Rereading Judges 11:31: The Sacrifice of Jephthah’s Daughter
The story of Jephthah is well known by readers of the Bible because of his willingness to sacrifice his daughter to celebrate his victory against the enemies of
The leaders of
The NIV and several other translations differ in the way they translate Judges 11:31. The intent of this change is to mitigate the moral dilemma raised by the fact that Jephthah, a man who is celebrated as a “hero of the faith” in Hebrews 11:32, makes a human sacrifice to Yahweh.
The NIV reads: “if you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-31).
The “whoever” of the NRSV presupposes a person, a human being. The “whatever” of the NIV presupposes an animal. The following translations use “whoever”: LXX, BBE, CEV, NAB, NET, NRSV, and the RSV. The following translations use “whatever” or a similar word: ASV, CJB, CSB, ERV, ESV, GWN, JPS, KJV, NAS, NIV, NKJ, NLT, RWB, TNIV, and the TNK.
The Geneva Bible translates “that thing” and the New Jerusalem Bible translates “the first thing.” The Darby translation is neutral; it reads: “that which cometh forth.” The Revised English Version is also neutral: “the first creature that comes out of the door of my house.” The GNB is not neutral: “I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me.”
So, the question arises: was Jephthah expecting an animal or a person to come out and meet him when he returned home victorious? Did Jephthah make a vow to offer a human sacrifice to God?
Adam Clarke in his commentary on Judges wrote: “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.”
In order to demonstrate that Jephthah did not make a human sacrifice,
Thus, the “whatever” translation removes the stigma of human sacrifice from the text. The “whatever” translation allows for an animal sacrifice to be made to God. The “whatever” translation also clears Jephthah from a barbarous act.
Jephthah’s words, however, clearly indicate that he intended to sacrifice a human being, not an animal, for only a person living in his household could be expected to come out and meet him. If Jephthah had intended to offer an animal sacrifice, he probably would have promised to offer the best of his flock.
It was common in the ancient Near East to celebrate victories with music.
One example of the use of music and dancing in times of celebration is Miriam leading Israelite women in celebration at the time the waters of the Red Sea (
Another example of music and dancing to celebrate victory in battle is found in 1 Samuel 18:6. When Saul and David returned home after their victory against the Philistines, “the women came out … with singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments” (1 Samuel 18:6).
The “Song of Deborah” could also be considered a song of celebration, even though the text does not say that the women came out to meet Deborah and Barak with music and dancing after their victory against Sisera and the army of the Canaanites.
Thus, when Jephthah returned home victorious from his struggle with the Ammonites, his daughter came out to meet him, dancing to the sound of tambourines (Judges 11:34). This was the custom in
So, Jephthah fulfilled his vow to the Lord. When his daughter returned home after two months in the mountain, Jephthah “did to her as he had vowed” (Judges 11:39).
But, an important question must be asked in the fulfilling of Jephthah’s vow. If Jephthah did to his daughter what he had vowed to do, then, what did Jephthah do? And there is a lot of debate about the answer to this question and to what happened to Jephthah’s daughter.
Next week I will come back to this text again and discuss the fate of Jephthah’s daughter.
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Jephthah, Jephthah’s Daughter, Judges 11, Human Sacrifice
Labels: Human Sacrifice, Jephthah, Jephthah’s Daughter, Judges 11
posted by Dr. Claude Mariottini @ 2/19/2007 08:16:00 AM
7 comments
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7 Comments:
Thank you for tackling this difficult passage for us. I recently finished editing an adult Sunday school lesson about Jephthah--quite a challenge!
D.P.,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I agree with you: Jephthah’s story is difficult because of the questions it raises. I hope my post will help clarify some of the important issues of the story.
Claude Mariottini
Wow. You left us hanging!
I really enjoyed your post. I look forward to reading "the rest of the story."
D.V. I will be back to hear your conclusions!
Dear Matt and Larry,
The rest of the story will be posted on Monday. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
Anytime there is the slightest doubt about interpretation of Torah texts one should go to the SOURCE of the text, Judaism. Just as it would be rediculous to ask the U.N. or China to explain the U.S. Constitution, so it is to look to Christian leaders for explanations to difficult Jewish texts. Under no circumstances was Jephthah permitted to sacrifice his daughter, nor could he obligate her to a course of behavior.
