Why did god accept and allow jepthaths sacrifice of his daughter. The bible records many illicit actions carried out by numerous individuals throughout history, without an accompanying word. Jephthahs vow and sacrifice of his daughter in judges 11. Early jewish scholars unanimously agreed that jephthah had literally offered his. I lean towards believing that jephthah did not offer his daughter as a burnt offering and will show the reasons why i believe he didnt. I will explore why the story about the sacrifice of jephthahs daughter is included in the book of judges. So why would good, cleanliving christians study a book like judgesa book that would easily be rated r for its content if produced for the modern screen. In any case, jephthahs vow brought him terrible grief.
Jephthahs daughter was offered as a burnt offering the theme of judges, not only a cycle, but a downward spiral, supports the reading that jephthahs daughter was offered as a burnt sacrifice. Jephthahs vow and the fate of his daughter is one of the great mysteries of the book of judges. There are some stories in scripture that present us with challenging questions, often because they come from a world and a culture far removed from our own, and because we have certain ideas about. First, we need to look at an overview of the book of judges.
If you give the ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when i return in triumph from the ammonites will be the. First, israels main problem in the book of judges is idolatry. And scripture is quite clearfrom the sacrifice of isaac onwardsthat god isnt asking his people to engage in human sacrifice. Why did god accept a human sacrifice in the book of judges.
How should we understand old testament human sacrifice. Prior to a battle with the ammonites, jephthah promised that if god granted him victory he would, upon his return, sacrifice as. He vowed that if he succeeded in battle he would offer up to the lord as a burnt offering whatever first came forth from his doors of his house to meet him. If jephthah were to be arrested for the killing of his daughter, the prosecutor would have some evidence, though largely circumstantial. Here is the context and summery of judges 11, from verse 1 to verse 40. The womans father, jephthah, has a rather unconventional background. Jephthah, the son of gilead, was a great and valiant captain. Its the story of a mighty israelite warrior named jephthah who ends up offering up his only daughter as both human sacrifice and burnt offering up to the god of israel. The fact of human sacrifice in jephthahs story is secondary to the theme of the irrevocability of the vow. Jephthah, in judges 11, vowed to god that if he were victorious in battle, he would sacrifice to god whoever came through the doors of his house upon his return from battle. This implies that she was set apart for service to god, and not killed. But theres still one instance in particular in which we find jephthah, one of the judges of israel, offering up human sacrifice his own daughter. The old testament book of judges relates a story that almost defies belief.
Jephthah was a leader in israel during the time of the judges. Jephthahs sacrifice of his daughter stands in stark contrast to the binding of isaac in the book of genesis, in which abraham was about to perform a divinelyordered sacrifice of his son, when an angel of god directly intervened and stopped the sacrifice some writers have observed that the israelites of the time were decidedly barbarous. God was no more pleased with what jephthah did than he was with the immorality of samson. Yet jephthahs vow to jehovah god would involve his daughter too. Judges is not a book about heroes whom we are to imitate. The people would sin against god by worshiping the gods of the people in the land they failed to destroy. Judges 11 jephthah the gileadite was a mighty bible. God used these men to win important victories in the book of judges. Second, if jephthah offered his daughter as a human sacrifice, no indication is given in the text that god actually approved of the action. Rethinking jephthahs foolish vow the gospel coalition. Did jephthah literally offer his daughter as a sacrifice.
If god hates human sacrifice, why would he allow jephthah to sacrifice his daughter. The judge jephthah had just won a battle over the ammonites, and. The story of jephthahs daughter is famous as an example of child sacrifice, yet certain clues in the biblical text imply she may have suffered a very different fate. The first person through the door of jephthah, after he returned from his victory over the ammonites, was his only child. Another troubling episode recorded in the book of judges appears in 11. Did jephthah sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering. We find the story in the book of judges of the old testament. Jeffthuh comes from the old testament book of judges, chapters 1112. No legitimate priest would have helped jephthah carry out his vow if a human was to be the sacrifice. The judge jephthah had just won a battle over the ammonites, and vowed that he would offer the first thing that came out of his house as a burnt offering to yahweh. There is a second interpretation that asserts that jephthah never committed human sacrifice, but rather he dedicated his daughter over to the lord as mentioned in leviticus 27. There is death and slaughter, human sacrifice and betrayal, illicit. Then, in sham service to god, gileads new king lit the flame that gruesomely burned his daughter to ashes in a paganstyle ritual of human sacrifice judges 11. Did jephthah sacrifice his daughter to almighty god.
