What do you think of the story of Jepthhah sacrificing his daughter in order to defeat the Ammonites?

Question

Judges chapter 11. Our Pastor mentioned this in his sermon and he said Jepthah was 100% wrong for doing this. I wonder why the writter of Judges even included it in the book. Is there anybody that can give me a reason why that story is in the Bible and what we can learn from this? Old Jephthah returned from battle and his daughter just wanted some time to go mourn with her friends that she was going to have to die a virgin. Isn't this like the same thing radical Muslims do when they strap a bomb to their child and tell them and make them die in the name of Allah?

Notice---The father was not going to change his mind. "for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it"...verse 35.

Let me add...God never told him to do this...This was Jepthhah's own idea. Jesus says to NEVER MAKE A VOW. Maybe we know the reason when we read this story.

Answer 1

Moral of the story? Never make a vow or bet untill you know all the variables.

I dislike that storyalot, but it is not as bad as this one. Read Judges chapter 19.

Answer 2

As usual many wrong answers.

Jepthhah did not murder his daughter. ! PERIOD

Jepthhah made a vow saying that if he could get delivered from the battle he was in that he would sacrifice the first person to come from his house.

Now putting people to death in a human sacrifice was a common thing among the nations in those days , but it was something totally disgusting in Gods eyes , so his servants did not practice that.

In Deut18:9-12 it shows the commands given by God in relation to human sacrifice , it says in part ¨There should not be found in you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire...For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.¨

Jehovah God would not bless such a person.

So it is clear that in Jepthhahs case this wasn't what was intended.

Jepthhah knew that it was possible for his daughter to exit from his house, that is where she lived , and she was his only child.

Jepthhah's daughter was sacrificed , 'as by fire' by her devoting her whole life to temple service (sanctuary) and never getting married or having children.

'Her life' , as a normal sort of life goes was over , and this was the sacrifice , her normal life.

This was also a huge sacrifice for Jepthhah as she was his only chanced for continuing their family line, which was VERY important in those days.

But how can we be absolutely sure she wasn't burnt to death ?
Judges11:40 says ¨From year to year the daughters of Israel would go to give commendation to the daughter of Jepthhah the Gileadite, four days of the year¨

PS , you really need a new pastor or at least someone that has read the Bible.

For more information plz feel free to email me.

Answer 3

I think the story of Jepthah is probably a legend - and most scholarly trained seminary graduates would say the same thing.

The complete text is below. But pay close attention to the last line. The last line explains the celebration that the contemporary readers and listeners would have known. The entire story of him sacrificing his daughter was a story created to explain it.

You wondering why it was included makes sense . . .and points toward why a legendary story would be included . . . what's the message? Don't make promises to God that you don't want to keep. How do you teach that? by saying it, or by creating a disturbing story that teaches it, while explaining the origins of a religious observance.

Godspeed you on your journey of discovery.

29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt-offering.’ 32So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33He inflicted a massive defeat on them from Aroer to the neighbourhood of Minnith, twenty towns, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
Jephthah’s Daughter34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. 35When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, ‘Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.’ 36She said to him, ‘My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.’ 37And she said to her father, ‘Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander* on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I.’ 38‘Go,’ he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that 40for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Answer 4

You have to understand that that sort of thing was typical for the times, and times have actually changed in the last few thousand years (which is why it's simply ridiculous to pretend that you base your morality on the Bible). It was common practice "back in the day" for a king to make sacrifice to the war god of his tribe either to secure victory, or in thanks for it. The "OT" is littered with incidents of this sort. God seems to especially delight in parents murdering their own children in His name.

I don't really see the analogy to suicide bombing, except that in both instances it's a case of senseless death in the name of religion. The suicide bombers, even though they've been indoctrinated from birth to believe a certain way, are acting on their own accord. Jephthah's daughter just happened to be the "first living thing" he was unfortunate enough to meet on his return from the warpath. The "moral," I suppose, is "Never break a promise to God" - although it's odd; nowadays when people kill their own kids and say that it was part of a pact with God, we tend to take umbrage. Is this unbiblical of us?

Answer 5

Jephthah did what he did by faith that thru his vow God would subdue his enemies. This is clear in Hebrews 11.
His faith was rewarded. I imagine his daughter has a special place in heaven for her sacrifice. I would love to find out the rest of the story.

Answer 6

There are a few lessons from this story. It was not a sacrifice it was an oath.
1. Jepthath was a man of faith and like so many people do we do not always think thru the consequences of our actions.
( think before you speak)
It was a small forshadowing of what God did to redeem man. God made the promise of his only sons sacrifical death and Jesus because of his love for his father and man he willingly agreed to the terms.
Jepthath's daugther did the same. She could have chosen to let her father choose another way to comply with his oath. Instead she chose to sacrifice her motherhood/relationship as a favored daughter for something greater...to serve in God's temple and honored her father by doing so. She was also honered year to year by the people for he decision.

Its included in the bible for the same reason David's sins and blessings are. To teach.
1. Not to make a hasty oath as Jepthath did.
2. to follow the selfless and loving example of both Jesus and jepthath daughter by putting the worship of God First. Both are/were richly rewarded by God for their sacrifice.

As far as militants....people can twist anything to make it fit their corrupt ideas. This is far from the same. No one died. No one was harmed because she went to the temple. Instead she encourged people to be more conscious of there spiritual need.

Answer 7

Jephthah made a vow unto God, and did it in an unwise context, but he had made the vow unto God and must keep his vow unto God... His daughter also knew that this vow must be honored...

it is very different than what the muslims do today...

you must read and understand the time frame and the context of the story to fully understand it....

one should not make a vow unto God that they are unwilling to keep...

Answer 8

Jepthah did not know his daughter would be the first one coming out of his house when he returned from doing battle against the Ammonites. His promise to God was the "first person" coming out. It showed great love and trust on his part that he kept his vow and great love for God on the part of his daughter that she went along with it.

I don't see how you can possibly compare his daughter with suicide bombers. Jeptha's daughter was mourning her virginity. Her parents were not mourning her death. She lived a life of honor the remainder of her days, as the women of her village went to visit her once a year. And her story remains as part of God's word.

I don't understand why some are viewing it as though she were sent off to be shot. She simply remained unmarried. A difficult thing for a woman in her day but certainly not a death sentence.

Answer 9

God is just, loving and kind. For these reasons He would not demand that Japeth would actually sacrifice his daughter. God substituted a ram for Isaac when He demanded Abraham to sacrifice his only legitimate son. Isaac was Abraham's only son just as Jesus was God's only begotten son. This a typology of the future sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. We read of the Ten Commandments in which God stated "Thou shalt not Kill" therefore how could a holy and righteous God allow him to sacrifice his only daughter. When we read she and her companions went to the mountains to bewail her virginity it is a reference to her remaining unmarried for the rest of her life. This passage is a veiled reference to her self-sacrifice because she was willing to sacrifice any hope of marriage in deference to her father's vow unto God.

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Answer 10

Of course not. The story of Jepthah is a sad,unfortunate incident in the life of the people of Israel. It is also a witness to the credibility of Scripture in that it tells the whole, unvarnished truth whether it's pleasant or not.