We are officially crossing over into what I considered the significantly darker, more tragic half of the book of Judges. We are going to encounter some troubling events, morally ambiguous protagonists, unusual silence from YHWH, and some pretty evil people. I want to encourage you, as a fellow reader, to make peace with the discomfort you may feel as you read through the rest of this book.
And remember that YHWH's silence does not communicate strict endorsing of anything that is happening in these stories.
Chapter 11, verses 1-3.
"Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, 'You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.' Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him."
We meet our newest Judge, an unlikely protagonist -- Jephthah. He is described in a similar manner to Gideon, as a "mighty warrior." The difference, of course, is Jephthah is described in this way without any hint of irony.
Jephthah remarkably resembles Abimelech, at least in terms of his origin and the setup of his story. Abimelech was the son of a concubine; Jephthah is the son of a prostitute. Actually, I suppose Abimelech would have had more standing in his father's house than Jephthah, considering a concubine could (although not always) be considered a wife, but would certainly live with a man for some period of time. The same can't be said of prostitutes.
The fact that Jephthah's mother is a prostitute suggests she was not an Israelite. This is problematic (whether it directly breaks YHWH's command in Deut. 7 is hard to say -- as Gilead was not married to this woman) and would contribute to Jephthah's lower standing in the pecking order.
They are both outsiders to their own families. Abimelech settled in Shechem among his mother's relatives. Jephthah is forced out of his father's house.
[Fun note: The phrase אֲנָשִׁ֤ים רֵיקִים֙ or "worthless men" appears again here in Judges 11; the same phrase was used to describe the men in Abimelech's company in Judges 9.]
Some real parallels between the two characters are being made here, but will their stories play out similarly?
Verses 4-10.
"After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob (east of Gilead). And they said to Jephthah, 'Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.' But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, 'Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?' And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, 'That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.' Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, 'If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and YHWH give them over to me, I will be your head.' And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, 'YHWH will be a witness between us, if we do not do as you say.' So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before YHWH at Mizpah."
Ok, here's the setup: If you remember at the end of chapter 10, the people of Israel and Gilead had gathered at Mizpah to determine who we lead them in their battle against the Ammonites, but there is no indication that any of the men from their number were appointed or sought appointment.
Now, we see the parallels of Abimelech and Jephthah flipped on their head. Jephthah does not seek out leadership amongst his mother's family. Rather, his father's people seek him out to lead. They want to appoint him as the לְקָצִ֑ין or "chief", in a specifically militaristic sense. Jephthah is appropriately wary of them and their offer. Jephthah agrees to their terms, on the basis that when he has accomplished his work, not only would he be reintroduced into the tribe, he would actually be made לְרֹ֔אשׁ or "the head/leader" of all Gilead. (The position of לְרֹ֔אשׁ is exactly what we see the leaders of Gilead offering at end of chapter 10 in Mizpah. But it seems in this exchange they're not exactly keen on that title being given to Jephthah -- a half-son, born of most likely to a Canaanite/pagan prostitue.)
I think it would be fair to say that Jephthah's motivations are open to interpretation. At the very least, we can see his desire to achieve standing amongst his father's people. The cost associated with Jephthah's ambitions, in my opinion, serve as a warning. Note that there is no direct involvement from YHWH in the initial appointing of Jephthah by the people. Is he driven purely by selfish motivations? How are we meant to understand his relationship to YHWH and YHWH's purposes? It seems unfair to try and answer those questions in any definite manner.
What I like about the character of Jephthah is that he seems more morally ambiguous than a character like Abimelech, but his story teaches very similar lessons.
Verses 12-13.
"Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, 'What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?' And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, 'Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.'"
Jephthah begins his work removing the Ammonites from the land. Interestingly, though, he approaches it more diplomatically than any other Judge we've encountered thus far. Both Jephthah and the king of the Ammonites demonstrate a willingness to resolve this issue peacefully.
And I'd guess that to our modern sensibilities, that seems like a reasonable approach! However, it flies in the face of YHWH's command to forcefully drive the enemies of Israel out, putting them to the sword.
The scholarly consensus seems to be that the king's claims on the land hold little water. This was a nomadic tribe of people that occupied space in a pretty large geographical area east of the Jordan, north of the Arnon River (which empties into the Dead Sea) and south of the Jabbok River (which is a tributary of the Jordan River).
Verses 14-28. A long speech from Jephthah:
"Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said to him, 'Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.'"
"Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, 'Please let us pass through your land to our country,' but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. And YHWH, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. So then YHWH, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that YHWH our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that ar on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. YHWH, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.' But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him."
Jephthah puts forward a lengthy response to the Ammonite king. I'm not going to dive into everything that is said. I'll try and summarize.
What's Jephthah's point? In Israel's journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, they actually tried to operate with an appropriate diligence and diplomacy, regarding the designated territories of the peoples of Moab and Edom. They requested permission, were refused, and as a result they took a detour around this area of land, so as to avoid invading anyone's territory. Note that Jephthah highlights the fact that during the time of their wandering, the land was never understood to even be the possession of the Ammonites (further disproving the king's claim in verse 13). Continuing on, Israel attempted to peacefully cross through Amorite territory (the area of land in question here in Judges 11). Again, they were refused, but this time the Amorites attacked Israel, forcing YHWH to dispossess them of their land. The land came into the hands of the Israelites through defeating the Amorites, and nowhere in the history Jephthah shares is there any indication the land had been belonging to the people of Ammon. He also tells them if Chemosh is their god, then he should be responsible for giving them a land to possess, just as YHWH has done for His people. The problem is that the Ammonites primary deity, so far as I've understood it, is Molek NOT Chemosh. Chemosh is a god of the Moabites (although both were probably worshipped in each culture). One possible solution to this apparent problem would be that Jephthah is tying the Ammonites to Chemosh, on the basis of Chemosh being the deity of the land, not just the group of people residing in the land at any particular time. Either way, though, YHWH has taken the land for Himself and given it to His people -- dispossessing both the people groups and the local deities. |
Despite Jephthah's best efforts, there will be blood.
