Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — not Entertainment
WOULD YOU SKIN YOUR DAUGHTER FOR GOD? #2 of 3
The blood and guts of it
Story of Jephthah and his daughter
Spoiler alert
For the Time Poor, Jephthah’s daughter cannot be offered as a Burnt Offering to the Lord because a Human is not a Levitically clean animal on the list Yehovah prescribed in Leviticus. She is safe from the knife and, more than likely, will die naturally.
If that’s all you wanted to know, you can move on to more important things.
As mentioned in Part 1 of this series there are two significant Characters in this story, Jephthah and his Daughter, each having a major role; each to be dealt with individually. Jephthah and his social standing as Hebrew trash, as well as some other important Deplorables in Scriptures, were briefly covered in Part 1. Part 2 will cover his vow, as well as some salient points about the practicalities of the Burnt Offering.
No comment on the ethics of animal sacrifice is offered here. This post is just an attempt to clear up some of the questions raised by this story. If you are repulsed by all the blood, you will find in this post that God is also repulsed,
(It is a very early post so be gentle.)
It will be assumed that you have a working knowledge of the story. If you don’t, it is highly recommended that you read Judges 11 or you’ll miss the nuances. (So many nuances, so little time.) It is also highly recommended that you read WOULD YOU SKIN YOUR DAUGHTER FOR GOD? #1 so you’ll know where to pick up the story.
The vow. Look closely at the wording.
Judges 11:30–31 || And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
The promise to kill his daughter is a Big Deal. It would have been prudent for him to check it out with the Professionals first.
The story develops in Judges 11:34–35 || When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.”
Ooops! That’s not what I meant!
Even to me it is obvious that Jephthah had a rush of blood to the head and was caught up in the excitement of the moment …. then. But now it’s the cold light of day. His reaction implies that killing his Daughter never crossed his mind. (NOTE: I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the first recorded case of victim-blaming the female. Adam blaming Yehovah Elohim for giving him that woman in Genesis 3:12 is in a different league.)
What would you do if you were Jephthah? It came as a surprise to me that we NT Saints are in his place more often than we think.
We saw in Part 1 that, under the auspices of Deuteronomy 23:2, Jephthah was forbidden to enter the assembly. He had enough knowledge to know Who to ask for help but, if he had been better taught, he would know what to do now he had realised his blunder.
But let’s look on this as a teaching opportunity. If he had done his scheduled Torah Portions there are a few things he would have known.
What does Yehovah stipulate as an acceptable Burnt Offering to the Lord?
It must be remembered that God says what He means and means what He says. He lays down the rules which must be scrupulously followed. The episode of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, being consumed by fire because they did not follow God’s Instruction (Leviticus 10:1–7) shows He is to be taken seriously.
The opening verses of Leviticus describe five Offerings to the Lord.
Four of these are Blood Sacrifices, the Burnt Offering being one. All Offerings are eaten by either the Priest or the one making the presentation, or both, except for this one. It is consumed on the Alter — except for the hide, which is taken by the Priest. (The red heifer of Numbers 19 is in a different category.)
The pertinent points are:-
• The acceptable sex of the animal is male.
• The animals accepted by the Lord are of the herd (bull), the flock (ram [lamb or kid]), or bird (turtledoves or young pigeons).
[The process for the bird is applicable to only a small animal so not considered here.]
A HUMAN BODY IS NOT ON THE MENU!
You could finish right here but more evidence is added to muzzle the butwhatifs.
Gleaning through the Instructions given in Leviticus, the prescribed procedure for the Burnt Offering is:-
• Man presenting the Offering leans forcefully on the head and slaughters the offering.
• Priest deals with blood in a special way.
• Man skins and carves up the offering.
• Man washes innards and legs.
• Priest deals with fire wood and arranges parts of body on the Altar.
• Priest lights it up.
[God has blessed me with a Jewish Shaliach, one of those dudes with beards and dressed in black. His specialty is the Temple Practices. He verified the preceding list.]
Anything else?
It is written in Leviticus 17:8–9 that whoever offers a burnt offering must bring it to the door of the Tabernacle because the Lord had provided the proper place. The Jephthah episode was long after the era of Leviticus so the offering had to be made at the Tabernacle. Consequently, another party (the Priest) had to deal with the girl’s blood in a prescribed way and arrange the parts of her butchered body in a specific manner. It is emphasised in Luke 17:1–3 and 1 Corinthians 10:13 that the eternal expectation of someone who causes someone else to sin is dire. The Priest would be complicit in an action not prescribed by God. He would remember Nadab and Abihu.
You decide if he would choose to be part of this caper.
More Background — The Law of Moses
There is a Paradox.
The first Civil Law laid down by Yehovah is that of murder being a Capital Crime, Genesis 9:5–6 || Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
AND
God makes it obvious that He loathes and detests human sacrifice; Leviticus 18:21; Jeremiah 32:35; 2 Chronicles 28:3; Jeremiah 32:35; Leviticus 18:21; Exodus 13.2, Numbers 3.3, Deuteronomy 12:31.
BUT
God makes it clear that He expects people to keep their vows, to Him and to people. As is written in Numbers 30:1–2 || Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
AND
Deuteronomy 23:21–23 || “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.
AND
Even if it is an unintentional rash vow, even if it is a vow to do evil, it must be dealt with, as is written in Leviticus 5:4–5 || ‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it — when he realises it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters. ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;
HOWEVER
Leviticus 5:4 || ‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it — when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.
Let’s have a careful look at what actually happened
Judges 11:34–35 || When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it.”
Important points
• The tearing of the clothes is one of the customary signs of grief (along with sackcloth and ashes).
• The vow was invalid, concerning his daughter, because she could not be on the menu. Not even his pet dog, for the same reason. His best bull would have been OK, but not even his best milking cow because of the sex — a Burnt Offering.
Is there anything Jephthah could have done to clear up this bungle?
Yes, the Lord knows he is dealing with Humanity which, even Solomon showed, is not very bright. When Jephthah went to the professionals in the Tabernacle (wouldn’t you seek legal advice?) he would have found it is written in Leviticus 5:5–6 || ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. He could confess his sin and it would become a trespass, the penalty for which he could honour. His best milking cow would now be acceptable because it was a different kind of offering.
THE GIRL DID NOT HAVE TO BE KILLED, SKINNED, BUTCHERED, AND THE BODY COMPLETELY CONSUMED ON THE ALTER.
But he had still made the vow of an offering.
As an added safeguard it was possible to buy back someone consecrated to the Lord. Leviticus 27 lists the cost of doing so. The cost to redeem a maid the age of Jephthah’s daughter would be ten shekels of silver.
If he had been better taught, Jephthah would have known that Torah allows for human frailty in actions not done in direct defiance of God.
Coming up next: Jephthah could find out what he could do to recover the situation for himself, but his daughter acceded to his initial vow. What were her options?
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(We all have a plank in our eye. It’s bigger than we think.)
