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In Judges 11, Jephthah vows to give whatever comes out of the door of his house as a burnt offering.

Judges 11:30-40 (ESV) [emphases mine]

30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 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."

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances.

39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made.

  1. Did Jephthah really sacrifice his daughter? This clearly couldn't be the will of God (e.g. Jeremiah 7:31, 19:5, 32:35).
  2. What did Jephthah mean by his vow?
  3. Surely he knew who lived in his house, and had some expectations on what could come out of the door?
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5 Answers 5

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This is an odd passage, since, as you noted, he would certainly have known his household. Also, the Law of Moses strictly forbade human sacrifice, particularly the sacrifice of one's own children, categorizing it as an abomination before the Lord, so such an offering would never have been acceptable to God anyway.

It's interesting to note that the mourning of Jephthah's daughter and her companions was not for her life, but for her virginity; she would never have the blessing (it was still unequivocally considered a blessing back then) of having children. And verse 39 says "she had never known a man" in the ESV, but the KJV renders it in present tense: "[Jephthah] did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man"

Taken together, these points suggest that she may have been "offered to the Lord" in a different way: as a consecrated servant of God of some sort which would preclude her getting married and having children.

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    "knew" is not present tense.
    – Flimzy
    Sep 18, 2011 at 6:54
  • @Flimzy: Umm... yeah, I suppose, but it's more present-ish than the tense used by the ESV. Formal names of verb tenses isn't really my strong suit. The basic idea here is that she continued to know no man.
    – Mason Wheeler
    Sep 18, 2011 at 11:48
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    The ESV you quoted uses 'past perfect' tense. The KJV you quoted uses 'simple past' tense. I think the only difference here is that the KJV's point of reference is more ambiguous. In ESV, it's clear that "at that time she knew no man," where as KJV could mean "at that time she knew no man" or "for ever she knew no man."
    – Flimzy
    Sep 18, 2011 at 17:10
  • @Flimzy. If my memory is right, Hebrew inflects more for aspect than for tense, so translation can be tricky.
    – TRiG
    Apr 4, 2012 at 13:28
  • it was still unequivocally considered a blessing back then of having children Amen; my wife and I both consider our children to be great blessings. :) Nov 9, 2017 at 17:05
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To me the most convincing argument against Jephthah putting her daughter to death is the fact that she lamented her virginity, not an imminent death.

Jephthah may have had an opportunity to redeem his daughter as per the rules laid out in Leviticus 27. But he didn't do it, making him essentially respect the vow even while it wasn't easy. There's an entire chapter about valuations for redeeming a person on a special vow.

I found my way to this question about Jephthah's daughter when looking for an explanation to this verse:

Leviticus 27:29 (ESV)

No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

This doesn't offer a direct answer to the original question, but I think this is a highly relevant commandment.

I came across interesting points made by Jeff Hamilton:

  1. The Hebrew word for devoted in this case is cherem: devoted to the ban (if anyone can confirm or debunk this, please do)
    • For example, the destruction of Jericho was done under a ban: nothing was to be taken from Jericho, except what was to be used in the Lord's service. Any person under the ban could not be redeemed. He had to be put to death.
    • According to Hamilton, the Hebrew word cherem is not used in the story of Jephthah's daughter.
    • On the contrary, Leviticus 27:28 discusses man that a man has devoted to the Lord – this would be the type of vow that Jephthah meant.
  2. Interesting, but probably wrong: As the first born child, Jephthah's daughter had been already been redeemed once, and thus couldn't be bought back again
    • Since she had already been redeemed as the first born child, she could not be bought back. I suppose this, at least, is wrong, because only a first born son is redeemed. Daughter isn't.
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According to other scholars the "and" can be translated "or" as well. So he promised to dedicate "whstever" came out the door OR if it wasnt a person the make burnt offering... which is also a dedication.

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There are numerous tantalising fragments in the Old Testament referring to traditions of human sacrifice by the early Hebrews. Mark S. Smith examines the biblical record in The Early History of God and says that child sacrifice was Judean practice as late as the seventh century BCE. He says that the denials in Jereremiah 7:31; 19:5 and 32:35 that human sacrifices were offered in Yahweh's name may suggest that sacrifices were wrongfully being made in Yahweh's name. At some stage after the Deuteronomic History was written the practice had ceased and biblical references had become an embarrassment, so that the record appears to have been censored to remove this infamy.

Among other extant references, King Ahaz of Judah is criticised in 2 Chronicles 28:3 because he worshipped as all the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom) had done and because he sacrificed his children, with this reference likely allowed to remain because he was detested by later historians:

2 Chronicles 28:1-3: Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

The pericope in Judges 11:30-40, where Jephthah sacrificed his daughter to God may have been allowed to remain intact because the victim was only female. It probably is based on a true event, but the vow and its inevitable outcome were probably elaborations.

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The answer is NO, he did not literally kill her and use her for the burnt offering.
It is figurative use of language.

She bewailed her virginity for two months and she knew no man after that. There is no human sacrifice.

It is sometimes best to not read into the text something that is not there.

Using the bible only you cannot gather that he literally sacrificed his daughter.

Obviously, he dedicated her to the LORD as did Hannah and others.


The threads here show that nothing has been gained by referencing Hebrew and various versions. Often we do not like or understand how some things are in the Bible and will go to some lengths to find fault or even defend it unnecessarily. More common is the tendency to insist it really says something else.

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    Welcome to Christianity.SE. I edited your answer to corect a few minor grammar/usage errors, and to tone down the somewhat confrontational style. (The issue of the KJ Bible is off topic) Please edit this again if you feel something important was lost. Also, please take the tour and visit the help center to get a feel for how this Q&A site works best. Nov 9, 2017 at 17:04

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