Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Book of Judges - Chapter 11 - Jephthah the Gileadite

Let me add that the terms "burnt sacrifice" or "sacrifice" do not always point to a literal sacrifice on an altar. Psalm 51:17 reads "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise." A broken spirit & a contrite heart aren't even visible & yet they are called sacrifices. David, who had committed adultery and murder was offering the only type of sacrifice that God would accept in that circumstance & God accepted it. This, of course, was in anticipation of what Jesus would do on the cross for David and ALL sinners a thousand years later.

To take a phrase like "burnt sacrifice/offering" and insist that it can ONLY, EVER be literal is an inflexable use of language that we don't live up to.

Now you sound like Ruth Bader Ginsburg claiming the text doesn't say what it says.

usually the fat of the animal was burnt and the meat consumed by the priests. Never was an animal burned alive. We don't absolutely know that Jephthah sacrificed his daughter, but I believe he did. I don't believe for a moment he burned her alive. That's nonsense. I'm sure he knew how the sacrifices were done, but he obviously did not know much more than that He was not right mentally after being driven out, shunned and being with "vain men" outside Israel. In his desire to be right with God, and in that he didn't know how, he made some big mistakes and his pride wouldn't allow him to correct them.

"Current consensus" means that the prejudices of the scholars are on exhibit. Example: Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered "scholars" contended that Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther & Daniel were written after the return of the Jews to the land, and after the time of the Maccabean overthrow of Antiochus Epiphanes. The Dead Sea Scroll discoveries FORCED the "scholars" to move the writing of Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther back several hundred years. The same evidence should have moved the date for the writing of Daniel back the same amount. Why didn't they? Answer: Because then Daniel would have been a true prophet and NO amount of evidence could be allowed to do that.

Well, that's definitely wrong. Judges starts right after the death of Joshua and ends telling us in that day Israel had no king. Saul was their first king and the Babylon captivity was many kings down the road. I thought you read the text. Read it again.

Thanks, I think. There are powerful lessons to be found in most every passage. Judges is one lesson after another as to the corruption of the flesh and a need for God. It also shows us we need more than law from God as we will pervert that law. We need a Savior and we need Grace. We find that in Jesus Christ.

You are very fortunate to have been born in the first and maybe only nation founded on pure (as pure as man has been able to distill them) Judeo-Christian principals and values, even if you chose to spit in their God's face because it's the first time in history that the concept of Grace, correctly interpreted, would allow it.

If you are referring to muslims, they act in the name of allah, and the God of Abraham and allah are as different as God as Satan, because that's who each is. They reject the Bible and are rejected by God, as a consequence. But they can be saved, as can you. I give you a better chance.

Ricky, regarding animals, you are correct. It's also why some animal temple sacrifices were done three times a day, Breakfast, lunch, and Dinner.

Child sacrifice was not uncommon at the time, the Phonecians, another Semitic people, practiced it, by some accounts almost up until the time of Christ. There are accounts of Phonecian mothers trying to smother their babies to death before the priests made them throw them into the fire. This was conducted at a "tofet" or "roasting place", it was a special alter constructed specifically for this purpose.

It's also interesting that Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, since prostitution was common in Phonecian temples, and the sons of the temple prostitutes were often raised to become priest. I suspect their could be some significants to this reference that would be obvious to the people of the day that is lost upon us.

"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." (Hebrews 13:15). What does this LITERALLY mean?

You are correct. Some cultures, if you can call them that, sacrificed newborns on red hot brazen images of their gods. These and people like them were who God wanted driven out by Joshua from the promised land, but that was not carried out in full, and barely in part.

God did not ask for human sacrifice and even the most corrupt priests knew He forbid such a horrible thing. That is why so many cannot accept that the sacrifice of His Son, who is God in the flesh, is so foreign to the Jew. But when you take in the Bible in it's entirety, it's perfect, because it is the one thing that men cannot do. Perfect mysteries only solved by surrender.

Not lost at all. All of Judges references temple whores. Read my windy post again. You might figure it out yet.

Hebrews was a New Testament text written 600-700 years later. It's content was not available to the authors of Judges or know to the authors of Judges, so the meaning of Judges cannot be interpreted though the lense of Hebrews. The old Testament is nasty and brutal, then New Testament is very different. This is why many Christians essentially disavow the Old Testament.

