Jephthah's daughter.

[Edwin]

Subject: Jephthah's daughter.

Jdg 11:30   And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,
Jdg 11:31   "then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."
Jdg 11:32   So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
Jdg 11:33   And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith--twenty cities--and to Abel Keramim,[fn1] with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
Jdg 11:34   When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
Jdg 11:35   And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it."
Jdg 11:36   So she said to him, "My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon."
Jdg 11:37   Then she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I."
Jdg 11:38   So he said, "Go." And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.
Jdg 11:39   And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man. And it became a custom in Israel
Jdg 11:40   that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Here we have, "female", type of Christ.

Firstly she is a firstborn, secondly she is a virgin, (a sign of purity, and holy ness), thirdly the expression, "two months", appears, "three times", and three draws our attention to the, "Trinity", and, "two", speaks of the second person of the Trinity.  This young girl who's name is not revealed in the above passage is prepared to lay down her life in order to save her father from the consequences of breaking his vow to the LORD.    

 

Every blessing.

 

Edwin.
 

[Littlelambseativy]

Ahh, no!! I believe the moral of the 'story' is - do not make a vow before God that you are not willing to keep and if you do make one you better keep it.

[Openly Curious]

Yes it is defiantly a story that shows the seriousness of making a vow to God in haste without forethought. It is better not to make a vow to the Lord than to make one and not keep it as it states in the book of Ecclesiastes. I'm sure Jepthah lived with deep regret and grief the rest of his days in the words he uttered in haste without thought being given. I personally do not see any sybolism within the story being given. I think the text is forthright as well as the story and I see it as a tragedy even though there was victory given by God in the war. Victory always comes but always with a price.

[Willa]

Perhaps her lack of status as a female child gave her little choice in the matter.

The father did not plan for his child to be sacrificed but this was a hasty decision.

The child was not of the age of maturity.

She did not die to demonstrate any plan of redemption, such as did the story of Abe where God provided a sacrifice.

She did not rise from the dead nor was she spared.

I just don't think there was a parallel other than that she was a first born and only child and her death at his hands cost him dearly.

[Fez]

Perhaps her lack of status as a female child gave her little choice in the matter.

The father did not plan for his child to be sacrificed but this was a hasty decision.

The child was not of the age of maturity.

She did not die to demonstrate any plan of redemption, such as did the story of Abe where God provided a sacrifice.

She did not rise from the dead nor was she spared.

I just don't think there was a parallel other than that she was a first born and only child and her death at his hands cost him dearly.

And therein lies the message!

[missmuffet]

God had forbidden human sacrifices,so God would not have wanted Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter.Yes,don't make foolish vows or oaths.

[OneLight]

Subject: Jephthah's daughter.

Jdg 11:30   And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,

Jdg 11:31   "then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

Jdg 11:32   So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

Jdg 11:33   And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith--twenty cities--and to Abel Keramim,[fn1] with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Jdg 11:34   When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

Jdg 11:35   And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it."

Jdg 11:36   So she said to him, "My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon."

Jdg 11:37   Then she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I."

Jdg 11:38   So he said, "Go." And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

Jdg 11:39   And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man. And it became a custom in Israel

Jdg 11:40   that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Here we have, "female", type of Christ.

Firstly she is a firstborn, secondly she is a virgin, (a sign of purity, and holy ness), thirdly the expression, "two months", appears, "three times", and three draws our attention to the, "Trinity", and, "two", speaks of the second person of the Trinity.  This young girl who's name is not revealed in the above passage is prepared to lay down her life in order to save her father from the consequences of breaking his vow to the LORD.    

 

Every blessing.

 

Edwin.

You are reading too much into what scripture says. Take scripture as the truth it is. There is no need to try to find any hidden messages in it. The story is enough.

[Atwood]

I realize that many are used to thinking that Jephthah's daughter was a burnt offering, but that is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word 'olah, which literally means "rising" and can refer to a burnt offering, but not necessarily. There were human sacrifices in the Old Testament, namely "wave offerings." But they did not involve killing anyone. "I beseech you . . . a living sacrifice" in the New Testament. Study it closer and see if you agree that the text does not imply that the daughter was killed, but rather made like a nun who never married.

[Guest Butero]

I see this as a story about not making a foolish and hasty vow.  God never desired anyone make such a vow.  He never asked anyone to offer any human sacrifice.  This shows how serious a vow was.  To break one was no laughing matter.  It was very serious.  It could mean a great plague on Israel.  It could mean Israel being defeated by it's enemies.  The consequences were so severe, Jephtah was willing to sacrifice his own daughter, and she was willing to die for her people.  It was a very sad story.  We need to be very careful about every idle word we speak. 

[Openly Curious]

I realize that many are used to thinking that Jephthah's daughter was a burnt offering, but that is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word 'olah, which literally means "rising" and can refer to a burnt offering, but not necessarily. There were human sacrifices in the Old Testament, namely "wave offerings." But they did not involve killing anyone. "I beseech you . . . a living sacrifice" in the New Testament. Study it closer and see if you agree that the text does not imply that the daughter was killed, but rather made like a nun who never married.

Thanks for sharing this Atwood, I'll have to look further into this when I have time. But I have always thought it was strange that if this woman was about to be killed and offered up as a burnt offering or sacrifice to the Lord, then why on earth would she go out to the mountains and of all things bewail her virginity. It would seem she would be bewailing her life that was about to end instead. But scripture does say that when she returned from the two month she spent in the mountains bewailing her virginity that she came back and never knew a man. So I can see how what you are saying could fit. I found this to be interesting and has intrigued me to the point of digging deeper into the scriptures. blessings