KNOWN AS THE DAUGHTER OF A FATHER’S VOW
Judges 11
IMAGINE: Seeing your father returning home from war victorious. You run to greet him with dancing and tambourines only to learn of a promise made that will change the course of your life forever.
Jephthah was from Gilead and not only lived during the time of Judges but he himself was a Judge of Israel for a period of six years. These were dark days in Israel’s history where “people did that which was right in their own eyes.” (Judg. 17:6). Israel, as a society, had fallen into anarchy and had replaced true worship for God with a man- made version of religion. Ignoring God’s direction had led to confusion, anger, and destruction. He was from an area west of the Jordan River where there was no temple.
Jephthah the Gileadite was a great
warrior, but he was the son of a
prostitute, and Gilead was his
father. Gilead’s wife bore him
sons, and when they grew up,
they drove Jephthah out and
said to him, “You will have no
inheritance in our father’s
house, because you are the
son of another woman.” So
Jephthah fled from his brothers
and lived in the land of Tob.
Judges 11:1-3
Jephthah was the illegitimate son of Gilead by a prostitute. He is hated by his half- brothers, who are by Gilead and his wife and is forced from the country. In his wanderings he apparently marries and has a daughter.
During this time in history the Israelites intermarried with the Canaanites. (Judg. 3:56). Since Jephthah was of half-heathen origin it is probable his wife was a Canaanite. This may be the reason why there is no mention of a wife or a noted mother for his daughter. The Moabite’s god was Chemosh and the Canaanite god was Molech. Both believed in child sacrifice.
The spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He was a great warrior and military strategist and God determined to use him to annihilate the Ammonites who had oppressed God’s people for the last eighteen years.
Jephthah made this vow to the
Lord: “If you will hand over the
Ammonites to me, whatever
comes out of the doors of my
house to greet me when I return
in peace from the Ammonites will
belong to the Lord, and I will
offer it as a burnt offering.
Judges 11:30, 31
The burnt offering was the most common of all sacrifices in Israel. It was a sacrifice of general atonement, and acknowledgement of the sin nature and a request for renewed relationship with God. If indeed he had married out of the faith, he may have felt the need for this vow.
A burnt offering had to be a bull, goat, sheep, or bird. (Lev. 1). It was to be without defect, male and wholly consumed. These could have possibly been occupants of the home as some kept sacrificial animals in stalls within the confines of their houses. For him to think one of these animals would break out of their stall to run meet him on his return from war is difficult to imagine. The term “to greet” or “meet” in Scripture is always used for people. Never a person encountering an animal.
It is impossible to know what Jephthah was thinking. The custom at that time would have been for the women of the home to come out and greet, with song and dance, the victorious male warrior upon his return from battle. (Ex. 15:20; Jer. 31:4).
When Jephthah went to his home
in Mizpah, there was his daughter,
coming out to meet him with
tambourines and dancing!
She was his only child; he had no
other son or daughter besides her.
Judges 11:34f
Father and daughter appear to have a very close relationship as she is very happy to see him returning from war. Jephthah, we are told, tears his clothes and bemoans that it is his daughter that has come forth from the house because of the rash and unnecessary vow he had made to the Lord.
Then she said to him, “My
father, you have given your
word to the Lord. Do to me as
you have said, for the Lord
brought vengeance on your
enemies, the Ammonites.”
Judges 11:36
Again, we see the closeness of father and daughter. It also appears she had been taught the importance of keeping a vow made to God. Ironically, the Ammonites were the descendants of Lot with his youngest daughter and defeating them would now cost Jephthah his own beloved daughter.
Some believe because of Jephthah’s half-pagan heritage, along with the lawlessness of the time, which dominated the period of the Judges, that he offered her up as a literal burnt offering in the way of a human sacrifice. Some, on the other hand, believe he offered his daughter as a lifelong virgin in the service of the Lord at Israel’s central sanctuary.
Some have argued that she would not have been handed over as a literal burnt offering in that Jephthah had been called by God to be a leader of his people and a Judge over Israel. Human sacrifice was absolutely forbidden. A burnt offering as a sacrifice was always handled by a presiding priest, none of which would have helped in any way with a human sacrifice.
Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron was High Priest and lived in that generation. He is commended for having stopped Israel’s fall to idolatrous practices brought in by Midianite women, as well as for stopping the desecration of God’s sanctuary. He would not have had any part in what God considered wicked and would not have honored Jephthah’s vow of offering if it had been in the way of a burnt offering/human sacrifice.
It is also doubtful God would have given victory to Jephthah knowing the end would result in such a violation of divine law.
She also said to her father,
“Let me do this one thing:
Let me wander two months
through the mountains
with my friends and
mourn my virginity.”
Judges 11:37
It clearly states Jephthah’s daughter went into the mountains to bewail her virginity. Nothing indicates she mourned her impending death. If indeed she were to die why would she choose to vacate to the mountains for her remaining two months of life instead of spending the remainder of her days with her father?
Weeping over her virginity meant she would never marry nor have children. The normal role of an Israelite woman was to become a wife and mother, which in this case would now be lost to this young girl. Women’s lives and their bearing children was essential for the survival of the family.
The Scripture does not explicitly state Jephthah killed his daughter. Also, nowhere is condemnation shown him which the Bible always points out if one of God’s leaders falls into sin. It would be more in the line with the will of God that Jephthah merely offered her up to the service of God, living out her days in the sanctuary of the Lord.
Jephthah was Judge in Israel for six years after this incident. The Law of Moses imposed the death penalty by stoning upon anyone who sacrificed one of his children. (Lev. 20:2). If he had sacrificed his daughter to the Lord or a pagan god the Israelites would have reacted in such a way that it would have been impossible for him to have continued on in a leadership role.
Jephthah, by adhering to his vow, claimed regard for God over his own desires, his lineage, and his descendants who would have come after him. With this daughter being his only child, whether through death or perpetual virginity, there would be no children, thus Jephthah would have no family line and would fall into extinction.
Any summary of Jephthah’s daughter’s life falls under supposition and is all speculative. His daughter either died because of his rash and unnecessary vow or she was put in service to the Lord living in seclusion and solitude. Neither outcome was because of anything she had done.
We may, at some point, suffer greatly because of a rash decision made by another. In today’s world, as during the time of the Judges, evil reigns. It is wise to put our trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as He will keep our spirits high even when circumstances suddenly change through no fault of our own.
Something to consider:
Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass.
It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Unknown
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