Due to the time limits of a 30-minute sermon, I did not tackle one of the key debates about this story: Did Jephthah really sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering to God, or just commit her to a life in God's service foregoing her chance to marry?
Since blogs aren't subject to time restrictions, I'll tackle this debate here and present the key reasons behind each position.
The key passage is:
30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 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.”
(Judges 11:30-31, New King James Version)
(Judges 11:30-31, New King James Version)
Position A: Jephthah Did Not Kill His Daughter
This position is that Jephthah's vow was to dedicate his daughter to a life in God's service, which included celibacy and solitude. Essentially, she was to live secluded and single like a monk, or possibly performing duties in the tabernacle. Historically, John Wesley was one Christian leader who was a strong supporter of this interpretation.
The most common argument for this position is the problem accepting that a leader of Israel would do such an evil act as offering a human sacrifice when the Old Testament law so clearly prohibits it. John Wesley wrote, "It is really astonishing, that the general stream of commentators should take for granted that Jephthah murdered his daughter!" His general reasoning is that Jephthah is too Godly and knowledgeable to commit such a foolish act.
Other arguments rest on a couple alternate translations of the Hebrew words involved, and by emphasizing the words of Jephthah's daughter.
The Hebrew word translated "burnt offering" in Judges 11:31 is 'olah. While it means "whole burnt offering," it can also denote a consecration or dedication to God that may not imply a sacrifice.
Secondly, the tiny word "and" in this verse could also be translated "or" making Jephthah's promise contain two options: "... whatever comes out of the doors of my house ... shall surely be the LORD's, OR I will offer it up as a burnt offering." In other words, if a person comes out of the door, s/he shall be dedicated to the LORD, but if it's an animal, it will be a burnt offering.
Lastly, Jephthah's daughter laments the fact that she will never marry. She doesn't lament that she will die young. Therefore, the sorrow is in the loss of her chance to bear children, and Jephthah's only chance for grandchildren.
37 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.” 38 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. (Judges 11:37-38, New King James Version)
Position B: Jephthah Really Did Kill His Daughter
While this position is certainly less pleasant, and creates a bigger ethical dilemma, it flows from the natural reading of this passage. Here are a few reasons why this position is defensible.
All Major Bible Translations Support It
Despite this debate being around for centuries, none of the English Bible translations include either of the alternate readings mentioned above simply because the Hebrew text does not support it. While the alternate readings may be possible, they are not the most likely meaning of this text.
For instance, 'olah (the word for "burnt offering") is used 289 times in the Old Testament. It is used twice to mean "go up" as on a stairway, and the remaining times it is translated as either "burnt offering" or "burnt sacrifice" (KJV). It is the word God uses when instructing Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen. 22). It is NOT the word used when Hannah promises to dedicate her future son Samuel to a life in God's service in the tabernacle. (1 Sam. 1:11) It is not once used to describe a dedication to God that does not include a sacrificial burning.
Jewish and Church History Supports It
For over two millennia, all Jewish and Christian commentators understood Jephthah to have killed his daughter as a sacrifice. This includes the Jewish writer Josephus, and early church fathers Origen and Augustine.
The first instance of a Jewish commentator suggesting that Jephthah's daughter lived a life of celibate service to God was Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1184 AD). Living during a period when Christian monasteries were common, especially monasteries for women, he argued that the Christians took this idea from Jephthah's daughter and thus declared it a Jewish idea. He justified his position by adding the words "if appropriate" to Jephthah's vow to make a burnt offering, even though those words are not present in the Hebrew passage. A few other Jewish writers then adopted his position in the following centuries.
The first Christian to adopt this view was Nicholas of Lyra (1270-1340 AD). He offered no interpretive evidence for his position, but rather credited the idea to "the Hebrews" (i.e. the Jewish writers above) thus giving it authority. A few Christian scholars continued this view through the Middle Ages, but they remained in the minority. By the time of the Reformation, both Luther and Calvin were aware of this debate, but argued strongly that Jephthah actually did kill his daughter.
The Bible Story and Context Support It
The internal consistency of this Bible story, and the rest of the Bible, seems to fit together better if we understand that Jephthah's daughter actually was killed.
First, why did Jephthah's daughter need two months to mourn with her friends if she was going to be around for the rest of her life? Surely they could go visit her and continue mourning with her on regular occasions. After all, Hannah dedicated her son Samuel to service in the tabernacle, and she visited him every year and brought him a new outfit (1 Sam. 2:18).
Second, why did Israel start an annual tradition commemorating Jephthah's daughter if she was still around? Clearly this tragedy affected the community greatly and there was a desire to honour the memory of Jephthah's daughter, but it hardly seems appropriate if she was just up on a nearby hill serving God. It's hard to imagine any community declaring a national day of remembrance simply because a woman became a nun!
Thirdly, there is no Scriptural basis that a person dedicated to God's service had to be celibate. The Levitical priests were expected to marry, and most prophets were married, with the possible exception of Jeremiah (Jer. 16:1-2). There are examples of women serving in the tabernacle, but in one instance they obviously weren't serving as virgins (see 1 Sam. 2:22). People dedicated to God under the Nazirite vow were not required to remain unmarried, and the Nazirite Samson was not celibate.
Fourthly, while human sacrifice was abhorrent to God, it is not unknown among Israel. God condemns Judah for practicing child sacrifice like their pagan neighbours, particularly in the book of Jeremiah. (Click here for a Bible search on the word "Topheth" which was the place of child sacrifice.) Saul was ready to kill his son Jonathan for breaking a vow, but the people prevented it (1 Sam. 14).
Fifthly, Jephthah's and his daughter's mourning for the lost chance of having children (or grandchildren) is consistent with someone who was going to die young. In fact, in those days lineage was attributed through sons only, so it was already sure that Jephthah's line was going to end with him. Any future children from his daughter would have been considered her husband's lineage. Therefore, his daughter's mourning of her virginity does not require that his vow was a life of celibacy for her, and Jephthah's mourning really only makes sense if his daughter was about to die.
Lastly, Jephthah killing his daughter is entirely consistent with the rest of the book of Judges. While it is more pleasant to consider Jephthah's daughter leading a life of lonely service to God, it is inconsistent with the increasing immorality and the individual standards of ethics we see as the book progresses. "Everyone did as he saw fit" (Judges 17:6, 21:25). This dangerous standard of behaviour leads to a rape, murder, and a dismembered corpse in Judges 19, a death which is much more difficult to explain away than that of Jephthah's daughter. It's disgusting and unpleasant, but it's what happened to Israel when they abandoned God's standards. The death of Jephthah's daughter is just one more step in Israel's downward spiral.
Conclusion
Christians are on both sides of this debate, and it clearly is not a major issue of the faith, but I feel the reasons are more compelling that Jephthah actually did kill his daughter to keep his vow, and that is why I preached from that position last week.
Selected Bibliography
Such A Great Salvation, by Dale Ralph Davis, Baker Book House, 1990, pp. 147-149.
The Sacrifice of Jephthah's Daughter: Jewish and Christian Perspectives, by Rabbi Moshe Reiss, online at http://www.moshereiss.org/articles/21_jephthah.htm
Judges 11:31: Jephtah's Daughter, by T.L. Hubeart Jr., online at http://www.pennuto.com/bible/judg11_31.htm
