What more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about … Jephthah.
—Hebrews 11:32, NIV.

Michael Nekora

The account of Jephthah in Judges 11 is quite peculiar. Superficially it appears that an army captain heartlessly killed and burned his daughter because God gave him a victory in a war against the Ammonites. Yet Hebrews 11:32 lists him as a hero of faith. How could a man who did that to his only daughter be commended by anyone?

This is the account of his vow:

“And Jephthah made a vow unto the LORD: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’ Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns … When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, ‘Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.’ ‘My father,’ she replied, ‘you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites” (Judges 11:30-36, NIV).

When Jephthah said “Whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me,” the Hebrew verb is masculine. Since he had no sons, he certainly was not thinking about a human being. But now he is confronted with the unexpected: the first thing out of his house was his daughter. Is he prepared to offer her as a burnt offering as he said he would?

It is because of Jephthah’s faith that he is listed as a hero in Hebrews 11:32. His word is his bond so what he has vowed he will pay. His daughter similarly shows complete devotion to fulfilling a promise made to God, whatever it may be. So was Jephthah duty bound to offer his daughter as a burnt offering? No, he was not.

The law provided a way of escape whereby money could be substituted for people: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation. And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels” (Leviticus 27:2-4).

The number of shekels to be substituted depended upon sex and age. The chapter goes on to describe how to value even unclean beasts which could not be offered to God because only clean male animals were acceptable as burnt offerings. The law was clear: humans were not to be killed and burnt as an offering to God. The heathen nations did such abominable things and God condemned Israel when they copied that behavior: “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind” (Jeremiah 19:5, NIV).

Jephthah could have substituted money in the place of his daughter. Although that would fulfill the letter of the law, in his sight it did not fulfill the spirit of his vow. He had said, “Whatever comes out of the door of my house … will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it.” In his mind substituting money would not do. He knew he should give his daughter to God much as Hannah was to give her son Samuel at the end of the period of the Judges. Hannah said to Eli the priest: “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:27,28).

So what happened to Jephthah’s daughter? She remained unmarried and had no children. This was a heavy penalty in Israel. All the women prayed that they might be the mother of that “seed” which was to bless Israel. Jephthah’s daughter never had that chance. Being barren was considered a curse from God; being a mother was a great blessing. Of course the daughter remained alive. “The daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah” (Judges 11:40). This is the only place in the Bible where this Hebrew word is translated “lament.” The word means to “give praise” (some Bible margins have “to talk with”).

Jephthah’s vow meant a life without a husband for his daughter and that affected him in a direct way. Since she was his only child, there was none to continue his line. His name must perish out of Israel. That, too, was a heavy penalty according to the thinking of the people at that time. And all this happened because of a vow uttered rashly. Perhaps Solomon was thinking about Jephthah when he wrote, “It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows” (Proverbs 20:25, NIV).

We can commend Jephthah for being as good as his word. Would we do as well? Have we ever said, “If only thus and so, I’ll do such and such?” Did we do it? Perhaps not. Like the Pharaoh of Egypt, once a plague was removed and normal conditions returned, he never did what he said he would do. Those who try to do what Jesus would do ought to be as good as their word.