Judges 11:30-31 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
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When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.” So she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.” Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I.” So he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed.
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I mentioned Jephthah in the Abraham/Isaac thread because he made a vow that seemingly resulted in his daughter being offered as a burnt sacrifice.

What do you all think of this episode? Did jephthah burn his daughter? If so, did God accept his sacrifice?

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Todd

Unless I missed it I don't see anything about God accepting or declining the sacrifice. It seems this was entirely jepthah. Considering child sacrifice was not allowed under the mosaic law which jepthah had I would say no, God did not "accept it

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Tyler

I do not believe he burned his daughter. I think she rather remained virgin till death. There are two reasons, I believe that:

1. She bewailed her virginity, not her life! And then it says: "And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: AND SHE KNEW NO MAN." (v. 39)

2. God says twice through prophet Jeremiah: "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, NEITHER CAME IT TO MY MIND" (Jeremiah 19:5)

"whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me... shall surely be the LORD', and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." - means that it shall fully belong to the Lord!

I don't believe that he burned her. God condemned the Israelites for doing that in service to other gods, so how can He in the same time encourage it?!

UPDATE:

Remember that she was his only child - so you can understand why it hurt him so much to offer her to the Lord!

"Judges 11:34
[34]And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter."

I hope you are right Esther but lots of commentators think he sacrificed her literally.

I agree that if she was sacrificed that it would not be acceptable to God; however apparently God did not stop him like he did Abraham.

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Todd

from Matthew Henry's Commentary:
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Yet there are some difficult questions that do arise upon this story which have very much employed the pens of learned men. I will say but little respecting them, because Mr. Poole has discussed them very fully in his English annotations.

(1.) It is hard to say what Jephthah did to his daughter in performance of his vow. [1.] Some think he only shut her up for a nun, and that it being unlawful, according to one part of his vow (for they make it disjunctive), to offer her up for a burnt-offering, he thus, according to the other part, engaged her to be the Lord’s, that is, totally to sequester herself from all the affairs of this life, and consequently from marriage, and to employ herself wholly in the acts of devotion all her days. That which countenances this opinion is that she is said to bewail her virginity (Jdg. 11:37, 38) and that she knew no man, Jdg. 11:39. But, if he sacrificed her, it was proper enough for her to bewail, not her death, because that was intended to be for the honour of God, and she would undergo it cheerfully, but that unhappy circumstance of it which made it more grievous to her than any other, because she was her father’s only child, in whom he hoped his name and family would be built up, that she was unmarried, and so left no issue to inherit her father’s honour and estate; therefore it is particularly taken notice of (Jdg. 11:34) that besides her he had neither son nor daughter. But that which makes me think Jephthah did not go about thus to satisfy his vow, or evade it rather, is that we do not find any law, usage, or custom, in all the Old Testament, which does in the least intimate that a single life was any branch or article of religion, or that any person, man or woman, was looked upon as the more holy, more the Lord’s, or devoted to him, for living unmarried: it was no part of the law either of the priests or of the Nazarites. Deborah and Huldah, both prophetesses, are both of them particularly recorded to have been married women. Besides, had she only been confined to a single life, she needed not to have desired these two months to bewail it in: she had her whole life before her to do that, if she saw cause. Nor needed she to take such a sad leave of her companions; for those that are of that opinion understand what is said in Jdg. 11:40 of their coming to talk with her, as our margin reads it, four days in a year. Therefore, [2.] It seems more probable that he offered her up for a sacrifice, according to the letter of his vow, misunderstanding that law which spoke of persons devoted by the curse of God as if it were to be applied to such as were devoted by men’s vows (Lev. 27:29; None devoted shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death), and wanting to be better informed of the power the law gave him in this case to redeem her. Abraham’s attempt to offer up Isaac perhaps encouraged him, and made him think, if God would not accept this sacrifice which he had vowed, he would send an angel to stay his hand, as he did Abraham’s. If she came out designedly to be made a sacrifice, as who knows but she might? perhaps he thought that would make the case the plainer. Volenti non sit injuria—No injury is done to a person by that to which he himself consents. He imagined, it may be, that where there was neither anger nor malice there was no murder, and that his good intention would sanctify this bad action; and, since he had made such a vow, he thought better to kill his daughter than break his vow, and let Providence bear the blame, that brought her forth to meet him.

(2.) But, supposing that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, the question is whether he did well. [1.] Some justify him in it, and think he did well, and as became one that preferred the honour of God before that which was dearest to him in this world. He is mentioned among the eminent believers who by faith did great things, Heb. 11:32. And this was one of the great things he did. It was done deliberately, and upon two months’ consideration and consultation. He is never blamed for it by any inspired writer. Though it highly exalts the paternal authority, yet it cannot justify any in doing the like. He was an extraordinary person. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Many circumstances, now unknown to us, might make this altogether extraordinary, and justify it, yet not so as that it might justify the like. Some learned men have made this sacrifice a figure of Christ the great sacrifice: he was of unspotted purity and innocency, as she a chaste virgin; he was devoted to death by his Father, and so made a curse, or an anathema, for us; he submitted himself, as she did, to his Father’s will: Not as I will, but as thou wilt. But, [2.] Most condemn Jephthah; he did ill to make so rash a vow, and worse to perform it. He could not be bound by his vow to that which God had forbidden by the letter of the sixth commandment: Thou shalt not kill. God had forbidden human sacrifices, so that it was (says Dr. Lightfoot) in effect a sacrifice to Moloch. And, probably, the reason why it is left dubious by the inspired penman whether he sacrificed her or no was that those who did afterwards offer their children might not take any encouragement from this instance. Concerning this and some other such passages in the sacred story, which learned men are in the dark, divided, and in doubt about, we need not much perplex ourselves; what is necessary to our salvation, thanks be to God, is plain enough.

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Todd

There is some profound truth in this bible passage.

Jephtah made a vow of a sacrifice. It seems that God had tripped him up. This sacrifice would cost him everything. He could not retract his vow because he would fail God and he could not fulfill his vow and not do something utterly cruel and ridiculous. No win either way.


God Father and Christ were in the same situation. The father sent Christ to win back the lost human race.
The only way to win back man, is to take his place by paying the ultimate penalty - death on the cross.

Christ knew that but he utterly dreaded that he had to be severed from his father and to become sin which he so much detested. There was no other way. It had to be done.

See how severe sin is in God's eyes. The wages of sin is not just death, but death with eternal damnation, the only just recompense for sin.

I believe Jephtah did sacrifice his daughter in the end.

Jephtah got himself into a complete tragedy and his daughter, too. Jephtah fulfilled the vow as Father God who had promised to take away mans sin
Jephtah's daughter obeyed as did Christ on the cross.

I think she is one of the most righteous persons who ever lived.

She bewailed her virginity, which represents Christ sinlessness and purity.

My sin was so grievous that I in a sense I gave God no other choice than to sacrifice his son. I know this is too heavy for many to comprehend, but it gives us light into why Christ had to die.

Christ had to die for you and I because you and I were totally wicked.

This fills me with a tremendous sense of thankfulness and an obligation to give back in worship and service to Him whatever I can.


Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Great thoughts NP.

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Todd