Jephthah's Daughter

[Jack Ryan]

Virgin Slave or Toast?

[Guest Nicole]

Why did Jephthah not offer himself to go serve at the temple instead of offering up his daughter?

[JW Insider]

I believe that we are often quick to condone everything that the "judges" did, just because their efforts were blessed, even though it is obvious that many of them behaved against the laws of Moses, or against decency.

In any event his faith was rewarded, but I believe that many of the judges acted with a "zeal towards God, but not according to accurate knowledge." The reason I say this is that we are forced to assume one of two choices:

1. That he treated his daughter as slave property, and deprived her of the blessing of freedom, marriage, childbearing. He went against Jehovah's purpose to "become many and fill the earth." This purpose was repeated for the increase of all of Abraham's seed, of which Jepthah and his daughter were a part.
2. That he offered his daughter up as a burnt sacrifice. What is most odd about the account, is that it uses those words about a "burnt sacrifice," and yet offers absolutely no hint that it wasn't true. (We only believe it wasn't true because this choice is even more repugnant than the first choice.)

I've never been a fan of making up a story that isn't in the Bible in order to make a Bible account seem more palatable. When Israelites chop up a woman and send the body parts in packages, we can't do much with it because the account is too clear and we are not defending a specific person. But when David has people burned in furnaces and sawed asunder, we need to make up a story to exonerate him. Jepthah is "rewarded" for his sacrifice (his daughter's sacrifice) and it may have reminded people of how Abraham had been willing to kill his son because Jehovah told him to. He is listed in Hebrews like this:

• (Hebrews 11:32-34) . . .For time will fail me if I go on to relate about Gidʹe·on, Baʹrak, Samson, Jephʹthah, David, as well as Samuel and the other prophets. 33 Through faith they defeated kingdoms, brought about righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the force of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from a weak state were made powerful, became mighty in war, routed invading armies.

Not everything we can read about the "Judges" is supposed to be "100% pure." Gilead was of course, Jephthah's father, and Gilead had fathered Jephthah by a prostitute, even though his wife bore Gilead other sons. Judge Eglon's method of assassinating Ehud appears to be a bit "left-handed." Gideon seems intent on putting Jehovah to the test. Samson was the closest equivalent to an ancient suicide bomber. Barak had almost wiped out an entire army with the sword, but the main honor went to a woman who killed the escaping general when he was asleep by driving a tent pin through his head. The Israelites sang a song with lyrics that sounded like "Mac the Knife" (or the Beatle's version of that song, called "Maxwell's Silver Hammer").

• (Judges 5:24-30) . . .Most blessed of women is Jaʹel The wife of Heʹber the Kenʹite; She is most blessed of women living in tents. 25 He asked for water; she gave him milk. In a majestic banquet bowl she offered curdled milk. 26 With her hand she reached for the tent pin, Her right hand for the workman’s mallet. And she hammered Sisʹe·ra, she crushed his head, And she smashed and pierced his temples. 27 Between her feet he collapsed; he fell and lay still; Between her feet he collapsed and fell; Where he collapsed, there he fell defeated. 28 From the window a woman looked out, Sisʹe·ra’s mother peered out from the lattice, ‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariots so late?’ 29 The wisest of her noble ladies would answer her; Yes, she too would repeat to herself,  ‘They must be dividing the spoil they found, A girl, two girls, to every warrior,. . .

Back home they assumed the delay was due to Sisera's army finding a lot of virgins as spoils of war. Little did Sisera's mother know that, yes, he was in a tent with a woman, and even "between the feet" of a woman. ("Between the feet" is Hebrew sexual euphemism. -- Ruth/Moab, etc.) But the delay was not due to despoiling girls. It's really a powerful "feminist" song that was sung from the time that Deborah was a female judge in Israel. The song itself is about warriors who "let their hair down."

• (Judges 5:1-3) 5 On that day Debʹo·rah along with Baʹrak the son of A·binʹo·am sang this song:  2 “Because of the unbound hair in Israel, . . . To Jehovah I will sing. I will sing praises to Jehovah, Israel’s God.

None of these stories actually mean that Jehovah approved of violence. An angel could have silently killed an army of 185,000 in one night as happened under Sennacherib.

And it's quite possible that Israelites had understood (or misunderstood) the law to include the possibility of putting humans to death by stoning, or even by fire and sacrifice, not just lawbreakers, but things they "owned" such as houses, sons, daughters, and slaves. Note that the law allowed for Jepthah's situation to be taken care of by substituting the human for a price if it was a "special" vow. But if it was an unconditional vow, there was not price and the human had to be killed:

• (Leviticus 27:1-29) 27 Jehovah continued to speak to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘If a man makes a special vow to offer the estimated value of a person to Jehovah, 3 the estimated value of a male from 20 to 60 years old will be 50 shekels of silver by the standard shekel of the holy place. 4 But if it is a female, the estimated value will be 30 shekels. . . . 8 But if he is too poor to pay the estimated value, the person will stand before the priest, and the priest will set a value on him. The priest will make the valuation according to what the one making the vow can afford. 9 “‘If the vow involves an animal that is suitable for offering to Jehovah, whatever may be given to Jehovah will become something holy. 10 He may not replace it or exchange it with good for bad or with bad for good. But if he should exchange it with one animal for another animal, the original and what is exchanged for it will both become holy. . . . 14 “‘Now if a man should sanctify his house as something holy to Jehovah,. . . 16 “‘If a man sanctifies to Jehovah some of the field that he possesses, . . .  22 “‘If a man sanctifies to Jehovah a field he purchased that is not part of his hereditary property, . . .  28 “‘But no devoted thing that a man devotes unconditionally to Jehovah from his belongings may be sold or bought back, whether from mankind or animals or the field he possesses. Every devoted thing is something most holy to Jehovah. 29 Furthermore, no condemned person who is set apart for destruction may be redeemed. He should be put to death without fail.

 

The Law doesn't always seem fair to our sensibilities today. We would likely rebel even if we were given the job of putting someone's eye out, as punishment for someone who had put out someone else's eye, even accidentally. It's very common to re-write the story of Jephthah's daughter according to our our modern sensibilities, too. The re-written story is preferable and easier to explain. Most Christian groups tell it this way. But those who were entrusted with the sacred pronouncements in ancient times, the Jews, apparently hadn't  been as bothered by the implications of the story of Jephthah. The sub-moral was the danger of a rash, unconditional vow. More modern scholars have been concerned to interpret it in an easier way.

I hope the "easier" version is correct. But it would be just one of many such "difficulties" and I don't think it's our job to rewrite all of them. Our job is to trust Jehovah's justice in the long run. What he allowed in the past can be fixed in his own time.

 

[Evacuated]

On 6/6/2016 at 01:30, Nicole said:

Why did Jephthah not offer himself to go serve at the temple instead of offering up his daughter?

He was already committed wasn't he? He had accepted a leadership position if Jehovah gave him the victory over the Ammonites. Judges 11:8-11

 

[Evacuated]

21 hours ago, JW Insider said:

Gideon was of course Jepthah's father...

Wasn't Gilead Jepthah's father?

[JW Insider]

Eoin,

My mistake. Yes. Trying to work too much from an old man's memory these days.