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Jephthah’s Vow

Judges 11:30-40

That for which Jephthah is most commonly known is his vow to God and the fact that he conscientiously kept it, though it was terribly painful for him to do so, and even more painful for his cherished daughter, his only child. Most look upon his vow as a weakness, and consider his keeping of the vow a matter of greater weakness still. The fact that Jephthah’s name is mentioned, and that he is held before us as an example of faith in Hebrews 11:32 convinces me that this is the very thing for which this remarkable man is commended to us. Jephthah’s vow is directly linked to his victory over the Ammonites, an act of faith in Christ, for which he is held before us in Hebrews 11 as an example to follow. Jephthah’s fidelity and perseverance in the faith is seen in the keeping of his vow by keeping his daughter in continual virginity. If his dog had come out to meet him, no one would ever imagine that he would have offered his dog on God’s altar, polluting it with the blood of a dog. Yet, many insist that Jephthah killed his daughter to keep his vow to the Lord. That simply was not, and could not have been the case.

A more literal translation of Jephthah’s vow in verse 31 would be, “It shall belong to Jehovah; and I will offer it instead of a burnt offering.” Young’s Literal Translation reads, “I have offered up for it a burnt-offering.” The Modern King James Version reads, “Surely it shall belong to the LORD.” I am certain that Jephthah did not kill his daughter for four reasons.

1^st — This was a personal vow, a vow Jephthah made to God, a vow that Jephthah alone could fulfil. In fulfilling the vow, he could not take that which did not belong to him and offer it to the Lord; and his daughter’s life was not his to sacrifice (Ezekiel 18:4). As her father, it was Jephthah’s right in those days to give her to another man in marriage, or not, as he saw fit (1 Corinthians 7:36-38); but it was not his right to kill her.

2^nd — Throughout the Scriptures, human sacrifices are set before us as abominations before the Lord our God, and were strictly forbidden by Mosaic law. In order for Jephthah to have killed his daughter and offered her as a sacrifice, he would have had to intrude upon the office of God’s priest, and would have polluted God’s altar. Both of those acts were always punished by violent and immediate death.

3^rd — In addition to those things, the Scriptures tell us plainly that there was no need for Jephthah to literally sacrifice his daughter’s life, because God provided redemption for the child, and even for the unclean beast that was dedicated to the Lord (Leviticus 27:1-5, 11-12).

            4^th — The ordinance kept in Israel every year tells us that Jephthah’s daughter lived for quite some time after bewailing her virginity upon the mountains. Among the ancient, believing Hebrew women, no lamentation equaled that of being kept unmarried, single and celibate, in perpetual virginity. Every believing daughter of Israel (as Jephthah’s daughter clearly was) looked to the coming of the promised Seed, the Messiah, the Redeemer, hoping that she might be the woman through whom the woman’s Seed should come into the world. To be devoted to an unmarried life, in perpetual virginity, forbade that hope. Every year, the daughters of Israel spent four days with Jephthah’s daughter talking to her about her devotion and her consecration to God because of his great goodness in the salvation of his chosen.

Don Fortner

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