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b-hebrew - RE: The daughter of Jeftah died?

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  • From: "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>
  • To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: The daughter of Jeftah died?
  • Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 13:27:34 -0600


>
> Matthew Miller wrote: "A couple of things to note about Jeptah:
> 1. He is never praised for keeping his oath, but only for winning the
> battle.
> 2. Even if he did kill his daughter, it cannot be right. For, this would
> mean that, anytime one desires to sin, all he need do is "vow" to sin, and
> then he will be morally obligated to sin."
>
> I didn't mean to imply that Jephthah was "right" to keep his vow. When
> Jephthah's daughter came out of the house and when Jonathan confessed to
> eating honey the one who had made the vow was caught in a no-win situation
> -- there is no longer any "right" thing to do.
>
> Saul and Jephthah each came to the place where they had to choose between
> two sins, and they went opposite ways. Saul went back on his oath.
> Jephthah committed human sacrifice. The consequence to Jephthah was the
> loss of his daughter. The consequence to Saul was the loss of his dynasty
> -- that was the outcome in history of "may God do such-and-such to me and
> add more to it" (1 Sam 14:44).
[snip]

Actually, Samuel had already told Saul that he would lose his
dynasty back in chapter 13 when Saul made a sacrifice on his own
without waiting for Samuel. So loss of his kindgom doesn't
necessarily relate to his broken oath.

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"Don't let your mind wander.
It's too little to be left alone."






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