Discuss Judges 11 Page 2

In verse 37 Jephthah's daughter requested to go away and cry for a few months. This shows that although she was willing to fulfill her father's vow, this was a difficult thing for her to do.

Martha - You are quite right. But an animal didn't rush to meet him. God stipulated only animal sacrifices. The daus. sacrifice was her virginity; she could never marry and have children, because of Jepthah's vow. It was the longed for expectation of every woman of Israel to be the one to produce the Messiah. All Israelites kept animals for food, sacrifices. So Jepthah just chose a 'perfect' one.

This story has long puzzled me but pondering again has helped. It appears Jepthah made his vow with the help of the Holy Spirit. KJ margin says "or I will offer it up for a burnt offering." Could it be that a favorite animal would have rushed to meet him as well? Sacrificing children was an abomination so she likely became fully dedicated to the Lord, as true ministers still do, as Jesus sent his.

You know,I was thinking about it,although GOD may not like human sacrifice,even if GOD was JESUS in HUMAN form,JESUS was pure,also a virgin I kind of think that this kind of offering is the most purest,due to being untouched and their love for the LORD, JESUS was in human form and was the only begotten son,and this day was what made SALVATION possible,so as hard as it comes across,it was selfless.

"Come now, let us REASON together ..... "; why anyone would even WANT to believe God allowed human sacrifice - when He came (His spirit, for God IS spirit) as the body of Jesus to SAVE us from death - is beyond me. Jesus was God in human flesh.

Jud. 11:34-40; Matt. Henry commentary - "It is hardtop say what Japheth did ... but human sacrifice is abomination to God. It is th'ot she remained a virgin and apart from her fam.

1 Kgs. 11:1-10; God left and cursed Solomon for his human sacrifice to Molech, Chemosh. Solomon started out good, but ended badly. God saved Isaac; it was a test of Abraham's faith.

The scripture about Japheth'vow and the following scripture about his daughter brought quite a bit of discussion in our Bible study group. The majority of them use a KJV, and it is very ambiguous. The NIV clearly stated his daughter went up into the hills with her friends to grieve that she would never have children or a family. Also, Zapheth did as he vowed. To me that means she was killed.

You believe in your self dia and know ur self like jephthah!!

surely God employs the meek, the rejects, the unwise .....to confound the wise, hallelujah. Jehovah loathes human sacrifice! its one of the sins that made Him drive out the heathen tribes. Just as a lamb was substituted for Isaac, the Holy spirit led Jephtha to a suitable substitute. As Christians we should practice leadership and transformational roles turning vain and light lives into conquorers

Jephthah kept his vow to God even though it was hard to keep. He took his vow seriously and made sure to follow through.

Jephthah and his daughter had very great faith; and with their faith was an excellent spirit of understanding and courage, both to call upon the Lord and to follow through with all their might; and to not have second thoughts, when the holy life walking with God touched their natural and necessary comforts. How much does it matters to God, if people keep memorials, but don't imitate the character?

The comment by John Vian makes a lot of since. Thank you John Vian.

Ecclesiates 9:15 If one should look at the characteristic of WISDOM and also the end-product of WISDOM, one will come to understand the fact that one of the products of WISDOM is UPLIFTMENT or PROMOTION.But in this case the writer shouldn 't have ascribed the word WISDOM to the poor man in question. The man was not a man of WISDOM from biblical perspectives.For instance, JUDGES 11:1-11 but was knowledgeabl in that regard. I therefore, do not try to oppos or contradict that biblical illustrations of this story,but rather giving a clearer differentiation between, 1, being KNOWLEDGEABLE, 2, and being fill or full of WISDOM.I do not equally subscribe to or mean that one should try to get his or her rewards through mental or diplomatic manipulation but in most cases we should learn to lean on GOD just as in the case of Mordecai in the book of ESTHER 2:21-23.

If you suffered REJECTION, do not go about rejecting others! Let people feel loved and accepted when they come to you. When you know who you are, you will always know who you are.....and what God created you to be. But first, you must know WHO you REALLY are! Add value to someones live...get over rejection!