Hello Dr. Claude,
I found something interesting and with valid points in the following link: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2320
It refers to Jephthah's Daughter. It was written by Dave Miller, Ph.D.
It says:
"In Judges 11, Jephthah vowed to God that if he were victorious in battle, he would give to God whoever came through the doors of his house upon his return from battle. The term used in 11:31 is ‘olah, the normal Hebrew word for a burnt offering or sacrifice (used 286 times in the Old Testament). Did Jephthah intend to offer his daughter as a human sacrifice? Are the ethics of God and the Bible shown to be substandard by this incident?
In the first place, if, in fact, Jephthah offered a human sacrifice, he did something that was strictly forbidden by Mosaic law and that is repugnant to God (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2-5; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10). It would be a bit bizarre for Jephthah to think that he could elicit God’s favor in battle by promising to offer Him a human sacrifice, that is, to do something that was in direct violation of the will of God. Such a proposal would be equivalent to a person requesting God’s blessing and assistance by offering to rape women or rob banks. God certainly would not approve of such an offer—though He may go ahead and assist the individual (11:32). God allows people to make wrong choices, even while He works out His own higher will in the midst of their illicit actions. He can even use such people to achieve a higher good (consider, as one example, Judas). When Israel clamored for a king—in direct opposition to God’s will—He nevertheless allowed them to proceed with their intentions, and even lent His assistance in the selection (1 Samuel 8:7,18-19; 10:19; 12:19; Psalm 106:14-15; Hosea 13:11; Acts 13:21).
Second, if Jephthah offered his daughter as a human sacrifice, no indication is given in the text that God actually approved of the action. The Bible records many illicit actions carried out by numerous individuals throughout history, without an accompanying word of condemnation by the inspired writer. We must not assume that silence is evidence of divine approval. Even the commendation of Jephthah’s faith in the New Testament does not offer a blanket endorsement to everything Jephthah did during his lifetime. It merely commended the faith that he demonstrated when he risked going to war. Similarly, the Bible commends the faith of Samson, and Rahab the prostitute, without implying that their behavior was always in harmony with God’s will. Abraham manifested an incredible level of faith on several occasions, and is commended for such (Romans 4:20-21). Yet he clearly sinned on more than one occasion (Genesis 12:13; 16:4; 20:2ff.).
Third, Jephthah’s action may best be understood by recognizing that he was using ‘olah in a figurative sense. We use the term “sacrifice” in a similar fashion when we say, “I’ll sacrifice a few dollars for that charity.” Jephthah was offering to sacrifice a member of his extended household to permanent, religious service associated with the Tabernacle. The Bible indicates that such non-priestly service was available, particularly to women who chose to so dedicate themselves (e.g., Exodus 38:8). [Sadly, Eli’s sons were guilty of taking sexual liberties with them (1 Samuel 2:22).] Even in the first century, Anna must have been one woman who had dedicated herself to the Lord’s service, since she “did not depart from the temple” (Luke 2:37).
Several contextual indicators support this conclusion. First, the two-month period of mourning that Jephthah granted to his daughter was not for the purpose of grieving over her impending loss of life, but over the fact that she would never be able to marry. She bewailed her virginity (bethulim)—not her death (11:37). Second, the text goes out of its way to state that Jephthah had no other children: “[S]he was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter” (11:34). For his daughter to be consigned to perpetual celibacy meant the extinction of Jephthah’s family line—an extremely serious and tragic matter to an Israelite (cf. Numbers 27:1-11; 36:1ff.). Third, the sacrifice is treated as unfortunate—again, not because of any concern over her death, but because she would not become a mother. After stating that Jephthah “did with her according to his vow which he had vowed,” the inspired writer immediately adds, “and knew no man” (11:39). This statement would be a completely superfluous and callous remark if she had been put to death. Fourth, the declaration of Jephthah’s own sorrow (11:35) follows immediately after we are informed that he had no other children (11:34). Jephthah was not upset because his daughter would die a virgin. He was upset because she would live and remain a virgin.
Hannah made a similar sacrifice when she turned her son over to the priestly direction of Eli for the rest of his life (1 Samuel 1:11). How many are willing to make such sacrifices? Actually, however, these tremendous acts of devotion were no greater than that which God requires of all Christians: to offer ourselves as spiritual burnt-offerings in service to God (Romans 12:1)."
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