Dimebox,

Give it up. You don't have a leg to stand on here.

antelope_sniper & Ricky D,

You guys made some very good and thoughtful posts. Thanks for taking the time.

It doesn't say he burned her alive. They didn't burn sheep or cattle alive to make burnt offerings. They killed them then burned the meat on an alter.

Many times Judges repeats the statement "and every man did what was right in his own eyes". That means that they did what they darn well wanted to, ignoring God's laws. Even though they had the law, they were serious sinners. Yet, God was able to use them. Look at Samson. He was hardly a saint yet God used him to take vengeance on the Philistines.

No where does the Bible say that God honored Jephthah's sacrifice. In those days a vow meant something and when a man made one, he was expected to keep it. He'd put himself in an impossible position. To break his vow to God was bad enough, but to keep it was even worse. I think (but I'm not God) that God would have readily accepted a generous offering of any other kind.

Thanks for the replies...

Judges 19 is pretty awful as well...not a lot of concern for the women folk...


The owner of the house went outside and said to them, �No, my friends, don�t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don�t do this outrageous thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don�t do such an outrageous thing.�

But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.

Occasionally I see things in the Bible that baffle me. This is one of them. We know God could have intervened but didn't. Same thing with Pharaoh killing babies at Moses' time and at Jesus' time. It's the same way not in America.

The idea "I love you so much I killed My Kid for you," comes right out of John 3:16. He continues with, "If you don't accept My gift of killing My Son I will send you to Hell for rejecting My resurrected Son!" These make no sense, but God tells us His ways are not our ways and His ways are higher than our ways.

Folks who know me, now I have accepted His Gift and try to explain it by telling them, "He is the rule maker. We must accept God on His terms." When things really get messed up I remind myself of John Six: "To Whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life."

This part of the Bible is historcal narrative. It describes what happened, good or bad, in the history of God's people.
Jephthah made a really foolish vow, and he (and his daughter) paid the price.

It's my opinion, that in order to understand Judges 19, you have to read Judges 20, and you have to ask yourself a few basic questions.

I'm taking a few liberties with the story, but please stay with me....

So, this Levite of power and influence, goes to fetch his concubine, and gets put up for the night. We know he was a man of power and influence due to the size of the army he raises in the Judges 20. So, while he's outside his homeland, some of the locals, lead by "certain sons of Belial" form a mob and come after him. Since we know who's sons they were, it tells us their father was important, and possibly one of the local WarLords. It's likly the holligans were very well armed, and able to kill everyone in the house at will. This would leave his wife (you take a concubine after you already have a wife) an widow, and his children orphans, and that over which he influenced leaderless. So, he made the decision to give the mob the concubine that put him in his situtation to begin with, (he could reason it was her fault) and saved the lives of his host, his hosts family, and himself, and his servants.

When we look at why the levite killed his concubine the next morning, I see two possible explinations. In several places the Bible commands death for women who commit adultry, so it could be a consequence of following this law, but I think was a more practical reason:

19:28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered It's possible she was already dead. Even if she was still alive, she was in such bad condition she couldn't even answer him. They've got to get out of there, or the local thugs will probably return that night and finish the job.
She's in bad shape, all he has is a couple of donkeys, no horses, so if she isn't already dead, any attempt to move her home will cause her a long agonizing painful death.

So, he put an end to her agony, went home, raised and army and returned to seek his venagence.

Now, we must ask ourselves, why was this unnamed Levite able to raise such a large army? Probably because he was the leader of the Levites.
Why didn't the tribe of Benjiman the turn over the sons of Belial to the Levites? Because Belial was probably the leader of the Benjiman.
This dynamic would also explain why they felt it was necessary to raise the entire city. It would eliminate the powerbase of family that killed your concubine and tried to booger you.

This also explaines Judges 21 8-11 where they proceed to kill everyone (except for the virgins they need) in Jabeshgilead. Since Jebeshgilead failed to send the required troops to the battle (10% of their men of fighting age) they were in violation of their fealty agreement.

So, I guess you could say there are a couple of lessons in Judges 19-21.
Don't kill the neighbors wife, he may return with an army and raise your entire city.
If you feudal lord ask for a few troop, send them, or he may come and raise your entire city.