Featured Did Jephthah actually kill his daughter?

There is none, of course, but that’s the point of Judges. In Israel, everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes, not God’s

The Archangel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

That his daugther would not be a burnt offering is the Biblical position, Leviticus 1:1-17.

 

Of course, but that wouldn’t stop anyone from breaking the law. Sodomy is against the law, yet it features prominently at the end of the book.

The entire point of judges is that Israel has devolved into a Canaanite nation. Jepthah doesn’t follow the law; he is probably ignorant of it.

The Archangel


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Did God blindly honor Jephthah's vow? Is not God omniscient? Was God without breath to state explicitly Jephthah's sin? And no sin is cited against Jephthah. Jephthah's loss of decendants is noted.

 

At this point, I'm fairly certain you are not understanding the scope and sequence of Judges.

Where do we see God honoring Jepthath's vow? Why would you expect God to state things when He had already told Israel He would no longer deliver them and they should cry out to the idols they served? Why would sin need to be cited for it to be known? There are things in the text that are quite obvious.

For example: Is Samson the paragon of faithfulness to God? Not in the least. Is his breaking of his pre-natal Nazerite status explicitly mentioned as "sin?" No. Is it sin nonetheless? Of course.

The Archangel

 

". . . the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? . . . Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. . . ." -- Judges 10:11-13, would suggest that ". . . Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. . . ." -- Judges 11:32 was a prior event.

 

Well... no...

First of all, the Ammonites were part of the group that fought with Eglon, King of the Moabites. So, the Ammonites had already been defeated in chapter 3. This is not the first time we've seen them.

Secondly, the Jephthah cycle runs from 10:6-12:7 and the beginning of it 10:6-18 shows no signs of a "flashback," or any kind of out-of-order reporting of events. In fact, it would seem the use of the wayyiqtol is indeed outlining a chronological sequence. That isn't so obvious in English translations, but it is evident in the Hebrew.

Third--and back to the person of Jephthah--if you are holding him up as a good example (arguing he didn't kill his daughter when the text says he did), how do you process his subsequent actions, namely his killing of fellow Israelites from Ephraim?

Jephthah is not a good man, and he isn't presented that way by the author, but you'd have to know the flow of Judges well to know that.

The Archangel

 

So with the Jephtheh's vow God made an exception to His promise, "I will deliver you no more. . . ." -- Judges 10:11-13.

 

An exception? No. If you look carefully, Jephthah was not called to his position by God; he was called by the elders of Gilead. There is no evidence of real and lasting repentance by Israel. That God delivered Israel, even through the unscrupulous Jephthah, isn't a surprise. But, clearly the text is showing that Israel has broken the covenant and God--as He Himself notes--is under no obligation to deliver them. However, in His grace and mercy He does as "he became impatient over the misery of Israel." His deliverance of Israel is due to His character, not Israel's.

It still has to be dealt with that Jephthah--with no mandate or call from God--kills Israelites. That doesn't look like "deliverance."

The Archangel

 

As Keil expresses it,'' to bewail one's virginity does not mean to mourn because one has to die a virgin, but because one has to live and remain a virgin,'' this was done in the mountains most likely for modesty purposes.