Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

> 
> 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."