Jephthah’s daughter meets
him Judges 11:34-40
Lesson 14
Jephthah returns
• Jephthah returns to his home in Mizpah
• His daughter came out to meet him with
tembrels and dances
• She was his only child (no other sons or
daughters)
• When Jephthah saw her coming to meet
him he rent his clothes in grief
• He told her you have brought me very low
• You have become one of those who
trouble me
Jephthah returns
• I have opened my mouth and can’t go
back on my word
• His daughter replied: My father, you have
made your vow to Jehovah
• Do to me as you have vowed
• Jehovah has taken vengeance for you
upon your enemies even the ammonites
• Let me first have this favor
• Let me and my companions go to the
mountains
Jephthah returns
• There I may bewail my virginity, I and my
companions
• Jephthah told her to go with her
companions for 2 months
• She returned after 2 months and said to
her father, do with her as he vowed
• She did not know a man in her lifetime
• It was a custom in Israel, to go out each
year to praise the daughter of Jephthah
Jephthah returns
• One of the most debated questions in the
Bible is whether Jephthah offered his
daughter as a burnt offering
• Whether he burned her as one would a
burnt sacrifice
• More study of the pros and cons can help
you determine the answer
• So do not let your class get out of hand
make the discussion brief
Those who believe he offered his
daughter as a burnt sacrifice
• The text states that Jephthah vowed a vow
• Whoever meets me upon my victorious
return from the Ammonites, I will offer him
up for a burnt offering 11:31
• He did with her according to his vow 11:39
• These words, taken at face value, indicate
that he offered his daughter as a bleeding
sacrifice to Jehovah
Those who believe he offered his
daughter as a burnt sacrifice
• The literal meaning of Jephthah’s vow is ,
“whoever comes out to meet me,”not,
whatever comes out to meet me
• Whoever comes from the door of my
house will be offered
• Jephthah must have been thinking of
some person who would meet him
• Leviticus 27:28-29 says, “No devoted thing,
that a man shall devote unto Jehovah of all
that he hath, whether of man or beast, or of
field, shall be sold or redeemed:
• It is most holy unto Jehovah
• They can not be ransomed
• Jephthah was very specific in his vow
• He would offer a burnt offering
• Burnt offerings were totally burned, except
the skin or hide of the animal
• This signified total dedication Ex 29:18; Lev
1:9, 13, 17
• When Hannah vowed to give her son to God,
she worded her vow to indicate a Nazirite vow
• One of dedication to God for a period of time
• In the case of Samuel, it was for his entire life
1Sam 1:11
• Jephthah’s vow was different because nothing
lived through a burnt offering
• Jephthah lived in the time of idolatrous worship
around him which offered human sacrifices to
gods like Molech Lev 18:21; Lev 20:1-5
• Human sacrifice would not be a shock to him as
it would be to us today
Those who deny Jephthah offered
her as a burnt offering
• Human sacrifices were an abomination to
Jehovah, prohibited upon pain of death
Lev 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut 12:31; 18:9-13
• There is no rebuke from God for his vow
• Instead of being rebuked, his name is
listed in Heb 11 as one of the faithful
• God stopped Abraham from offering his
son as a sacrifice
• During the days of the wicked kings, such
as Ahaz and Manasseh, who offered their
sons as sacrifice to false gods 2 King 16:3;
21:6
• These actions hastened the destruction of
the kingdom of Judah
• If Jephthah did offer his daughter as a
sacrifice, there were some details
pertaining to the law that were broken
• Lets look at them
Sacrifices
• According to the law, sacrifices, including
the burnt offerings, were to be offered at
the sanctuary Deut 12:6,11,13-14
• This law was strictly observed unless a
special occasion was commanded by God
• If he offered her it would be a direct
violation the commandment
• Unless he carried her to the Priest to offer
her for him
• If that be the case the Priest were involved
in a sacrifice which was an abomination to
Jehovah
• Burnt offerings could only be male Lev 1
• Are we to conclude that Jephthah could offer a
human sacrifice, an abomination to the Lord,
that he could offer it in an unscriptural place.
• Would he ignore the restriction that it be male
• Jephthah was a religious man Judges 11:1011,21-27,29-30,35
• He had not shown himself to be rash in conduct
• He declared that Jehovah had given Israel the
disputed land
• He ask for help in defeating the enemy
• He was not given over to idolatrous practices
nor the practice of human sacrifice
•
•
•
•
•
Others were totally dedicated to God like:
Samson Judges 13:4-5
Samuel 1Samuel 1:11
John the Baptist Lk 1:15
These were all Nazirites from birth—dedicated
to God from birth
• There were women who did service at the door
of the tent of meeting 1Sam 2:22
• Anna in the New Testament Lk 2:37
• Jephthah’s daughter was not the only one who
was a participant in a vow of dedication
• The daughters of Israel went yearly to lament,
to commemorate this event
• Therefore it must have been proper to
remember that occasion
• Would it be proper to commemorate something
that was an abomination to God like a human
sacrifice?
