Dr Paul Allen

“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.” ( Judges 11:31 ) The story of Jephthah has been a stumbling block to many who interpret it as teaching that Jephthah sacrificed his daughter to God as a burnt offering.  As he prepared to face the Ammonite armies, he made the vow recorded in our text, if God would only give him the victory. His only child, a beloved daughter, was the first to meet him at his return, and so it was she who had to be offered. Should he have made such a vow? Does God require these types of vows? Did he pray or just give a vow? Was he being foolhardy? It should be remembered, however, that Jephthah was a man of faith ( Hebrews 11:32-33 ), and he would never have vowed to disobey God’s prohibition against human sacrifice. His personal life and history was a total mess yet somehow God u...

Jephthah was a judge in Israel who made a problematic vow that may have led him to offer his only daughter as a human sacrifice ( Judges 11). An examination of how the grace of God abounded to him in spite of the consequences of his vow provides us with some valuable lessons. Jephthah as a Spiritually Minded Judge in Israel During a dark period in Israel’s history, “Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor” ( Judges 11:1 ). Because he was the son of a harlot, his brethren prevented him from inheriting a share of his father’s estate ( Judges 11:1-2 ). Fleeing from them, Jephthah lived in the land of Tob and became the leader over a band of “vain men” who joined up with him ( Judges 11:3 ). When the Ammonites warred against Israel, the elders of Gilead sought him out to lead Israel in fighting against them ( Judges 11:4-10 ). In spite of his being the son of a harlot and drawing to himself a group of worthless men, Jephthah manifested at this time both to the Isra...

Author: Mark Ward. Six reasons to believe that Jephthah, the (in)famous OT judge did & did not actually sacrifice his daughter.  Judges 11:39 says very clearly that Jephthah “did with her according to his vow which he had vowed.” The idea that she wasn’t sacrificed but just consigned to an unmarried state and a life of celibacy didn’t pop up, as best we know, until a major Jewish commentator named Kimchi well-meaningly suggested it in the Middle Ages . So this idea is almost 1,000 years old. But the story is over 3,000 years old. That’s because of reason three, that a great military leader making an important vow before the biggest battle of his life isn’t going to promise his God a dog.  And sheep are unlikely to be the first animals out the door to greet you when you come home. They’re too dumb; they’re going to be in the back bedroom saying, “Duh, what’s going on? Where is everybody?” while the much smarter animals are already getting their treats out...

Nothing is known of Jephthah’s daughter outside of the immediate narrative. Eagerly, apparently, she greets her father after his victory with celebratory dancing and music. She is evidently a young woman of marriageable age, hence, her lament concerning her virginity. She voluntarily submits to her father’s vow, yet does seek a brief respite to mourn the life that she will never know. She joins a larger cast in the wider Judges narrative of both women and daughters addressed by sometimes distressing narratives (Caleb’s daughter, Deborah, Jael, Abimelech’s killer, Manoah’s wife, Samson’s Timnite wife and Delilah, Micah’s mother, the Levite’s concubine, and the daughters of Shiloh). 11:35 Jephthah’s reaction in verse 35 indicates that he has not been expecting his daughter to be the first one to greet him. When Jephthah sees his daughter, he expresses his anguish in the typical Jewish fashion by tearing his clothing, acting like a man grieving the loss of his only child. Marcus, arg...

Answer me one question about an obscure story in Judges chapter 11, and I’ll tell you what your view of the whole Old Testament is. First a summary of the story leading up to Judges 11: entering the Promised Land didn’t solve all of Israel’s problems. They brought those problems across the Jordan with them; escape from slavery in Egypt didn’t end their subjection to sin. After the death of Joshua, the successor to Moses, God’s people descended into a cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance that lasted for several hundred years. God delivered his people through a series of leaders called “judges.” Eighty years after the famous judge, Gideon, delivers Israel from the Midianites the Israelites are back into the bad part of the cycle: they do “what [is] evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judg 10:6). So God sends the Ammonites and the Philistines against them. As often happens in the cyclical book of Judges, the people repent and cry out to the Lord for help. God’s reply is i...

Samson in Dagon Temple In Hebrew the title meant simply someone who puts things right, by whatever means. This might include acting in a judicial or legal way to sort out disputes between people, or giving judgments on difficult local problems.  But it could also include leading the people in battle against oppressive enemies, or calling the people to united action against some sudden threat. Some of them seem to have been fairly local heroes, whereas others rose to more national prominence and leadership. One thing that is said quite often about these “judges” is that the Spirit of the LORD ( Yahweh ) would come upon them.  When this happened it was a signal for action. Empowered by the Spirit of the LORD, they could exercise charismatic leadership and do valiant exploits that were recited around the campfires of Israel for generations to come. Here are some examples, all from the book of Judges : The Spirit of the LORD came upon [ Othniel ], so that he became I...

Original, unrestored version of "Jephtha's Rash Vow", by James Gundee & M. Jones, London. Published January 20, 1807. Illustrates the description of Jephtha in Antiquities of the Jews, Book V, by Flavius Josephus NOTE: Due to filesize limitations, this has been cropped somewhat from the original scan, but no other modifications have been applied (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Judges 11 is one of the darkest chapters in the Bible. God ’s judge, Jephthah , offers up his only child as a human sacrifice , under the incredibly sinful assumption that Yahweh is worshiped in the same way the pagan gods are. The story stands as evidence that without faith, God’s people are as depraved as the world, and that Israel is in desperate need of a savior better than a Judge. Two articles ( here and here ) that have argued against that understanding of Judges 11, essentially saying, “no, no…you have it all wrong…God wouldn’t allow one of his Judges to do something that horrible… Je...