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Jephthah Delivers Israel
11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.
After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah.
Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.
“Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.
Jephthah’s Tragic Vow
Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
(ESV)
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