What’s wrong with Jephthah’s vow?

A Word About Vows

Before we get to our text and the question, let’s first briefly discuss vows. Vows are very serious oaths before God (Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21; Eccl. 5:4-7; Matt. 5:34-37). A vow should never be made without careful consideration and prayer. Since I don’t know what the future holds, I’m more inclined not to make them. This said, I have made some. Marriage, for example, was the best vow ever for me personally.

God responded positively to some vows. Look at Hannah (1 Sam. 1:11), Jacob (Gen. 28:20-22; 31:48-54; cf. Gen. 31:13), David (Psa. 22:25; 56:12; 61:5; 65:1), Paul (Acts 18:18; 21:23; Gal. 1:20; 2 Cor. 1:23), and even Jesus (Matt. 26:63-64). God also initiated some vows, such as the Nazarite vow (Num. 6). God also made numerous vows or oaths himself for instance in Luke 1:73, Acts 2:30, and Hebrews 3:13; 6:13,17 to name just a few. And God keeps his vows (Num. 23:19; Psa. 89:3; Jer. 33:19-22). God has made many covenants that he has kept and is keeping – Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Christ.

While vows normally must be kept in their entirety, God does make some provisions to break them at times. For instance, the vow of marriage under certain circumstances may be broken and a divorce given (Matt. 5:31-32).

If a person realizes that he has violated his oath or vow, he must repent of this (Lev. 5:4-5). Christians make vows frequently: "Lord, I promise to spend more time in prayer." "Lord, I’m going to study more." "Lord, I’m going to be a better witness to others and share the gospel more." It’s definitely not a sin to make such vows, but we often don't keep the vow and should repent.

On the other hand, it doesn’t mean there won’t be any consequences for the sin of breaking a vow. There most surely will be temporary judgment. God forgave David's grievous sin (2 Sam. 12:13), but as a result of this sin his child with Bathsheba died (2 Sam. 12:14) and the sword never departed from his house (2 Sam. 12:10). The Lord’s temple would be built by Solomon, not David. David had Bathsheba’s husband killed by placing him on the front lines in a battle where he died a violent death, and in turn three of David’s sons were later killed in a similar way — Ammon (2 Sam. 13:28-29), Absalom (2 Sam. 18:14-15), and Adonijah (1 Kings 2:24-25).

Use caution when making a vow. Ananias and Sapphira died when they broke a vow to God (Acts 5:1-11). And now let's address Jephthah's vow.

A Word About Our Text

Jephthah was the ninth judge of Israel. His vow is unique in biblical history because of its perplexing specificity. So many questions can be asked: Was it a rash vow? Did Jephthah mean to sacrifice a person or was it just a thanksgiving offering? Did Jephthah kill his daughter? Do we see a salvation story in the text that gives us a picture of Christ? So many puzzling questions!

Let’s look closer at our text:

Judges 11:29-40: Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow." And she said to him, "My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites." So she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions." So he said, "Go." Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Two Different Views

There are two different views of Jephthah’s vow. One is the Sacrificial View (SV) and the other is the Non-Sacrificial View (NSV).

Sacrificial View

In the text we read that Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering" (Judg. 11:30-31). When he later returns home, his daughter is what first comes out in a joyful greeting. The text then states that he "did with her according to his vow that he had made" (Judg. 11:39). So, the SV would say that Jephthah’s vow was rash and that he offered his only child as a human sacrifice to God.

Non-Sacrificial View

At the beginning of the text we read that "the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah" (Judg. 11:29) when he made his vow to the Lord (Judg. 11:30-31). This view would ask how it could be a rash vow. If Jephthah was under the Spirit, how could it be that he would mean to kill his daughter, which is in violation of the sixth commandment (Exod. 20:13)? The NSV teaches that the text is speaking of something other than Jephthah killing his daughter. In so many words, it also asks, "Is not this vow symbolic of a complete offering to the Lord as a full expression of thanks for God’s grace in delivering Israel from the Ammonites?"

Both of these positions are grounded in Scripture. However, both cannot be correct. How do we discern what the truth is? Let’s examine our evidence, that’s let’s look at our text verse by verse.

Judges 11:29: Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.

There’s no denying that the Spirt of the Lord was upon Jephthah. He was a man of faith (Heb. 11:32-34). And in Hebrews 11:32-34, Jephthah is seen as one who "enforced justice." Would this entail sacrificing his own daughter? Well, yes, as a man of his word he would have kept his vow; however, justice also means first making a just vow. Had Jephthah forgotten Deuteronomy 18:10 which says, "There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering?" (cf. Lev. 18:21; 20:2; Deut. 12:31)

Judges 2:16 says "the Lord raised up judges, who saved (not killed) the Israelites out of the hand of those who plundered them." Judges 2:18 adds "the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge." If "the Lord was with the judge" would one of Jephthah’s last acts in his ministry to the Lord be to kill his only child? How is this a fulfillment of Judges 2?

This stated, we yet should recall that the Spirit also came upon Samson shortly before he decided to marry a Philistine (Judg. 14:5-9). And the Spirit came on Saul and he prophesied, while he was attempting to kill David (1 Sam. 19:23-24). And lest we forget, the Spirit of the Lord was upon Balaam just before he counseled Balak to set a stumbling block before Israel (Num. 24:2). So, the presence of the Spirit of the Lord doesn’t necessarily preclude all actions and mistakes made by a person – even a believer.