It was a foolish vow that he made, and then to save face he kept it. In addition to the above we can be certain that jephthah did not sacrifice his daughter as a literal human sacrifice because such a thing was not practiced by true worshipers of jehovah yahweh. The book of judges contains some of the most horrific events in the history of. Jephthahs little princess was given two months to mourn with her friends because she would never marry judges 11. The story begins at the end of the previous chapter of the book of judges. The second, planet ingenue, is where you live if youre a victim of violence or marginalizationarranged marriage, murder, ritual sacrifice, rape, kidnapping, etc. It was a characteristic of cruel pagan worship to baal and chemosh but not to the true god. Jephthah appears in the book of judges as a judge who presided over israel for a period of six years judges 12. Despite the possibilities of comprehending the narrative as part of the propaganda of the book of judges, the story of jephthahs daughter remains enigmatic and disturbing to todays readers. In fact, if one promises to transgress any law of the torah, his promise is not binding rashi to numbers 30. Did jephthah, a judge of israel, sacrifice his daughter as. First, if jephthah offered his daughter as a burnt sacrifice, he did so without gods approval, for the law of moses condemned human sacrifice deuteronomy 18.
I affirm, however, that god abhors human sacrifice, and that it is prohibited in the old testament law, and that the sacrifice of jephthahs daughter was not pleasing to god. The story of jephthahs daughter is famous as an example of child. The writer of the book of hebrews would not have endorsed that particular atrocity any more than he would have sanctioned abrahams lying genesis 12. Why does the holy bible condone human sacrifice child. Why did god accept and allow jepthaths sacrifice of his. Many critics make this charge in reference to jephthahs rash vow in judges 11. Great cloud of witnesses in hebrews 11, kregel publications, 1979, pp. The account of jephthahs daughter in the bible is very overwhelming. The period of the judges is that time after moses and joshua, but before the time of the kings. The tension is between our moral restraints which are good that tells us that this is not something god would ask and the working through the.
Judges 11 commentary matthew henry commentary on the. The story of jephthahs daughter judges 11 tells us that jephthah the gileadite made a vow to the lord before going into battle with the ammonites. And jephthah vowed a vow unto the lord, and said, if thou shalt without fail deliver the children of ammon into mine hands. The record of jephthahs rash vow confronts us with one of those difficult passages of scripture.
She was his daughter and was still a virgin judges 11. Unfortunately jephthah most likely did sacrifice his daughter after he vowed to make a burnt offering of whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when i return in triumph. Based on this idea, many of the biblical commentators4 maintain that jephthah did not offer his daughter as a sacrifice. It is my opinion that jephthah did actually sacrifice his daughter to the lord as a burnt offering. Indeed, this tale of a nameless young woman, with scarcely a voice of her own and with her violent fate precipitated and carried out by her own father. Like other judges in the bible, jephthah was to conquer the enemies of gods people israel.
Jephthahs daughter is a figure in the hebrew bible, whose story is recounted in judges 11. This chapter gives as the history of jephthah, another of israels judges, and numbered among the worthies of the old testament, that by faith did great things heb. Jephthah was the commander of the israelite army in gilead at the time the ammonites were oppressing israel. We recently received numerous responses to the article i wrote concerning jephthahs vow in judges 11. It was one of the darkest times in israels history you might almost call it the dark. I have included jonathan edwards handling of the issue.
This event, and the belief by some that she was offered as a sacrifice to god, has been debated by both biblical scholars and bible students for years. The first, planet amazon, is where you live if you have any sort of powerphysical, sexual, social, spiritual, etc. Contextthe interpretation that jephthahs daughter was offered as a burnt offering best fits the context of the book of judges. Jephthah was victorious in the battle against the ammonites judges 11. In truth, the commentators to the book of judges unanimously explain that jephthah or yiftach did not literally sacrifice his daughter rashi, radak, ralbag, metzudat david, malbim. Did jephthah, a judge of israel, sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering. In the old testament, did jephthah really sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering. Figuratively speaking, it sometimes seems like the women in judges live on one of two planets. The tragedy of jephthahs vow and the sacrifice of his daughter is a highly debated topic among religious scholars. Did god really accept human sacrifices from jephthah as.
Israel continues the vicious cycle through several more judges most notably jephthah, whose honorbound sacrifice of his only daughter is one of the more depressing episodes in judges, which is saying a lot until we arrive at the main attraction. There are good reasons to think that ancient israelitejudahite religion did, in fact, involve human sacrifice. This is a minority opinion among scholars and is not viewed highly by most. That the daughters of israel went yearly to lament the daughter of jephthah the gileadite four days in a year. It is hard to clearly understand whether japhthahs daughter was really sacrificed or not.
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