JEPHTHA

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:''This article is about the Judge of Israel. For the oratorio see Jephtha (oratorio).''
'Jephtha' (also spelled Jephthah) (Heb./Aram. 'יפתח' ''Yiftach'' / ''Yiptha)'' is a character in the Old Testament who served as one of the Judges in Israel for a period of six years (''Judges'' 12:7) between the conquest of Canaan and the first king. Jephtha lived in Gilead and was a member of the Tribe of Manasseh. His father's name was also Gilead.

Being driven out by his half-brothers, he took up dwelling in Tob, east of Gilead. Here some men opposing the Ammonites put themselves under his command. (''Judges'' 11:3) When Israel was gathering to go to war against Ammon, they looked for a God-appointed man and decided to go to Jephtha.
Josephus describes Jephtha as a "potent" man "on account of his father's virtue, and on account of that army which he maintained at his own expenses." The Israelites promised him dominion over them all his lifetime(Antiquities 5:7,8)
Before leaving for the war, he vowed to God that if he were to return home victorious, "whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house" to meet him would be sacrificed to God "as a burnt offering". He was victorious, and return he did, but he was met by his daughter, an only child. It is written that after a period of isolated mourning "she returned to her father and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed" (Judges 11:39).
Later, Jephtha went to war against the Ephraimites, who refused to acknowledge him. The story is remembered for the killing of the fugitive Ephraimites who were identified by their accent; they said the Hebrew word ''shibboleth'' as ''sibboleth''. In this rebellious action, 42,000 people lost their lives (''Judges'' 12:5,6).
He is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 30.

Contents

Interpretations of the sacrifice

See also

Notes

Interpretations of the sacrifice

The nature of Jephtha's vow and his fulfilment of it has been the subject of many debates among readers. Some have argued that this was a practice of dedicating women to virginity, but others regard it likely that he really sacrificed her as an offering. The Judaean writer Josephus actually believed that she was literally sacrificed, depicting the incident as follows:
''Smith's Bible Dictionary'' from the 1860's also claims that the offering was literal:
Others highly disagree. E.W.Bullinger (''Great Cloud of Witnesses in Hebrew 11'' (1911) ISBN 0825422477), looks at the word "and" in the Jephtha’s vow (Judges 11:31: "whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, 'and' I will offer it up as a burnt offering"). As he explains ^[1] the Hebrew word 'ו' that is translated in the above passage as "and":

is often used as a disjunctive, and means "or", when there is a second proposition. Indeed this rendering is suggested in the margin of the A.V.

Bullinger goes on to give examples from the Bible where the same word has been translated as "or". According to him, the right translation of this passage is: "whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, 'or' I will offer it up as a burnt offering." Jephtha’s daughter, being the first that came out of the house, was thus, according to Bullinger, dedicated to God. Bullinger gives also further evidence in support of his view. As he says for verse 39 of Judges:

It is recorded that Jephtha “did with her according to his vow
which he had vowed, and she knew no man” (v. 39). What has this to do
with a burnt offering, one way or the other? But it has everything to do
with the former part of his vow, in dedicating her to Jehovah. This
seems to be conclusive. It has nothing to do with a sacrificial death, but
it has to do with a dedicated life. She was dedicated to a perpetual
virginity.

He also says:

In any case, it should have been unlawful, and repugnant to
Jehovah, to offer a human being to Him as a burnt-offering, for His
acceptance. Such offerings were common to heathen nations at that time, but
it is noteworthy that Israel stands out among them with this great
peculiarity, that human sacrifices were unknown in Israel.

Furthermore, another source, ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'' (1897) says:
Ancient Jewish writers interpreted it as a human sacrifice, as seen explicitly, for example, in the classical Pseudo-Philo, where the daughter sings a lament about her impending death and its necessity to fulfil Jephtha's vow. That Jephtha's daughter was indeed offered as a burnt-offering was also the common opinion amongst Fathers of the Christian Church since the Holy Spirit is said to be upon Jephtha when he made his vow. According to their interpretation Jephtha was foreshadowing the sacrifice of Jesus. ''Leviticus'' 27:16-29 is used in support of both positions. On one hand it can be argued that these items are destroyed, but the cited text also allows for ransoming and also mentions land which can not be destroyed and was traditionally turned over for temple use. Some Jewish sources claim that Jephtha may have expected an "unclean" animal such as a dog to greet him upon returning home. Alternatively, the main point of this story may be to instruct young girls as to how to behave should they ever be selected for service (verses 37-38). That is, it could be a normative tale. Whatever the case, it became a custom in Israel (perhaps only in the region of Gilead) that women should go out four days every year and lament the daughter of Jephtha. This custom is still practiced by some Isars during the last four days of Spring (in the month of Khordad), just before the summer solstice.

See also

★ Abel-cheramim

★ Biblical judges

★ Book of Judges

Notes

1. Did Jephthah really sacrifice his daughter? An analysis of Judges 11:31