Jephthah's Daughter
Ask about Jephthah's Daughter
Jephthah's daughter was the only child of the judge Jephthah the Gileadite. Before battle with the Ammonites, Jephthah vowed that whatever came out of the doors of his house to meet him on his return would be the LORD's, offered up as a burnt offering. When he came home victorious to Mizpeh, his daughter came out first, dancing with timbrels. Grief-stricken, he told her of his vow, and she answered that he must do as he had promised, asking only for two months to go with her companions to the mountains and bewail her virginity. Scripture says he 'did with her according to his vow' and that the daughters of Israel lamented her four days every year. Interpreters have long differed over whether she was sacrificed or devoted to lifelong virginity.
Biography
- Father
- Jephthah
- Era
- Judges
- Nationality
- Israelite (Gileadite)
Family
Did You Know?
Scripture stresses that she was Jephthah's 'only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter' (Judges 11:34), language that recalls God's words about Isaac, 'thine only son' (Genesis 22:2).
The Law forbade child sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31), which is one reason some Jewish and Christian interpreters have read the vow as fulfillled by her lifelong virginity rather than her death.
Her memory became a custom in Israel: 'the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year' (Judges 11:40).
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Jephthah's Vow
Judges 11:30-31
A rash vow spoken before battle sets the tragedy in motion. God had not asked for it, and the Law forbade human sacrifice.
30nd Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
She Came Out to Meet Him
Judges 11:34-35
The joyful welcome of an only child becomes the moment of her father's anguish, a sobering picture of words spoken without thought.
34nd 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.
Two Months on the Mountains
Judges 11:36-40
She meets her father's vow with courage and dignity, and Israel's daughters keep her memory alive year after year.
36nd 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.
