Judges 11:30–40
The Tragedy of Jephthah’s Daughter
The incident of Jephthah’s daughter may seem incredible and profoundly cruel to some modern-day Bible readers. But in reading this narrative, one must be careful to interpret events in the context of that day, not merely by the moral climate of one’s own.
The account is clear that the judge Jephthah vowed to sacrifice as a burnt offering whatever came out of his door if he returned victorious from battle (Judg. 11:30–31). Many commentators think Jephthah had a human sacrifice in mind, probably a slave. It was a common practice for warriors in the ancient world to make vows to their gods in order to secure divine assistance in warfare.
However, the Israelites were prohibited from making human sacrifices (Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31), in contrast to many their neighbors. In fact, child sacrifice was common among the Ammonites and Moabites (2 Kin. 3:27). Why, then, would Jephthah make such a vow? And why fulfill it once he realized that the sacrifice would have to be his own daughter?
The answer may lie in a recognition of how much the moral and spiritual condition of Israel had declined by this time. The Mosaic covenant was violated more than it was honored, and a spiritual blindness seems to have fallen over the land. In the midst of this darkness, God used the Ammonites to bring His people to their knees (Judg. 11:4). Not that they actually turned back to Him, but they did recruit Jephthah to lead them (4:5–11).
Jephthah was no spiritual giant, but he at least remembered the history between Israel and Ammon, and how God had delivered His people during the Exodus (11:14–28). He viewed the Lord as the supreme Judge (11:27) who would decide the current conflict between Ammon and Israel.
Jephthah was accurate in his understanding. God was indeed prepared to judge between the two peoples. Neither group was without sin. On the one hand, the Israelites had forsaken the Lord for idols (10:6); however, they also had repented (10:10–16). On the other hand, the Ammonites had long practiced what the Lord called “abominations,” such as child sacrifice (see footnote on “The Abominations of the Canaanites” at bottom of page and read Lev. 18:24–30); yet they never had repented, and now they were claiming territory that did not belong to them (Judg. 11:13).
God decided the matter by empowering Jephthah to recruit an army to carry out His judgment on the Ammonites (11:29). At this point of zealous energy and action, Jephthah made his rash vow (11:30–31). Why did he make it? Perhaps because of an inadequate view of God. Jephthah correctly perceived God as Judge, but he may have incorrectly likened Him to the god Chemosh of the Ammonites (11:24). He may have felt that if Chemosh’s help supposedly could be enlisted through human sacrifice, then the Lord’s help could be gained in the same way.
Jephthah appears to have followed through on his vow, though first he gave his daughter time to grieve the fact that she would never marry and have children (11:37–39; childlessness was considered a curse in that day; see “Barrenness” in footnotes ). He kept the vow because he had a profound fear of the Lord. He was deeply afraid of what God might do if he did not fulfill his vow (compare Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21–23). From today’s perspective, that fear seems primitive, superstitious, and tragically misplaced; but it was certainly genuine.
FOOTNOTE: * Barrenness
Sarah laughed at the thought of bearing children at such an advanced age (Gen. 18:11–12). But she may have laughed more out of pain than surprise, for in the ancient world, to be barren, as she was, was considered a curse (16:2; 20:17–18; Luke 1:25). It was even considered grounds for divorce.
Several women in Scripture illustrate the predicament of the childless woman. Yet it’s interesting that each of those named eventually gave birth to a child.
Women Who Experienced Childlessness
Name
Description
*Sarah (Gen. 16:1–2; 18:11–12; 21:6–7)
Used her maid Hagar as a surrogate childbearer, but then rejected both Hagar and the child, Ishmael; eventually gave birth to Isaac, changing laughter of pain to laughter of joy.
*Rebekah (Gen. 25:21)
Conceived after her husband Isaac prayed to the Lord on her behalf; gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob
*Rachel (Gen. 29:31–30:24)
Driven by despair, used her maid Bilhah to compete with the other wife of her husband Jacob, her older sister Leah; eventually gave birth to Joseph and later Benjamin, whose birth caused her death.
*Manoah’s wife (Judg. 13)
Told by God that she would conceive a son who would be a Nazirite; gave birth to Samson, a judge of Israel.
*Hannah (1 Sam. 1)
Desperately prayed for a son, whom she vowed to dedicate to the Lord; gave birth to Samuel, a judge of Israel.
