Judges 11 Commentary
In Judges 11, Jephthah, a warrior from Gilead and the son of a prostitute, was driven away by his half-brothers and settled in Tob where he gathered a group of followers. When the Ammonites waged war against Israel, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to lead them. He agreed on the condition that he would become their ruler if victorious. They accepted, and Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, disputing the claim that Israel had taken Ammonite land. The king ignored him, and Jephthah led Israel to battle.
Before the battle, Jephthah vowed to offer the first thing to greet him upon his victorious return as a burnt sacrifice. The Lord gave him victory over the Ammonites. When he returned home, his only daughter came out to greet him. Distressed, he told her of his vow. She asked for two months to grieve in the mountains with her friends. After that, she returned, and Jephthah fulfilled his vow. This led to an annual custom in Israel where women mourned for her for four days yearly.
The Land Dispute
Tthe king of Ammon claims Israel took their land and Jephthah says otherwise. Who is right? Jephthah responded to the Ammonite king’s claim to the land with three main arguments that are proven by the biblical account:
- The land did not originally belong to the Ammonites, but to the Amorites (Judges 11:19-22). When Israel left Egypt, they avoided conflict with Edom and Moab as commanded by God (Deut 2:19). However, Sihon, king of the Amorites, attacked Israel, and God gave Israel victory, allowing them to take possession of Amorite land (Num 21:24-26; Judges 11:21-23).
- Israel had occupied the land for 300 years without challenge (Judges 11:26). Jephthah questioned why the Ammonites had not tried to reclaim it before.
- God had given Israel the land (Judges 11:23-24). Just as the Ammonites believed their god had given them their lands, Israel rightfully kept what the LORD had given them. Jephthah concluded by appealing to God as the ultimate judge in the dispute (Judges 11:27).
Context Is King
I’m not one to shy away from controversial passages, so why not tackle the elephant in the room, right? After reading this, it seems that Jephthah made a bone-headed vow and followed through with it by sacrificing his only daughter to the Lord. Couple this with the fact that Jephthah is mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a “great man of faith,” and we are left with a lot of questions.
Should I go on? There isn’t enough time for me to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.
Hebrews 11:32 GNB
Sidebar: This chapter is often isolated as a particularly useful passage to atheists who try and prove that the Lord is bloodthirsty or desirous of human sacrifice. This could not be further from the truth, and we will explore those verses later.
First, it is important to state that biblical narratives should be read as narratives. There are stories in the Bible that are reported but not necessarily prescribed. When you flip on the evening news, you may see and hear horrifying stories, but it doesn’t mean the news station condones the behavior.
Second, if those who attribute this chapter to a bloodthirsty God took time to read about what God actually desires, they would see how the behavior in this chapter is inconsistent with His nature. God’s law clearly and explicitly prohibited child sacrifice (Lev 20:1-5; Deut. 12:29-32; Deut. 18:10). On top of this, God’s law did not approve of unwise or thoughtless vows, and actually calls it sin (Lev 5:4-13).
So What Happened?
We do not know with certainty if Jephthah sacrificed his daughter or not. The passage does not clearly state that she was killed, only that Jephthah fulfilled his vow. Commentators and scholars vary in their interpretations.
“He did not vow in these words that he would offer some sheep, which he might present as a holocaust, according to the law. For it is not, and was not, a customary thing for sheep to come out to meet a victorious general returning from the war. Nor did he say, I will offer as a holocaust whatever shall come out of the doors of my house to meet me; but he says, ‘Whoever comes out, I will offer him;’ so that there can be no doubt whatever that he had then a human being in his mind.”
Augustine
“Some have interpreted Jephthah’s vow whatever comes out of the doors as a clear intention to offer a human sacrifice. His surprise then is not that he had to sacrifice a human being, but that the unfortunate person was his daughter. The phrase to meet me seems to refer more appropriately to a human than to an animal, and it is difficult to see why Jephthah would try to persuade God by offering a common animal sacrifice. Undoubtedly, Jephthah knew that human sacrifice was strictly forbidden in Israel, but his foolishness and lack of faith impelled him to make a reckless vow in order to try to manipulate God (Judges 11:39).”
Nelson’s New Illustrated Commentary
“If a dog had met him, this could not have been made a burnt-offering; and if his neighbor or friend’s wife, son, or daughter, etc., had been returning from a visit to his family, his vow gave him no right over them. Besides, human sacrifices were ever an abomination to the Lord; and this was one of the grand reasons why God drove out the Canaanites, etc., because they offered their sons and daughters to Molech in the fire, i.e., made burnt-offerings of them, as is generally supposed.”
Adam Clarke
“This passage tells us that Jephthah’s daughter did not get married. Instead she dedicated her life to the Lord. The word lament in verse Judges 11:40 means “to celebrate.” Every year for four days Jephthah’s daughter was remembered in a special way. She was totally dedicated to the Lord and His service. There is no indication that she was made a human sacrifice. People have argued about this story for years. I am asked that question as much as any other question: “Did Jephthah offer up his daughter in sacrifice?” No, he did not, but that is not the point. God would not have permitted him to offer his daughter in a burnt sacrifice.”
J. Vernon McGee
“Jephthah did not have a human sacrifice in mind. This is indicated by the ancient Hebrew grammar: “The masculine gender could be translated ‘whatever comes out’ or ‘whoever comes out’ and ‘I will sacrifice it.’””
Herbert Wolf
It makes sense if we read the passage to mean that he offered his daughter up to celibacy as a “sacrifice.” This is the view that many people take. He was upset because he was forced to give up his daughter to work for the Lord in the Temple and she would never marry or bear children. Hence, the two months of mourning her virginity.
Whatever the case, I believe we should always focus on what we know instead of what we do not know. We know that Jephthah had great faith. However, we also know that the people of great faith had great moral failures (i.e. David, Samson, Gideon). We know that Jephthah made a seemingly hasty vow, and followed through with that vow. We know from many biblical passages that God does not condone child sacrifice or rash vows, therefore if Jephthah did either of those, God did not like it.
The moral of the story is to let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ be ‘no.’
““Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. [34] But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; [35] or by the earth, because it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. [36] Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. [37] But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.”
Matthew 5:33-37 CSB