Verses 29-33. (Victory, but at what cost?)
"Then the Spirit of YHWH was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to YHWH and said, 'If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be YHWH's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.'"
Oh boy. This is one of my least favorite texts in Scripture. We're going to do some theological wrestling with this vow in a little bit.
I want to point out that as soon as a peaceable solution is off the table, and Jephthah goes out to the Ammonites to do battle with them, that is precisely when the Spirit comes upon him (as we have seen with previous Judges in this book).
"So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and YHWH gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-kermim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel."
YHWH through His anointed Judge wins the battle for Israel, driving the Ammonites back east.
Verses 34-40. This is where the story takes a tragic turn. We see the cost of a foolish vow, said for selfish gain. It demonstrates another one of the parallels between Abimelech and Jephthah, their willingness to do/say whatever it takes to succeed -- with little regard for the cost of such success.
A key difference I'd like to make between the two characters, though, is how I personally view them. In my opinion, Abimelech is evil. Whereas Jephthah is neither completely good nor completely evil, just foolish. They both pay the price of their unchecked ambitions.
"Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, 'Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to YHWH, and I cannot take back my vow.'"
Horrible. Just horrible. This is such a tragic story. And the story raises some hard questions.
"And she said to him, 'My father, you have opened your mouth to YHWH; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that YHWH has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.' So she said to her father, 'Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone for two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.' So he said, 'Go.' Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year."
Jephthah's daughter demonstrates a flabbergasting acceptance for the fate her father has brought upon her. It's also interesting to note that what she laments is not the loss of her life, but that fact that she will die an unmarried virgin.
Some have suggested that this reaction indicates that it was not his daughter's death that Jephthah would give as a burnt offering to YHWH, rather it would be a giving of her life, meaning she would be given over to serve in the cultic practices of the Tabernacle.
That lifestyle would certainly entail lifelong virginity. She would never take a husband. She would never bring forth children. This conclusion makes an awful lot of sense within the context of the story, especially considering her death is never explicitly mentioned by Jephthah or by the daughter. Instead, it is her virginity that's mentioned three distinct times: Her initial response to her father's revelation, her request for a two-month waiting period where she could lament (SPECIFICALLY) her virginity with her companions, and when Jephthah eventually carries out his vow.
One way or another, Jephthah's line ends with his daughter. And to die with no children to carry on your family line was a dreaded fate in the Ancient Near East.
However, if it is the case that Jephthah offered his daughter as a burn offering (and not a dedication of her life as a burnt offering), then here are the questions I'm wrestling with:
Why would YHWH have allowed Jephthah to make this vow, knowing it would lead to the death of a child?
Is this sacrifice of a human child, which to this point has been described as DETESTABLE to YHWH, meant to be understood as something that YHWH actually desires? How do we reconcile that with all the contradictory evidence?
Finally, if YHWH is against child sacrifice (and human sacrifice), and that's what at stake in this story, then why won't YHWH speak up in this situation?
Frankly, I'm not sure I have great answers for any of the three questions.
I suppose my answer to the first question is something like this... Sometimes, God allows us to be given over to our sin/idols/passions (in this case, we're dealing with the false god of personal ambition). Jephthah is forced to live in the consequences of a foolish vow, spoken faithlessly to YHWH, for all the wrong reasons. I don't like it, but that's all I've got.
My answer to the second question is this: I believe every other mention of human sacrifice in Scripture is displeasing to YHWH. It is not something He desires. It is not something He requires. It is abominable in His eyes. (Deuteronomy 12)
And this is probably as good a time as ever to remind ourselves that the book of Judges is not a collection of stories about individuals that we are meant to emulate, in any way whatsoever.
Finally, YHWH's silence in this passage does not communicate pleasure or acceptance, in my opinion. I think His silence demonstrates His disapproval of both Jephthah's vain ambitions and his vain attempts at piety. Any Israelite that truly knew YHWH would know that the sacrifice of a child would be contemptible to Him.
I'll wrap up my thoughts on chapter 11 by saying that I do not believe Jephthah's daughter was burned by her father as an offering to YHWH. In my opinion, it would contradict everything we know about YHWH preceding this story and after this story. I think there is ample evidence that his daughter's life was given to YHWH in way that does not suggest her physical death.
Chapter 12, verses 1-7.
"The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, 'Why did youo cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.' (seems counter-productive) And Jephthah said to them, 'I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and YHWH gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?' Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, 'You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.' And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, 'Let me go over.' the men of Gilead said to him, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' When he said, 'No,' they said to him, 'Then say Shibboleth,' and he said, 'Sibboleth,' for her could not pronounce it right. They seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.
Jephthah judges Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead."
Oof. Another deeply flawed legacy of an Israelite judge. (I'll finish this chapter tomorrow -- thanks for reading!)
'