Perceived Problem:
Just before Jephthah went into battle against the people of Ammon, he made a vow to the Lord. The vow he made was that if GOD would grant him victory over his enemies, then “it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” (Judges 11:31). When Jephthah returned, the first to come out to meet him was his daughter. Jephthah refused to go back on the vow he had made. But, the Bible clearly states that human sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2-5; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10). So, how could GOD allow Jephthah to offer up his daughter, and then have the audacity to list Jephthah among the champions of faith in Hebrews 11:32?
Solution:
Now, many have taken this to mean that Jephthah offered his daughter’s life to the Lord as a human sacrifice, claiming the inviolable nature of an oath made to the Lord (Ecclesiastes 5:2-6). In addition, they note that a “burnt offering” involves a sacrifice of the life. They justify it on the grounds that a vow to GOD takes precedence over all else, even human life (Genesis 22). GOD is sovereign over life and takes it if He desires to do so (Deuteronomy 32:39), as He does eventually anyway (Hebrews 9:27).
However, for several reasons, it is not necessary to assume that Jephthah ever offered his daughter as a human sacrifice. First, Jephthah would have been aware of the Law against human sacrifice, and if he had intended to offer a human sacrifice, he would have known this would have been a blatant rejection of GOD’s Law and thus a complete contradiction to honoring the Lord.
Second, the text does not actually say he killed his daughter in a sacrificial offering. This is simply inferred by some from the fact that he promised that whatever came out of his house first “it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering” (11:31). As Paul indicated, human beings are to be offered to GOD “as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1), not as dead ones (see also, Hebrews 13:15; 1Peter 2:5). Jephthah could have offered his daughter to the Lord as a living sacrifice. For the remainder of her life, she would serve the Lord in the temple and remain a virgin. In fact, this sacrificial dedication is what Hannah did with Samuel (1Samuel 1:11,22-28).
Third, a living sacrifice of perpetual virginity was a tremendous sacrifice in the Jewish context of that day. As a perpetual virgin dedicated to the service of the Lord, she would not be able to bring up children to continue her father’s lineage. And 11:34 made a point to specifically mention the fact that “she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter.” Jephthah acted as a man of honor and great faith in the Lord by not going back on the vow that he had made to the Lord his GOD even though it was a rash vow that he had made. This would have grieved him terribly since his daughter’s dedication to the Lord would have ensured that his lineage would come to an end.
Fourth, this view is supported by the fact that when Jephthah’s daughter went out to weep for two months, she did not go out to mourn her impending death. Rather, she went out “and wept on the mountains because of her virginity” (11:38).
Fifth, if she was facing death at the end of the two month period, it would have been very simple for her to marry some young man and live with him for the two months prior to her death. There was no reason for Jephthah’s daughter to mourn her virginity unless she was facing a life of perpetual virginity. Being the only child of Jephthah, his daughter was not mourning her virginity because of any illicit sexual desire.
Sixth, Jephthah would have known not only was human sacrifice an abomination to GOD, but that anyone who makes a foolish vow could confess his sin, bring his guilt offering to the Lord, and the priest could make atonement on his behalf for his sin (Leviticus 5:4-6). Further, Jephthah could have redeemed his daughter (Leviticus 27:1-8). Moreover, even if Jephthah was somehow ignorant of GOD’s Law, no legitimate priest would have helped Jephthah carry out his vow if a human was to be the sacrifice because the priest most certainly would have known the Law, which would have included the option of the guilt offering and redeeming his daughter.
Finally, GOD’s Word is absolutely consistent with GOD’s nature. Thus, not only would GOD not have honored a vow based on what GOD Himself declared to be evil, but the Holy Spirit would not have inspired the author of Hebrews to include Jephthah in the Hall of Faith for his great faith had he committed the evil deed of human sacrifice. Rather, Jephthah would have been listed with all others whom GOD detested for the detestable deed of human sacrifice. In fact, human sacrifice was one of the reasons GOD permitted the killing of the Canaanites.
But even if we take the passage for surface value, assuming Jephthah murdered his daughter in a sacrificial offering, it happened during the time when almost no one was abiding by GOD’s laws. As Judges 17:6 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes” (see also Judges 21:25). In fact, in Deuteronomy 12:8, GOD told the people, “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes.” Further, just a few verses later, GOD commands “Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see, but in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you (Deuteronomy 12:13-14). Moreover, GOD condemned child/human sacrifice: “You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:31-32) [see also Deuteronomy 18:10; 2Kings 21:6]. Therefore, if Jephthah did murder his daughter in a sacrificial offering, he did only what he saw right in his own eyes, and did not do all that GOD had commanded. Thus, the evil would not be on GOD, but on Jephthah. However, for all the reasons previously listed, I don’t believe this was the case. I believe his daughter became a living sacrifice who lived the remainder of her life serving the Lord in the temple as a virgin.
Quest For Truth 