Jephtha

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This article is about the Judge of Israel. For the oratorio see Jephtha (oratorio).

Judges in Bible
In the Book of Judges
Othniel
Ehud
Shamgar
Deborah and Barak
Gideon
Abimelech
Tola
Jair
Jephtha
Ibzan
Elon
Abdon
Samson
In the First Book of Samuel
Eli
Samuel
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Jephtha (Heb./Aram. יפתח Yiftach / Yipthaχ) is a character in the Old Testament who served as one of the Judges in Israel for a period of six years (Judges 12:7) between the conquest of Canaan and the first king. Jephtha lived in Gilead and was a member of the Tribe of Manasseh. He is also called Jephtha in other bible references. His father's name was also Gilead.

The Return of Jephtha, by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini.

Being driven out by his half-brothers, he took up dwelling in Tob, east of Gilead. Here some men opposing the Ammonites put themselves under his command. (Judges 11:3) When Israel was gathering to go to war against Ammon, they looked for a God-appointed man and decided to go to Jephtha.

Before leaving for the war, he vowed unto God that if he were to return home victorious, "whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house" to meet him would be given to God. He was victorious, and return he did, but he was met by his daughter an only child. It is written that after much mourning she died as a childless, unmarried virgin.

The event has been the subject of many debates among readers. Some have argued that this was a practice of dedicating women to virginity, but others regard it likely that he really sacrificed her as an offering. The judaean writer Josephus actually believed that she was literally sacrificed, depicting the incident as follows:

But as he came back, he fell into a calamity no way correspondent to the great actions he had done; for it was his daughter that came to meet him; she was also an only child and a virgin: upon this Jephtha heavily lamented the greatness of his affliction, and blamed his daughter for being so forward in meeting him, for he had vowed to sacrifice her to God. However, this action that was to befall her was not ungrateful to her, since she should die upon occasion of her father's victory, and the liberty of her fellow citizens: she only desired her father to give her leave, for two months, to bewail her youth with her fellow citizens; and then she agreed, that at the forementioned thee he might do with her according to his vow. Accordingly, when that time was over, he sacrificed his daughter as a burnt-offering, offering such an oblation as was neither conformable to the law nor acceptable to God, not weighing with himself what opinion the hearers would have of such a practice.

Smith's Bible Dictionary from the 1860's also claims that the offering was literal:

Vowing his vow unto God, (Judges 11:31) that he would offer up as a burn offering whatsoever should come out to meet him if successful, he went forth to battle. The Ammonites were routed with great slaughter; but as the conqueror returned to Mizpeh there came out to meet him his daughter, his only child, with timbrels and dancing. The father is heart-stricken; but the maiden asks only for a respite of two months in which to prepare for death. When that time was ended she returned to her father, who "did with her according to his vow".......That the daughter of Jephtha was really offered up to God in sacrifice is a conclusion which it seems impossible to avoid.

Others highly disagree, such as Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), which says:

She utters no reproach against her father's rashness, and is content to yield her life since her father has returned a conqueror. But was it so? Did Jephtha offer up his daughter as a "burnt-offering"? This question has been much debated, and there are many able commentators who argue that such a sacrifice was actually offered. We are constrained, however, by a consideration of Jephtha's known piety as a true worshiper of YHWH, his evident acquaintance with the law of Moses, to which such sacrifices were abhorrent (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2-5; Deuteronomy 12:31), and the place he holds in the roll of the heroes of the faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 11:32), to conclude that she was only doomed to a life of perpetual celibacy.

Ancient Jewish writers interpreted it as a human sacrifice, as seen explicitly, for example, in the classical Pseudo-Philo, where the daughter sings a lament about her impending death and its necessity to fulfil Jephtha's vow. That Jephtha's daughter was indeed offered as a burnt-offering was also the common opinion amongst Fathers of the Christian Church since the Holy Spirit is said to be upon Jephtha when he made his vow. According to their interpretation Jephtha was foreshadowing the sacrifice of Jesus. Leviticus 27:16-29 is used in support of both positions. On one hand it can be argued that these items are destroyed, but the cited text also allows for ransoming and also mentions land which can not be destroyed and was traditionally turned over for temple use. Some Jewish sources claim that Jephtha may have expected an "unclean" animal such as a dog to greet him upon returning home. Alternatively, the main point of this story may be to instruct young girls as to how to behave should they ever be selected for service (verses 37-38). That is, it could be a normative tale. Whatever the case, it became a custom in Israel (perhaps only in the region of Gilead) that women should go out four days every year and lament the daughter of Jephtha. This custom is still practiced by some Gilghadic Isarlaeans during the last four days of Spring (in the month of Khordad), just before the summer solstice.

Later, Jephtha went to war against the Ephraimites, who refused to acknowledge him. The story is remembered for the killing of the fugitive Ephraimites who were identified by their accent; they said the Hebrew word shibboleth as sibboleth. In this rebellious action, 42,000 people lost their lives (Judges 12:5,6).