Replies

From: Judges 11:29-39a

Jephthah’s rash vow

[29] Then the Spirit of the Lord came 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. [30] And Jephthah made a vow to
the Lord, and said, “If thou wilt give the Ammonites into my hand, [31] then
whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return
victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer him up for
a burnt offering.”

Jephthath’s victory over the Ammonites

[32] So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the
Lord gave them into his hand. [33] And he smote them from Aroer to the neigh-
borhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a very great
slaughter. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

In fulfillment of his vow, Jephthah sacrifices his daughter

[34] Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter
came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child;
beside her he had neither son nor daughter. [35] And when he saw her, he rent
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 have opened by mouth
to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” [36] And she said to him, “My fa-
ther, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has
gone forth from your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies,
on the Ammonites.” [37] And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for
me; let me alone two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains, and
bewail my virginity, I and my companions.” [38] And he said, “Go.” And he sent
her away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and be-
wailed her virginity upon the mountains. [39] And at the end of two months, she
returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had made.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

11:29-40. The Bible contains clear laws which, in addition to forbidding the kil-
ling of an innocent person (Ex 23:7), regard human sacrifice as a very grave sin,
a crime and a form of idolatry (cf. Lev 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut 12:31; 18:10; Mic 6:7).
Human sacrifice was common among Israel’s neighbours, as can be seen from
Ugarit and Phoenician texts and from the book of Kings (2 Kings 3:27) which
reports the sacrificing of the first-born son of Mesha, king of Moab; there even
seems to have been an instance of it in Israel (cf. 2 Kings 16:3). But in all cases
it is condemned. However, the sacrificing of Jephthah’s daughter is reported with-
out any clear negative criticism and the event was commemorated year by year
(v. 40). The episode certainly is disconcerting, but it may be that the author (wri-
ting at a time when no one was in any doubt about human sacrifice being an abo-
mination) chose to respect the traditions that had come down, cruel and harsh
though they were, in order to convey a lesson about the sacredness of vows and
promises. Vows are such holy things that they should always be kept. But, for
that very reason, they should not be made rashly. This teaching is repeated else-
where in the Bible in reaction to abuses involved in the fulfillment of vows, espe-
cially by those who made them hurriedly and then went back on them (cf. Num
30:3; Deut 23: 22-24; Eccles 5:3-4; cf. also Lev 27:1ff).

When revelation reaches its fullness, the doctrine on vows and promises made
to God becomes quite clear: a person may, out of devotion, promise God that he
will perform some act – say some prayer, give alms or do some other good work.
Keeping this promise is a sign of respect for God’s majesty and of love towards
a faithful God. Sometimes, that promise may take the form of a vow, that is, of
“a deliberate and free promise made to God, concerning some good which is pos-
sible and better” (Code of Canon Law, c. 1191, 1) which “is an act of devotion in
which the Christian dedicates himself to God or promises him some good work”
(”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 2102). If having made a promise or vow, one
realizes that one has promised something wrong, one clearly should not keep
the promise: to do so would not be proof of fidelity to God; it would be sacrile-
gious. Therefore, Jephthah’s action cannot be justified.

11:37. Jephthah’s daughter asks him to delay carryout out his vow so that she
can “bewail her virginity”, that is, lament that fact that she will die before marrying
or conceiving a child. These were ambitions of every Israelite woman and not to
have achieved them would have been a reason for feeling ashamed and sorrow-
ful.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and