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Was Jephthah’s vow as rash as some commentators suggest? Did Jephthah actually offer his daughter as a human sacrifice in the same manner as the pagans of his day--the people who God wanted destroyed because of such evil practices?
Jephthah, a judge over Israel and evidently a godly man, promised the Lord that if He would help him defeat the enemy he would offer as a sacrifice whatsoever came through the door to meet him when he returned home. Note the text as rendered by the King James below:
Jdg 11:31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
When I first read this text a number of years ago I quickly jumped to the conclusion that Jephthah offered his daughter as a sacrifice in the same way that faithful believers of God offered up animal sacrifices. I thought such an idea was almost unbelievable, but figured God determined to use the space in the Bible for this to teach a lesson about making rash vows, and that whatever the vow, it must be kept. My first thought was that Jephthah was only considering offering some animal and never really considered the possibility that a human might be the first to come through the door to meet him. But what animal would come forth from his house to greet him--a dog maybe? Dogs were not acceptable sacrifices. Furthermore, only the best of the sheep or cattle were acceptable to offer to God. That being the case, what if a scrawny runt had been the first to meet him? I’m persuaded that Jephthah intended to offer a human sacrifice chosen by God Himself and one that was consistent with the will of God. The Contemporary English Version - “I will sacrifice to you whoever comes out to meet me first.”
Before we jump to the conclusion that Jephthah actually murdered his daughter because of his rash vow, of which he supposedly could not get out, we should consider Lev 27:1-5. This text tells us that for 30 pieces of silver he could have been relieved of his vow. It is true that Jephthah said he had made a vow and could not go back (verse 35), but this merely meant that he could not retract it—he had to proceed with his part in carrying out the promise. Upon hearing that her father had made such a vow, the daughter did not object, but actually agreed to the thing her father had promised God (verse 36). What daughter, who knew God’s will regarding murder and human sacrifices, would have agreed to being offered up in the place of an animal sacrifice simply because of a rash and foolish vow made by her father?
Is it reasonable to conclude that Jephthah, a godly man, actually vowed to possibly sacrifice a person (taking that person’s life), which would have been murder and contrary to the 10 Commandments (Ex. 20:13)? Only a heathen or mad man would have done such a thing! Human sacrifices were among the things practiced by the people of the land who God helped Jephthah to destroy and which God and his people despised. That Jephthah was a godly man is evidenced by the fact that he prayed to God and God answered his prayer. Furthermore, verse 29 says “the Spirit of the LORD came upon” him. Since he was a godly man he would never have made a vow to do something that was contrary to God’s will (such as murder or the possibility of sacrificing a dog contrary to the law) and if he had God would have had no part in it. But God did have a part in it—He caused the defeat of the enemy and by His providence, He allowed Jephthah’s daughter to be the sacrifice. If Jephthah actually murdered his daughter, as some insist, then we point the finger at God because He had complete control as to who (or what) would greet Jephthah upon his return. It is imprudent to conclude that God would have a part in the barbaric practice of murdering a human for sacrifice, regardless of the circumstance.
What was the sacrifice that Jephthah offered?
In view of the reaction and comments of the daughter it seems evident that the sacrifice was that she would be consecrated to the Lord, perhaps similar to a monk. This was distressing to Jephthah because it meant that she, his only child, would not be able to marry and bear children.
The daughter, upon learning of her father’s vow, had one request: before the thing take place she would be allowed two months to go into the mountains with her “fellows,” friends.
Conclusion:
Some have been dogmatic regarding the idea that Jephthah’s vow resulted in him taking the life of his only daughter. I even heard one man say that a certain preacher did not believe the Bible because of his view on the text. Admittedly, scholars are divided on the meaning of the text. Below are some comments from well known and respected commentators who hold the position of the author of this article: Gil, Clark and Matthew Henry, all who take the position of this author:
Gil
“From Jdg 11:39 it appears evident that Jephthah’s daughter was not Sacrificed to God, but consecrated to him in a state of perpetual virginity; for the text says, She knew no man, for this was a statute in Israel .
