Podcast Introduction

Our reading today is Judges 7-11, and I’m calling the episode “Think Before You Speak”. 

Comments on Judges 11

Jephthah was the illegitimate son of Gilead and a prostitute, and was a brave soldier.

We’re told in verse 3 that “…he attracted a group of worthless men…”. Worthless men probably means that these were men who were poor…men without means.

I want to focus on the vow Jephthah made.

“29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.” This is where his courage came from as he went forward to accomplish his victory over Ammon…

30 Jephthah promised the Lord: “If you will give me victory over the Ammonites, 31I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice.”

Judges 11:29-30 GNT

 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31then 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.

Judges 11:30-31 KJV

30 Jephthah made this vow to the Lord: “If You will hand over the Ammonites to me, 31 whatever comes out of the doors of my house to greet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer it as a burnt offering.”

Judges 11:30-31 HCSB

30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 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 NIV

31I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

Judges 11:31 NLT

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 burnt-offering.’

Judges 11:31 Young’s Literal Translation

So I looked up the original Hebrew word, which is ‘aher. There are many English words that this Hebrew word are translated into. By far, the most used is which or whichever (1928 times). Different forms of who, whom, whoever or whomever (1219 times).  Different forms of  what  or whatever  (230). 

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Making vows or oaths or promises to God should never be done rashly, hastily, lightly, thoughtlessly or emotionally. Any way you want to say it. A vow should always be done thoughtfully and seriously.

Numbers 30:2 When a man makes a vow to give something to the Lord or takes an oath to abstain from something, he must not break his promise, but must do everything that he said he would.

Once you speak the vow, it is set in stone. 

Jephthah’s vow was a foolish vow. Even though verse 29 said that the spirit of the Lord came upon him, he still acted foolishly. Having the Holy Spirit in us does not guarantee that we won’t be stupid. The Holy Spirit does not control us or take us over. We are still responsible for our actions. 

It’s almost as if Jephthah was trying to offer God a bribe. “If you’ll give me victory, then I will make an offering to you.” Can this be an effective approach to God? I hardly think so.

Is it reasonable to think that Jephthah had in mind to offer a human sacrifice, as some people think? It certainly seems as if he knew God’s Word, because of the way he negotiated with the Ammonites. So he must have known that God abhorred human sacrifice.

Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

Leviticus 18:21 GNT

Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars. GNT

Deuteronomy 12:31 – 31 GNT

If he was trying to persuade God to give him a victory, why would he offer to do something that he knew was contemptible in God’s sight? It makes no sense at all. 

As for the “ I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering” part of the vow.  But most accurate Hebrew scholars believe that the best translation is “I will consecrate it to the LORD, or I will offer it for a burnt-offering.” Commentator Adam Clarke puts it this way, “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.” Again, if Jephthah had any inkling of considering a human sacrifice, he would know that a burnt offering of a human could never be acceptable. Once more, why would he do that? It makes no sense.

So Jephthah, with God’s help, wins the battle. And…

34When Jephthah went back home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in sorrow and said, “Oh, my daughter! You are breaking my heart! Why must it be you that causes me pain? I have made a solemn promise to the Lord, and I cannot take it back!”

Judges 11:34 GNT

Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about this: “He had made a rash vow, and such things are much better broken than kept. If a man makes a vow to commit a crime his vow to do so is in itself a sin, and the carrying out of his vow will be doubly sinful. If a man’s vowing to do a thing made it necessary and right for him to do it, then the whole moral law might be suspended by the mere act of vowing, for a man might vow to steal, to commit adultery, or to murder, and then say, ‘I was right in all those acts, because I vowed to do them.’ This is self-evidently absurd, and to admit such a principle would be to destroy all morality.”

What Jephthah should have done is sought forgiveness from God for making such a vow. God is, after all, a God who forgives. Making a vow is serious business, but God knows that we can be idiots. When we realize our idiocy and ask Him to forgive us and release us from the vow, do you really think He would say, “No. Not this time. You made a vow and I’m holding you to it!” Of course not.

The fact that Jephthah said “I have made a solemn promise to the Lord, and I cannot take it back!” shows us that Jephthah, though foolish here, was a man of integrity. And that points back to the original premise of the vow. Would a man of integrity vow to offer a human sacrifice? Even a vow made in the most emotional of times? C’mon, man! I hardly think so. 

In Jeremiah 19:5, God said, “They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!”

The same can be said of me. I have never, at my highest or lowest points, considered offering any of my three sons as human sacrifices. Even when they nearly drove me to pull every hair out of my head. And given what we have already established about Jephthah, I don’t think it entered his head, either.

So why, then, did Jephthah tear his clothes in sorrow? I think the answer is “she was his only child.” When he saw her, his mind flashed to the part of the vow that said, “I will consecrate it to the Lord,” and he knew that meant that she would never be able to give him grandchildren, which meant that his family line would die with her. This was almost too much to bear. 

And the daughter’s request of him bears out this idea. She said, “Do this one thing for me. Leave me alone for two months, so that I can go with my friends to wander in the mountains and grieve that I must die a virgin.” She wasn’t thinking, “Oh gosh. I’ll never have sex!” She was thinking about the fact that she would never have children. 

What about verse 39? “He did what he had promised the Lord, and she died still a virgin.” Sounds like he killed her, doesn’t it? But wait. Leviticus 27:2 establishes a principle about people who make special vows to dedicate someone to the Lord. And we know that there were women who served at the entrance to the Tabernacle. (Exodus 38:8 and 1 Samuel 2:22). 

The most reasonable conclusion is that Jephthah’s daughter was consecrated for this purpose. She served at the Temple as a virgin for the rest of her life, leaving Jephthah with no descendants. 

There is precedent for a similar situation in 1 Samuel. A woman named Hannah had been unable to conceive. So she went to the Tabernacle and poured out her heart to God. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.”

So God allowed her to give birth to Samuel, and when he was weaned, she took him to the Tabernacle and left him there to serve the Lord. 

The last verse of Judges 11 says, “This was the origin of the custom in Israel 40that the Israelite women would go out for four days every year to grieve for the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.”

Notice that it is the women who had this custom, not the men. Think of Sarah, who grieved over not having a child. Rebekah also grieved for the same reason. God did not allow her to give birth to Esau and Jacob for twenty years. And Hannah, whom I just referenced. Not having children was a great sorrow to Israelite women. This is why they grieved for Jephthah’s daughter.

One last point. Hebrews 11 is a chapter that celebrates the great people of faith in the Bible. Verse 32:

How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.

Had Jephthah offered his daughter in a burnt sacrifice, there is no way he would have been included in this list of great men of faith. I believe God would have let his line die out and be lost in history. The fact that despite making a foolish vow, by faith he fulfilled it and gave his daughter to serve the Lord. And in so doing, his name has been remembered throughout history.  

So to wrap up, after this deep dive, where we looked at the original language, after we saw what God’s attitude is toward human sacrifice, after we saw that Jephthah knew the Word of God, after we established that he was a man of integrity, after we established that he gave two alternatives for what kind of sacrifice he would make, after we understood how important having the family line continue was, it seems clear that we can conclude that Jephthah never made a vow to sacrifice a human, it never even entered his mind or his heart, and he did not offer his daughter as a burnt offering. 

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 7 ERV, Ch. 8-9 NASB, Ch. 10-11 GNT

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The Team

Transcript Correction: Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise
Podcasting 2.0 Chapters: Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Sean of San Pedro and Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Michael Haner
Show Art: Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Scott Snider and Lifespring Family Berean Jason Paschall
Newsletter Publisher: Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney

Transcript

Transcript not corrected.