divine stamp of approval on every action he performed (e.g. Samson).  Jepthah’s spiritual immaturity or outright paganism led him to act in a way that he felt would gain favor with God.  Because there is no moral comment in the text, it is safe to assume that God allowed the story to be recorded as a warning, and not as an encouragement.  Therefore, both sides can agree that Jepthah’s actions did not please God, and a simple acknowledgment of that fact allows the literal interpretation to be consistent with the rest of the Biblical record.  Finally, the literal view answers most of the objections of the dedication view.  The literal view answers the mention of the girl’s virginity by simply regarding it an indicator of the wickedness of the event.  Obviously the murder of an individual is bad enough, but a family member is much more despicable; however, Jepthah’s action went even further than this.  He murdered a woman, and not only a woman, but a “young woman” (TWOT, 1630b, cf. Vine, “Virgin”).  The objection of the literal view on the grounds that the Levitical priests would have rejected such an offering is unfounded because most who hold to the literal view do not believe that Jepthah would have carried out the act at the Tabernacle or with any regard to the divine sacrificial mandates.  Jepthah, however, lived on the “fringes of society” (Pfeiffer, 255) and was able to carry this act out in a manner that seemed right in his own eyes.  The depraved actions of Jepthah underscore Israel’s need for a perfect leader who will lead them both in victory and in purity.

Works Consulted

Literal View:

Block, Daniel I.  “Judges and Ruth” in The New American Commentary.  Vol. 6.  Nashville, TN: Holman, 1999.

Cundall, Arthur E.  Judges: An Introduction and Commentary.  TOTC, ed. D.J. Wiseman.  Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP, 1968.

Henry, Matthew.  Commentary on the Whole Bible.  CD-ROM.  E-Sword.net CD-ROM.  Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation, 2005.

Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown.  Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.  CD-ROM.  E-Sword.net CD-ROM.  Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation, 2005.

Kaiser, Walter Jr., Peter Davids, F.F. Bruce, Manfred Brauch.  Hard Sayings of the Bible.  Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP, 1996.

Pfeiffer, Charles F.  “Judges” in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.  Chicago: Moody, 1962.

Poole, Matthew.  Commentary on the Holy Bible.  Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002.

Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck, ed.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary.  Vol. 1.  Colorado Springs: Cook, 2004.

Wolf, Herbert.  “Judges” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary.  Vol. 3.  Ed. Frank E. Gaebelein.    Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992.

 

Not consulted: F. F. Bruce, J. J. Davis, J. B. Payne, J. Rea, G. A. Cooke, and A. E. Cundall (Hindson, 489).

 

Dedication View:

Archer, Gleason L.  Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982.

Haley, John W.  Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible.  New Kinsington, PA: Whitaker, 1992.

Keil, Johann, and Franz Delitzsch.  Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament.  CD-ROM.  E-Sword.net CD-ROM.  Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation, 2005.

Wesley, John.  Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible.  CD-ROM.  E-Sword.net CD-ROM.  Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation, 2005.

 

Not consulted: P. Cassel and L. Wood (Hindson, 489).

 

Balanced View:

Bowling, Andrew C.  “Judges” in The Evangelical Commentary on the Bible.  Ed. Walter Elwell.  Grand Rapids: Baker.

Hindson, Edward E.  “Judges” in The Liberty Bible Commentary.  Vol. 1.  Ed. Jerry Falwell.  Lynchburg, VA: Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982.

 

Reference Works:

Archer, Gleason L. Jr., R. Laird Harris, and Bruce K. Waltke.   The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.  CD-ROM.  E-Sword.net CD-ROM.  Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation, 2005.

Vine, W. E.  Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words.  CD-ROM.  E-Sword.net CD-ROM.  Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation, 2005.

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