Clark:
“I and my fellows" - Whether she meant the young women of her own acquaintance, or those who had been consecrated to God in the same way, though on different accounts, is not quite clear; but it is likely she means her own companions: and her going up and down upon the mountains may signify no more than her paying each of them a visit at their own houses, previously to her being shut up at the tabernacle; and this visiting of each at their own home might require the space of two months. This I am inclined to think is the meaning of this difficult clause.”
Gil
I will consecrate it to the Lord, or I will offer it for a burnt-offering; that is, “If it be a thing fit for a burnt-offering, it shall be made one; if fit for the service of God, it shall be consecrated to him.” That conditions of this kind must have been implied in the vow, is evident enough; to have been made without them, it must have been the vow of a heathen, or a madman. If a dog had met him, this could not have been made a burnt-offering; and if his neighbor or friend’s wife, son, or daughter, etc., had been returning from a visit to his family, his vow gave him no right over them. Besides, human sacrifices were ever an abomination to the Lord; and this was one of the grand reasons why God drove out the Canaanites, etc., because they offered their sons and daughters to Molech in the fire, i.e., made burnt-offerings of them, as is generally supposed. That Jephthah was a deeply pious man, appears in the whole of his conduct; and that he was well acquainted with the law of Moses, which prohibited all such sacrifices, and stated what was to be offered in sacrifice, is evident enough from his expostulation with the king and people of Ammon, Jdg_11:14-27. Therefore it must be granted that he never made that rash vow which several suppose he did; nor was he capable, if he had, of executing it in that most shocking manner which some Christian writers (“tell it not in Gath”) have contended for. He could not commit a crime which himself had just now been an executor of God’s justice to punish in others.
Matthew Henry
It is hard to say what Jephthah did in performance of his vow; but it is thought that he did not offer his daughter as a burnt-offering. Such a sacrifice would have been an abomination to the Lord; it is supposed she was obliged to remain unmarried, and apart from her family. Concerning this and some other such passages in the sacred history, about which learned men are divided and in doubt, we need not perplex ourselves; what is necessary to our salvation, thanks be to God, is plain enough.
Matthew Henry
Jdg 11:29-40 - Several important lessons are to be learned from Jephthah's vow. 1. There may be remainders of distrust and doubting, even in the hearts of true and great believers. 2. Our vows to God should not be as a purchase of the favour we desire, but to express gratitude to him. 3. We need to be very well-advised in making vows, lest we entangle ourselves. 4. What we have solemnly vowed to God, we must perform, if it be possible and lawful, though it be difficult and grievous to us. 5. It well becomes children, obediently and cheerfully to submit to their parents in the Lord.
Gil
let me alone two months she desired such a space of time might be allowed her before the vow took place; and the rather she might be encouraged to expect that her request would be granted, since no time was fixed by the vow for the accomplishment of it, and since the time she asked was not very long, and the end to be answered not unreasonable
that I may go up and down upon the mountains; or, "ascend upon the mountains" (h); Jepthah's house in Mizpeh being higher than the mountains; or there might be, as Kimchi and Ben Melech note, a valley between that and the mountains, to which she descended in order to go up to the mountains; see Jdg_9:25 these she chose to make her abode, and take her walks in, during the time she asked, as being most fit for retirement and solitude; where she might give up herself to meditation and prayer, and conversation with her fellow virgins she would take with her, and so be wrought up to a greater degree of resignation and submission to her father's will, and to the will of God in it, as she might suppose:
and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows; the virgins her companions; this she proposed to be the subject that she and her associates would dwell upon, during this time of solitude; and the rather, as this may be thought to be the thing contained in the vow, that as she was a virgin, so she should continue; by which means she would not be the happy instrument of increasing the number of the children of Israel, nor of being the progenitor of the Messiah; upon which accounts it was reckoned in those times to be very grievous and reproachful to live and die without issue, and so matter of lamentation and weeping.
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