Judges 11:35, commentary and pictures

When he returned victorious over the Ammonites and his only daughter came out to meet him, he tore his clothes and cried out in grief that she had brought him very low and troubled him because his spoken vow to the LORD bound him and he could not go back. He did not put her to death as a burnt offering, for human sacrifice was forbidden by the law and would have been sin in the highest degree offensive to God, but he fulfilled his vow by devoting her to the LORD for lifelong virginity and seclusion, unmarried and childless and set apart for religious duties. His lament that she had brought him very low was over the loss of all hope of descendants and the ending of his family line, and his sorrow was over her lifelong loss of establishing a household and becoming a mother in Israel. Those who held the opposite held that he actually devoted her as a sacrifice in fulfillment of his vow. The verse stands as an example of a rash oath, showing the distress and folly of binding oneself to an outcome one cannot control, where unforeseen circumstances turn the vow into grief. Feeling bound does not permit doing what is unlawful, for a higher obligation to God takes away the right to make an unlawful vow so that the sin is in making it and not in breaking it, while his self-denial in giving up his only child to perpetual celibacy and ending his posterity reminds of God's giving of His only Son at Calvary.

Meaning of Jephthah's Lament

The lament records Jephthah tearing his clothes and crying out in grief when his only daughter came out to meet him after his victory over the Ammonites. He told her she had brought him very low and was among those troubling him, because he had opened his mouth with a spoken vow to the LORD and could not go back or withdraw it. His vow bound him to give to God whatever first came out in whatever manner circumstances permitted, and her arrival made its fulfillment painful to him. His words that she had brought him very low describe his loss of all hope of descendants and the ending of his family line, not trouble caused by her being put to death. Her coming meant she would remain unmarried and childless for life, so that his line would end with her.

He did not offer her as a burnt offering or human sacrifice, for human sacrifice was forbidden by law and would have been unlawful sin in the highest degree offensive to God. His lament was therefore not because she was to be killed, but because the vow required dedicating her to the LORD and giving up all hope of posterity. He fulfilled the vow by devoting her to the LORD for lifelong virginity and celibacy, to remain unmarried, unaffianced, childless and set apart for religious duties, service and seclusion. She was dedicated to remain unmarried for the rest of her days, so that he died without posterity and his line was wiped out in Israel.

His sorrow was over her lifelong loss of establishing a household and of becoming a mother in Israel and ranking among the mothers of Israel and among the progenitors of the promised Messiah. That loss of marriage and motherhood explains his grief at seeing his only child devoted in this way. Her companions honored the loss by visiting her yearly in sympathy for her seclusion and in esteem for her filial obedience. His daughter nobly accepted the vow and its consequence, acknowledging that the LORD had given him victory over the Ammonites and giving up her hope of becoming a mother in Israel.

Those who held the opposite reading taught that the verse records Jephthah actually devoting his daughter as a sacrifice in fulfillment of his vow. This true Old Testament occurrence became the foundation for the monstrous heathen story of Iphigenia being sacrificed by her father Agamemnon. The account in Judges 11:30-40 to which the verse belongs raises the puzzling question whether Jephthah sacrificed his daughter.

Lessons and Connections

The verse stands as an example of a rash oath, showing the distress of one who binds himself by a vow to an outcome he cannot control. It is the folly of making rash vows or promises, where unforeseen circumstances turn the vow into grief. Like Herod's oath to give the daughter of Herodias whatever she asked, which led to the beheading of John the Baptist at age 33 in the fortress of Machaerus during Herod's birthday feast, it warns against such binding promises. Herod's action also shows the danger of deciding while partaking freely of intoxicating wine.

The vow was godless, a gamble staked on one cast of the dice. It belongs to a sorrowful incident in which an innocent person suffered through yielding to social fashion. Feeling bound by the words spoken does not permit doing what is unlawful, for a prior and higher obligation to God takes away the right to make an unlawful vow or oath. The sin is therefore in making such a vow and not in breaking it, and God accepts no act that comes to Him at the cost of murdering other duties. Although a good person may do wrong impulsively under passion, Jephthah had time to consider his vow and was in a religious frame of mind, so his moral sense would have prevented him from sacrificing her.

His words of grief express the cost of surrender, for he gave up his only child to perpetual celibacy and ended his line of posterity. That self-denial is a reminder of God's giving of His only Son at Calvary. Jephthah belongs with Gideon, David, Joshua and Barzillai among the mighty men of war raised up from time to time to deliver Israel. With Daniel overseeing Babylon including its military interest, his example raises whether Sabbath-keepers in the strength God gives to those who keep His statutes may enter the ranks to strike the treason and slavery of the rebellion.