Judges 10 Jephtha Series

Text: Judges 10:6-12:7

Theme: Jephthah Episode

Life of Jephtha:

Jephthah was the son of a harlot, he was thrust out of his family by his half-brothers, became a soldier, then a military commander, and lastly became a Judge from 1087 to 1081 B.C. The Lord used this person from a lowly position to deliver Israel from her enemies. Jephthah had faith in God and forsook idols, which gave him the strength of the Lord in his efforts. The Bible refers to him as a 'mighty man of valor.’ (Judges 11:1). We read that the spirit of God was on Jephthah (Judges 11:29).

Jephthah took up dwelling in Tob, east of Gilead. There the men identified as "adventurers" joined him to oppose Ammonites. He had a great victory, in which he conquered 20 Ammonite towns and won the war for Israel. After this victory over the Ammonites, the Israelite tribe of Ephraim criticized him for not including them in the war (Judges 12:1). Jephthah, after being threatened by Ephraim, reminds them that their help was requested but that they refused (Judges 12:2- 3). He judged Israel for a period of six years (Judges 12:7). Jephthah is listed as a hero of the faith (Hebrews 11:32).

The sacrifice of daughter:

The story of Jephthah’s daughter is famous as an example of child sacrifice, yet certain clues in the biblical text imply she may have suffered a very different fate. Jephthah made an infamous rash vow to God, that if God granted him victory over the Ammonites, then the one who came out from the door of his house to greet him on his return would offer up as a burnt offering (Judges 11:30-31). St. Augustine writes in his book The City of God that he intended to kill his wife because it was the customary way for women to welcome the return of a victorious hero.

The extreme emphasis on the virginity of his daughter shows that the sacrifice was not the human but the virginity of her daughter. She was alive but not as that of other women in the nation. (Prof. Rabbi Jonathan Magonet) The sacrifice meant that she would have to leave her father and friends, and she would spend the rest of her life serving Jehovah at his tabernacle in Shi'loh. So Jeph'thah’s daughter was at Shi'loh, and four days a year the women of Israel went to visit her and had a happy time together.

Moses says, “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering” (Deuteronomy 18:10). Again, he says, “Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:2). Jephthah did not slay his daughter, but only kept her in seclusion. Enduring Word Commentary comments that the women who assembled at the Tabernacle seem like the best explanation that Jephthah’s daughter was not killed. It is hard to think of him as doing something so contrary to God’s ways as offering his daughter as a human sacrifice and still being mentioned as a man of faith in the Book of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:32). The Lord's command to Abraham to sacrifice his son but rescinded, and Isaac was spared (Gen. 22:1-18).

He is classed with the fools who made imprudent vows by the rabbinical literature. Others are Caleb had declared 'I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher' (Joshua 15:16). Another rash vow was made by King Saul before entering into battle against the Philistines: 'Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes before I have avenged myself on my enemies!' (I Samuel 14:24).

War with Ephriam: The men of the tribe of Ephraim objected that they had not been allowed to share the plunder from the victory of the Ammon. They confronted Jephthah and refused to accept him as their leader. The story is remembered especially for the episode in which Jephthah's forces were able to identify their enemies by their accents, as they said the Hebrew word shibboleth as sibboleth. The Ephramites who tried to escape are asked to say the word “Shibboleth,” meaning “stream.” the Ephramites cannot pronounce the “sh” sound so they say “Sibboleth.” 42,000 Ephraimites lost their lives in their rebellion against the Jephthah (Judges 12:5,6). The story of Ephraim and Jephthah portrays the head-on collision of pride and jealousy with raw anger. This incident also reveals that the separation of eastern and western tribes was based on the linguistic accent (Judges 12:6). The men of Ephraim also quarreled with Gideon (Judges 8:1). This concludes with a tragic civil war. The Israelites were fighting together against their common enemies. Now, they were fighting among themselves.

(Ref: biblestudy.org; thetorah.com; jw.org; newworldencyclopedia.org; David Guzik; jewsihbible.org; Austin Precept)