Biblical Hebrew Forum

[SheMichael AT aol.com]

The motif of the rash vow is appears a number of times, but sons do not suffer
and die: daughters, however, may die as a consequence.  Also, the reason
Jephthah is expelled from the family is that his mother is a "zonah".  I think
that in the thinking of the redactor, the ending of the lineage of a
prostitute is no loss.  (Tamar, of course, is not a "real" prostitute, she is
pretending to be one for the good of the family.  Rehav's family is allowed to
dwell in the land, but they're not adopted as Israelites, at first.)

Sheila Shiki y Michaels

In a message dated 9/15/98 1:29:38 AM EST, yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il
writes:

<< No one has mentioned the parallel with 1 Sam. 14, where Saul vows
 whoever has eaten food on that day (of the Battle of Michmash) will die,
 even if it be his own son. <....> Both Jud. 11 and 1 Sam. 14 are examples of
rash vows which, if fulfilled, will bring tragedy upon the father who has
taken the vow.
 Both narratives exhibit the same literary motif.  >>

<<Ita Sheres wrote:
> ...Jeph. is not portrayed as spiritually whole as you suggest;<....>  he is
an outcast <....>family throws him out >>

 Ron Rhoades <rrhoades AT jps.net> replies:
sacrifice on the part of both Jephthah and his daughter, <....> She 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. Barrenness was an
extreme calamity.>>