• A total dedication of a person to the service of
Jehovah would be commended
• The family would also be honored
Vows
• Vows were voluntary, free-will sacrifices to
God
• One could vow to give an animal, a field, a
house, or other possession, or a person to
the Lord
• Each type of vow had rules and regulations
• If it were a clean animal it could be sacrificed
• If unclean it would be used as a work animal
around the tabernacle, or money could be
paid according to its value Lev 27:9-13
Vows
• If it were property vowed
• It would become either permanent inheritance
of the Levites or a value assessed + 1/5 that
the owner could pay and retain the property
• If a person, then that person either served in
some capacity of work for the tabernacle, or an
appointed price was paid as a gift to the Lord
this was set forth in Lev 27:3-8
• Vowing a person was not unheard of thing
• It was common, and rules were given in the law
for the handling of such vows.
Vows
• Vows were made with a specific person or thing
to be dedicated
• The item would be given if feasible, otherwise
the assigned value was paid.
• The law made provisions for rash vows
• If a man made a rash vow and realized he could
not keep it
• He was commanded to offer a sacrifice for his
sin of vowing rashly
• He could not complete the vow he made Lev
5:4-6
Vows
• Certain things could not be vowed.
• Anything that was devoted to God already
• The first born animal could not be vowed, it
belonged to Jehovah already Lev 27: 26-27
• Tithes is another example Lev 27:30-37
• The spoils from a dedicated city like Jericho
could not be vowed Josh 6:17-19
• A person guilty of a crime, or of idolatry, was
devoted to God for destruction could not be
vowed
• Lev. 27:28-29
• 28Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that
a man shall devote unto the LORD of all
that he hath, both of man and beast, and
of the field of his possession, shall be sold
or redeemed: every devoted thing is most
holy unto the LORD. 29None devoted,
which shall be devoted of men, shall be
redeemed; but shall surely be put to
death.
Vows
• Paying a specific amount of money to fulfill his
vow or offering a specific sacrifice to pay the
penalty for making a rash vow would seem a
simple way out for Jephthah
• If there was a simple solution why was he
terribly upset?
• His daughter would be totally dedicated to God
• His vow was whoever came out would be
offered to God as an OLAB, which in the Old
Testament is uaually a burnt offering, but can
mean something totally dedicated to God.
The vow- Judges 11:31
• Youngs Literal translation,New Revised
Standard,The living Bible,New living translation
• YLT:31then it hath been, that which at all cometh out
from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning
back in peace from the Bene-Ammon—it hath been to
Jehovah, or I have offered up for it—a burntoffering.’NRSV:31then whoever comes out of the doors
of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from
the Ammonites, shall be the LORD’S, to be offered up by
me as a burnt offering.” TLB:30-31Meanwhile Jephthah
had vowed to the Lord that if God would help Israel
conquer the Ammonites, then when he returned home in
peace, the first person coming out of his house to meet
him would be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the
Lord!NLT:31I will give to the LORD the first thing coming
out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I
will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”
• The dedicated thing could have been a
servant, family member
• He intended the sacrifice to be a costly
one because the favor he ask was great
• When his daughter came out he knew that
she would be totally dedicated to God for
all her life
• She would remain a virgin, never marry,
never lead a normal life, total service to
God
• This could well be celebrated, whereas it
is difficult to celebrate a human sacrifice
• This was Jephthah’s only child
• He would have no other descendants
• The lineage of Jephthah would be lost in
Israel
The Ephraimites Judges 12:1-7
• The men of Ephraim heard of the war
against the Ammonites and went to
Jephthah and ask why did you not call us?
• We will burn down your house since you
didn’t call us.
• Jephthah calls the men of Gilead together
and fought the Ephraimites
• The band of no-bodies that Ephraim
thought Jephthah and his men were began
to run them back across Jordan
The Ephraimites Judges 12:1-7
• Jephthah’s men were waiting at the fords of
the Jordan
• When a person would come to cross they
would be ask if they were Ephraimites
• They would be required to say shibboleth
• Those from Ephraim would pronounce it
sibboleth, the “h” sound would be missing
• 42,000 men of Ephraim fell in battle
• Jephthah judged Israel 6 years
• He is included as a man of faith Heb 11:32
Jordan River with Sea of Galilee in background
Jordan could
not be
Crossed
except in
Certain
locations
called fords
Judean hill country east of Jerusalem
•
END of LESSON