Question: What really happened to Jephthah’s daughter in response to the vow that Jephthah made to Yahweh?
Answer: This question is generated from the passages above which may seem to indicate that Jephthah’s daughter was offered to the Lord as a burnt offering. While it is true that Jephthah lived in an age when Israel was surrounded by nations that practiced human sacrifice, there are several considerations that when taken into account indicate otherwise in this case. We believe the correct response to this question is that Jephthah dedicated his daughter to a life of chastity and service to the Lord.
First we should consider just who Jephthah was, and why his story is recorded in Judges. We are introduced to him in Judges 11:1 where we are told that he was born to an Israelite by the name of Gilead, and his mother was a “harlot.” Whether a harlot (or actually an innkeeper as suggested in Adam Clarke’s Commentary), she was apparently not Jewish as she is also described as a “strange woman” in verse 2 (of Ishmaelite origin, according to tradition). This may explain why Jephthah’s brothers, apparently sons of Gilead’s Jewish wives, would force him to leave the family without inheritance.
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Author: Ken Wood
Keywords: Jephthah's Daughter, Human sacrifice, Jephthah kill his daughter, Jephthah sacrifice his daughter, Virginity, rash vow, vow, Jephthah's vow, daughter of Jephthah, Jephthah killed his daughter, Jephthae, Jephthah
Bible reference(s): Judges 11:30-31, Judges 11:35-40, Heb 11:32
Source: “Question Box,” The Christadelphian Advocate, August 2013, pp. 222-226.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.