Judges 11:29-40
(Exact Bible Quotes In Red)
The story of Jephthah starts with the words: “Then the spirit of the LORD came upon
Jephthah“. With these words we see the special relationship between Jephthah and his God.
We then see in verses 30 and 31, THE VOW, the deal, that was made by Jephthah to God!
“If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 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.”
God’s acceptance and agreement to this deal came in verse 32.
“So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; AND THE
LORD DELIVERED THEM INTO HIS HANDS.”
“AND THE LORD DELIVERED THEM INTO HIS HANDS”!
Here, in the words above, we see that God has indeed kept his end of the “deal”! God
did infact deliver the children of Ammon into the hands of Jephthah!
Now it was Jephthah’s turn to keep his part in this vow, this deal with his God. In Jephthah's
own words we see his vow to God:
“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.”
We now go to verse 34 to see who it was that "cometh forth of the doors
of my house to meet me".
"And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet
him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter."
We see in verse 35 that Jephthah is horrified when he sees it is his little girl that, "cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me".
"And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my
daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD,
and I cannot go back."
But even his Little girl agrees that the vow that her father made must be kept. We see this in her own words
in the very next, verse 36:
"My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded
out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon."
Jephthah's Little Girl had only one request before she would be sacrificed to the Lord.
We read of her request in verse 37:
Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and
bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
Jephthah's daughter did indeed return in two months and it is here in verse 39, we see
that Jephthah "did with her according to his vow".
Jud 11:39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto
her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
Jephthah "did with her according
to his vow". We know that his vow to his God was:
“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.”
It is clear from Hebrew Scripture that this Little girl was indeed sacrificed
as a burnt offering to God as Jephthah had vowed, and God accepted.
If God had wanted to stop this Human Sacrifice he could have. We saw in Genesis 22:1-12 again A
Human Sacrifice was required by and for God. In this story Abraham was told to offer his son Isaac as a Human Sacrifice
to God. God, however, sent an angel, the bible tells us, to stop Abraham just as the knife was about to be plunged into Isaac..
In the sory of Jephthah, however, no where did God or an angel order him to stop. According to Hebrew Scripture,
Jephthah did infact kill his little girl and offer her to his God as a Human Sacrifice!
The Story of Jephthah is seen below in it's entirety:
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Jud 11:29 Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over
Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
Jud 11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail
deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
Jud 11:31 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.
Jud 11:32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them;
and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
Jud 11:33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty
cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the
children of Israel.
Jud 11:34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came
out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
Jud 11:35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said,
Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto
the LORD, and I cannot go back.
11:36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD,
do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine
enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
Jud 11:37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone
two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
Jud 11:38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her
companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
Jud 11:39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father,
who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
Jud 11:40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah
the Gileadite four days in a year.