31. ...shall surely be the LORD 'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. This was his vow 39. ....who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. makes no doubt he kept the same exact vow

Jephthah daughter wept, not over her death but over her "virginity ", for it was the desire of every Israelite man and woman to have children and to keep the family name and inheritance alive. So it was a real sacrifice on the part of both Jephthah and his daughter, for he had no other children and she would never have relations with a man.

John Vian understands- He has it right. It was her virginity. She wasn 't offered as a human sacrifice as in being murdered. In the manuscripts it actually says "I will offer it instead of a burnt offering ".

The Basic English bible has a wrong translation of Judges 11:31. Jdg 11:31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD 'S, and I will offer it the vow up for a burnt offering. The word "it " was never to be used in reference to any male or female. "A substitute or pronoun of the neuter gender, sometimes called demonstrative, and standing for any thing except males and females " - Webster 's definition for the word "it. " God 's Word makes it very clear that the vows were to be made by sacrificing an animal on the alter unto the LORD. Lev 7:16 But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten: Lev 22:21 And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted there shall be no blemish therein. And as we read further on, it was Jephthah 's daughter who was the first person to come out of his house to greet him. Some people will think that he offered his daughter up as a burnt sacrifice, this is wrong because we are not to perform human sacrifice unto the LORD. The sacrifice was in dedicating her solely unto the LORD for His purposes in the temple. This means she had to stay a virgin for the rest of her life, thus she wept because of her virginity, knowing that she will never be married unto any other but unto the LORD. Jdg 11:38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. Jdg 11:39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: He dedicated her unto the LORD for His services and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, Jdg 11:40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. They were lamenting her virginity.

Jephtah made a grand request to the Lord of Hosts .He asked the Lord of armies to fight on behalf of Israel and in turn Jephtah would offer a burnt offering of whatever comes first to greet him from his conquest.Here the test of faith lies with Japhta himself because God had already proved and still proves his unquestionable ability to redeem Israel from the grip of her adversaries right from Pharoah to the waters of the Red Sea through to the Amalekites ,Philistines etc.Here God makes to come out first Japhtah 's only daughter in order to ascertain whether Japhtah in his Carnal state would go back on his word because where Japhtah 's heart was there God touched.I assume this was a great test of obedience and l commend Japhtah for having honored his word.

Be diligent and unbiased , study the word 'lament ' in context with the story and you will find your answer

the dougther was dedicated to d service of GOD all the days of her life

I marvel at the knowledge Jephtar has in th the history of Israel. He knows that he is going to fight to possess what is justly Israel's and the who gave it to Israel will be on his side. How much more should Christians reclaim their relationship with God and the victory that goes with it.

When I looked at this text I see Jephther as a man with a great leadership skill.His ability to turn useless men to mighty warriors is commendable.Rev king Mac. Nigeria.

This is a follow-up to my original comment from 6/21/13. Upon further study and consideration, I was wrong in my first statement concerning Jephthah's vow. I believe he probably dedicated his daughter to service for the Lord. I think that others have posted similar thoughts along the same line regarding this. My other position conflicted with the character of Almighty God.

As Matthew Henry stated, various views exist concerning the outcome of Jephthahs' daughter. My best guess is he probably expected one of his animals (pets/livestock) to greet him. Unfortunately, his daughter was the first to meet him from the house. I believe she did pay with her life, although not by being burned. She may have been stoned to death or executed with a dagger (ie. Abraham and Issac). The main lesson is don't speak rashly or too spontaneously when conversing with God. Let your yea be yea and your nay be nay. God would have granted his petition without such a vow having to be made.

This chapter is saying whatever you promise God at the beginning of your relationship with him, keep it. No matter how hard life gets show God you still trust in him. Because things in life will try to cause you to lose focus on him whether good or bad.

@Sue,
That simply means she had to spend all her life in the Lord’s service; and that excluded her from marriage, business and ownership. She could therefore bear no children.
She had to live a life fully dedicated to God, in the Temple, with prayers and fasting.
God bless you.

I do not understand? Was she to die or be killed or just be childless? Or was she to be a burnt offering?

What was the name of Jephthah 's Daughter

He is fearing God