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a child’s sacrifice
hannibal 1x01 aperitif | and my father’s love was nothing next to god’s will amatullah bourdon | the sacrifice of isaac caravaggio | jesus takes a smoke break at the last supper @strangebedfellows | the altar george herbert | hannibal 1x03 potage | judges 11:30-31 | the daughter of jephthah edouard bernard debat-ponsan | judges 11:34-35 | sun bleached flies ethel cain
Her father ‘did with her according to his vow’
Hoping to ensure success in battle, Jephthah makes a vow to God: “Whoever comes out ‘of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.” His forces prevail, and none other than his daughter comes forth first to greet him. Jephthah then “did with her according to his vow” (Judges 11:1–12:7).
It’s horrifying and leaves so many unanswered questions as to make no sense. Why make a vow that’s like Russian roulette for your family? Why doesn’t someone try to save the daughter, such as her mother (totally absent from the narrative), or God (who sends an angel to stop Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac).
It’s possible that the text presents Jephthah as sign of Israel’s depravity and need for a better form of government. “The loss of the daughter perhaps represents, in dramatic form, the dangers (amid apparent success) of the leadership of the judges. As a potential mother, the daughter represents the future for family and community. Her father’s shortsightedness signifies the chaos of premonarchic life,” Karla Bohmbach observes.
“Despite the possibilities of comprehending the narrative as part of the propaganda of the Book of Judges, the story of Jephthah’s daughter remains enigmatic and disturbing to today’s readers”
The illustration is a line engraving by J.W. Cook (after a painting by John Opie) accessed at the New York Public Library digital collections.
Judges 11
Judges 11 Judges 11:1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a capable warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. Judges 11:2 Gilead’s wife bore sons for him, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will have no inheritance in our father’s family because you are the son of another woman.” Judges 11:3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in…
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Day 35: Judges 11 // שופטים י"א
We will be off tomorrow and Tuesday for Tisha B'Av. If you are fasting, make sure to hydrate in advance!
(Link to full chapter text on Sefaria)
Yiftach (Jephthah in English) was a great warrior, but he had a different mother than his siblings. (She was possibly a prostitute, a concub
Jephthah delivers Israel
1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.
4 Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, 5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”
7 Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”
8 The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.”
9 Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?”
10 The elders of Gilead replied, “The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”
13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”
14 Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, 15 saying:
“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. 16 But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
18 “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.
19 “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’ 20 Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.
21 “Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, 22 capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.
23 “Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. 25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? 26 For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time? 27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
28 The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 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.”
32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”
36 “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. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”
38 “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.
From this comes the Israelite tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. — Judges 11 | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide. Cross References: Genesis 16:5; Genesis 26:27; Genesis 28:20-21; Genesis 31:49-50; Genesis 32:22; Exodus 15:20; Numbers 14:25; Numbers 20:14; Numbers 21:4; Numbers 21:21; Numbers 21:29; Numbers 22:2; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 2:32; Deuteronomy 2:36; Joshua 13:18; Judges 10:9; Judges 10:17-18; Judges 12:1; 2 Samuel 3:31; 2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Samuel 10:8; Ezekiel 27:17; Matthew 8:29; Luke 1:25; Acts 13:19; Hebrews 11:32
Jephthah's legacy
Jephthah’s legacy
Jephthah’s legacy Judges 11:29-40 (JDV) Judges 11:29 The Breath of Yahveh came on Jephthah, who traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead. He crossed over to the Ammonites from Mizpah of Gilead. Judges 11:30 Jephthah made this vow to Yahveh: “If you in fact hand over the Ammonites to me, Judges 11:31 whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return…
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trying to prevent conflict
trying to prevent conflict
trying to prevent conflict Judges 11:1-28 (JDV) Judges 11:1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a capable warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. Judges 11:2 Gilead’s wife bore sons for him, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will have no inheritance in our father’s family, because you are the son of another woman.” Judges 11:3 So Jephthah…
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