Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT hotkey.net.au>]

> 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.

Matthew, I don't think the situation was as simple as this. Jephthah had vowed
to make a thank offering to his God -- nothing wrong with that. Furthermore, 
the
theology of the Deuteronomic Historian is very firmly that everything is in
YHWH's control. Therefore, when Jephthah's daughter walks out of the house to
greet her father, we could also see the hand of YHWH behind it. If Jephthah's
pet goat had walked out, how would the situation be different?

The narrative is about Jephthah fulfilling an obligation to YHWH -- that is 
the
primary concern. It is a secondary concern that it was his daughter. This is 
not
to deny the hopelessness of the dilemma. However, I don't think we can say 
that
Jephtah sinned by sacrificing his daughter. If we do say that, then we would
also have to say that biblical literature sees the notion of sacred ban as 
also
sinful, when clearly it is not -- it is the express of wish of YHWH. Saul 
loses
his own life on account of not killing people.

Therefore, we might have to say that the killing is not wrong per se. In 
fact, I
would hesitate to use the word 'killing' in this case. It is a sacrifice, not 
a
murder.

We might want to compare the demand for Isaac's sacrifice as an incineration
offering. Although YHWH prevents the deed, he demands it. The prevention of 
the
deed is not because the deed is wrong, but because Isaac was the heir of the
promise made to Abraham. Notice how Abraham never objects to the sacrifice, 
but
ios eventually commended for going through with it.

Ps 15.1-4 again - I think it expresses the sentiment well:

O Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tent? Who
shall dwell on thy holy hill?
 2 He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right, and speaks truth from his
heart;
 3 who does not slander with his tongue, and does no evil to his friend, nor
takes
up a reproach against his neighbor;
 4 in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the
Lord; ***who swears to his own hurt and does not change...***


Best regards,

Dr GEORGE ATHAS
Lecturer of Biblical Languages
Southern Cross College
Sydney, Australia