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Bible Question: My
question has to do with Judges 11:30-39. Why would God allow Jephthah
to sacrifice his daughter as a burnt sacrifice when child sacrifice
was strictly forbidden by God? It was a stupid vow for Jephthah to
make, and I guess I was hoping that because God must have known this
would happen that He would just tell Jephthah of his stupidity instead
of actually allowing it to happen. I have heard two responses to this.
I have read that some think Jephthah ended up giving his daughter
as a living sacrifice (but the Bible does not say this). I have also
read that God allowed it to teach us not to make foolish deals with
God because we are not to bargain with God. If God wants to bless
us, He does not want there to be strings attached. It is to be a blessing
not a bargain. I am very interested to hear your answer. I hope it
will bring closure for me with this bothersome issue. Thank you!
Bible Answer: There
are at least two major views about the promise Jephthah made and what
happened to his daughter later. Judges 11:29-40 tells us that Jephthah
made a deal with God. People do this all the time. "Lord if you
will do this for me, then I will do this for you." So Jephthah
asked God to give him victory over the Ammonites and he would give
something to God. So the Lord gave him victory, and as he was coming
home his daughter came out of the door. The Bible says something happened
to her, but some people are confused. The confusion can be resolved
by a careful translation and by not assuming things that are not said
in the passage, as is commonly done.
Views.
The first major view says that Jephthah sacrificed his daughter because
of a commitment or a vow he made to God. The second major view is
that Jephthah only promised an animal sacrifice. Here is his promise.
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And
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If Thou wilt
indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 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.”
(NASB) Judges 11:30-31 |
Translation.
Unfortunately, our understanding of what he really promised hinges
mainly on one letter in the Hebrew alphabet,  ,
which can mean "or" as well as "and." If we translate
the letter as "or" the passage reads as follows:
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And
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If Thou wilt
indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 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, or
I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” (NASB) Judges
11:30-31 |
The
correct meaning is "or." This should be accepted as the
proper translation for several reasons. First, if we assume "and"
is correct then Jephthah knowingly committed himself to making a human
sacrifice, since he said, "whatever comes out of the doors of
my house to meet me . . . ." We must also realize that the Mosaic
Law prohibited human sacrifice (Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31). Since Jephthah
was filled with the Holy Spirit according to Judges 11:29, the Spirit
would not have prompted him to make a vow to sin. Second, Judges never
says that his daughter was killed or sacrificed. In fact, we are told
that she goes into the mountains to weep for her virginity for two
months.
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