Judges 11:30-31: And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."

With the Spirit of the Lord upon Jephthah, he asked for victory over the Ammonites. And in his Spirit-led request, he says, "whatever [whoever] comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it [them] up for a burnt offering."

It’s difficult to think that this vow was in opposition to the Spirit. It seems more common in the book of Judges that positive steps came after the Spirit came upon someone. For instance, in Judges 6:34, the Spirit clothed Gideon, and then immediately in Judges 6:36, Gideon proposed the sign of the fleece. When the spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, he killed a lion (Judg.14:6) and defeated the Philistines (Judg.14:9; 15:14, 19). These incidents are in the book of Judges and set a flow to the book and, as such, should rightfully impact our understanding of the text in question.

It doesn't seem to fit that an animal is what is in mind in the text of Judges 11. Animals don’t normally run out and greet one returning from battle. Normally women went out (1 Sam. 18:6; 2 Sam. 1:20; cf. Exod. 15:20). There is something similar in Judges 5:28: "Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice: 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?'" It was common in biblical times for women to greet their soldiers returning from battle.

Something we should keep in mind is that Jephthah, because of his illegitimacy, was driven from his home and went to the land of Tobit in Eastern Syria (Judg. 11:2-3). He probably was intimately familiar with Syrian pagan rites such as human sacrifice, so when we first read the phrase, "I will offer it [them] up for a burnt offering" (Judg. 11:31), it’s easy to assume that Japheth meant a human sacrifice.

But is this really the correct interpretation of the phrase? Jephthah was a man of faith (Heb. 11:32-34). I tend to affirm that his worldview was not pagan. Also, offerings throughout the Bible may be used symbolically. For instance, in the New Testament, Paul instructed the faithful to offer their bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord (Rom. 12:1; cf. 1 Cor. 7:8). In the Old Testament, Aaron and his sons were symbolically offered to the Lord when they became priests. This involved several wave and burnt offerings (Exod. 29:1-46; cf. Lev. 8:1-36). Therefore Jephthah, under the power of the Spirit and not his Syrian upbringing, may have been using symbolic language.

So, with these verses, we can say then that either the SV or SVT could be correct. But let's look at the remaining text to get the rest of the story.

Judges 11:32-33: So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

With the word "so" we see that the narrator continues the narrative, which was briefly interrupted by Jephthah’s vow (Judg. 11:29). In his sovereignty, God defeated the Ammonites and gave the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hand. Through this great victory, the Ammonites were completely subdued before the Israelites.

Judges 11:34: Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

After his God-given stunning victory over the Ammonites, Jephthah went home to Mizpah where who came running out the door of his home but his daughter, his only child (compare, Gen. 22:2; Jer. 6:26; Luke 9:38; Heb. 11:17; & esp. John 1:14; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). She greeted him "with tambourines and with dances" which was the norm for that time.

Judges 11:35: And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow. "

Jephthah immediately remembered his vow. This is the action of an honorable faithful man. He was now saddened because of the vow he had made (Judg. 11:29). But was he saddened because his vow was rash? The text doesn’t directly say this. What the text does state is that he was saddened that his vow would be applied to his own daughter. This implies that when he made his vow, he was possibly thinking of a servant and not a member of his own family.

Judges 11:36: And she said to him, "My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites."

Here we note that Jephthah is not condemned by his daughter for the oath he made to God. She doesn’t say, "What did you say to God?" She doesn't even appear stunned. How could this be if she was about to die? As a believer, she simply says to "do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth." Compare this to today if we get a diagnosis from a doctor for a terminal disease. What would we say? Benson's commentary put it this way: "Do not for my sake make thyself a transgressor; I freely give my consent to thy vow. Forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance, &c. — What a generous, noble, and pious answer is this of this virgin!"

Judges 11:37-38: So she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions." So he said, "Go." Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.

Say what? Let me go weep for my virginity? This is a very strange request if Jephthah‘s daughter was about to be offered literally as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. This text appears to contradict the literal interpretation of a child sacrifice. The daughter doesn’t even mention death! What does she speak of? Her virginity. She requests two months to lament her virginity.

The text doesn’t mention anyone weeping over the fact that someone was about to die. No, she and her friends wept over her virginity.

Judges 11:30-40: And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Jephthah fulfilled his vow to the Lord. How? He gave his daughter to the Lord's service, and in doing so she would never know a man. Jephthah’s daughter’s faithfulness was celebrated year after year in Israel.

It appears from this entire pericope that Jephthah’s vow meant that a member of his household would be dedicated to full-time service to the Lord. As a woman, this meant she couldn’t get married or have children. This would be something certainly to lament but would also glorify the Lord as God honors faithfulness. And this would be a biblical vow! (Exod. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22; cf. 1 Sam. 1:11, 22–28).

While he should have been more specific in his vow, it doesn’t appear to me from the entire text that Jephthah made a rash vow. And I don’t think he made a vow to kill anyone; that would have been an unbiblical vow that violated a very commandment of God himself. If he had made such an unbiblical vow, he shouldn’t have compounded his sin by becoming more of a serial sinner than he already was. (Nor should we!)

I believe the Non-Sacrificial View to be the correct understanding of Jephthah’s vow.