*Elizabeth (Luke 1:5–25, 57–66)
Conceived after her husband Zacharias was promised a son who would be the forerunner to the Messiah; gave birth to John the Baptist.
The daughter’s statement of submission is one of the most touching speeches in Scripture (Judg. 11:36). She shared her father’s extreme reverence for God, even if it cost her marriage, children, and life itself. No wonder the young women of Israel honored her ever after (11:40).
What does this incident teach us who read it today? For one thing, it warns us to beware of spiritual decline in our surrounding culture. When our neighbors are not following God, it can warp our own perspective, leading us to make foolish statements and rash commitments, and causing us to do things that are unworthy of our Lord.
At the same time, the incident reminds us of how seriously people of that day took their vows to the Lord, and therefore how seriously we should take our own commitments to Him. We may criticize Jephthah as cruel and superstitious, but we cannot deny that he feared the Lord. The tragedy of his daughter challenges us to ask: what would we be willing to sacrifice as a sign of our devotion to God? Or are there things (or people) that ultimately we value more than Him?
Abraham faced an even greater challenge than Jephthah. The Lord told him to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed, demonstrating his utter commitment to and faith in God. Read Gen. 22:1–18; Rom. 4; Heb. 11:17–19; James 2:21–24.
The relationship between the Israelites and the Ammonites was marked by long-standing hostility. To learn more about these perpetual enemies of God’s people, see 1 Chr. 19:1–9.
FOOTNOTE: * The Abominations of the Canaanites
Judges 18:24–30 Recent years have seen an increase in occult practices and Satanic rituals. But these things are nothing new. Somewhat similar rites were taking place in Canaan at the time when Israel left Egypt. God referred to the Canaanite practices as “abominations” for which “the land vomits out its inhabitants” (Lev. 18:25–26).
The historical context of Lev. 18 shows that God’s concern had to do with religious as well as sexual purity. The chapter opens and closes with warnings to avoid the ways of the Canaanites (18:3, 30).
The practices mentioned—incest, adultery, fornication, intercourse during a woman’s menstrual flow, child sacrifice, sodomy, bestiality—were all acts committed as part of the Canaanite religion. That religion was essentially a fertility cult. Worshipers appealed to their gods to help their women reproduce and to make their lands fertile. Thus sexual intercourse played a major role in the worship.
There were other “abominations” involved, such as idolatry and the use of mediums and witchcraft. For all of these things, the Lord promised to drive the Canaanites out of the land. In their place He planned to install His people living according to His ways and worshiping according to His holy practices.
* The Gods of the Canaanites
The Lord declared that “there is no God besides Me” (Deut. 32:39), a claim repeatedly made elsewhere in Scripture (for example, Ex. 8:10; Deut. 4:35; 6:4; Mark 12:32). Yet the Hebrews were quite unique among the peoples of the ancient world in preserving their belief in one God (with certain lapses). Nearly all the others had come to believe in numerous gods.
The Canaanites, whom Israel was to dispossess, worshipped more than seventy deities. The ones shown below were the principal ones.
El
Highest of the gods, but remained in the background; conferred power and authority on lesser gods.
Baal
Name means “master, ” “possessor, ” or “husband”; a god over nature; often designated Hadad, the storm god; but also a name for other local gods such as Baal-Berith (“lord of the covenant, ” Judg. 8:33) and Baal of Peor (see Num. 25:3).
Dagon
Exact nature unknown, but important to the Philistines (1 Sam. 5), who paraded blind, chained Samson in one of their temples to Dagon (Judg. 16:21–24).
Asherah
Wife of El (and sometimes of Baal) and mother to the other gods; goddess of the sea; often a favorite deity of women (for example, probably Jezebel, 1 Kin. 18:19); often depicted by a wooden pole or cult pillar (1 Kin. 15:13).
Astarte or Ashtoreth
A goddess of the moon, sexuality, and fertility; sometimes worshipped as an idol by the Hebrews (Judg. 2:13; 1 Sam. 7:3–4; 1 Kin. 11:5).
Anath
Baal’s mistress; goddess of war, love, and fertility; may be the “queen of heaven” to whom Jews offered incense in Jeremiah’s day. (Jer. 7:18).
Taught By
Bishop Charles C Jones
