Nation’s Notes on the Bible

Jephthah, the Gangster Judge
The current era of our own culture seems to be enthralled with the flawed hero. He’s a guy who’s not really good, and maybe has even played the bad guy role before, but rises above his weaknesses to show a higher character—often to the surprise of many, including himself.
If you like this kind of complex, unheroic hero, you should love the book of Judges. It provides us with a gallery of this type of hero: good guys who aren’t really courageous (like Gideon or Barak), or men of faith and action who aren’t really very good (like Samson).
Into this latter category we find Jephthah, whose story appears in chapters 11 and 12. Before going any further in this article, I suggest you give the story a fresh reading.
The subject of Jephthah came up recently in a conversation with my son Tim. Having grown up hearing the stories of the Bible, he usually doesn’t have a problem interpreting them and synthesizing their message into his life. The Jephthah episode, however, perplexed him, even as it has generations of Bible readers. Assuming that you are now familiar with it, you know what I’m talking about. This is a story that would that would inspire us powerfully if it weren’t so deeply disturbing!
Here is a quick recap of the problematic issues surrounding this deliverer of Israel:
1. He was, quite frankly, an outlaw and the leader of an outlaw gang. That’s actually one of the factors that makes Jephthah admirable, that he rose above the status of an outlaw and stain of an outcast to become an outstanding leader.
2. He ordered the massacre of thousands of his fellow Israelites in a bloody suppression of tribal rivalry.
3. He made a crazy, irresponsible vow to God, and followed up on it though it meant (apparently) the sacrificial death of his young daughter.
4. Not only was the tribe and nation not horrified at the above act, it became an occasion for an annual memorial tribute to her memory!
There are three keys to interpreting this story: (1) the context of the book of Judges, (2) the complex character of Jephthah, and (3) the candid characterization of Jephthah’s vow and its consequences.
The Context. The story of Jephthah, in both its glorious and horrifying dimensions, must be understood within the larger context of the book of Judges.
1. Judges is a study in spiritual stop-loss. It deals with an era in which the spiritual and geographic gains of the days of victory under Joshua are rapidly slipping away. In the days of Joshua the attitude was, “Our God is great, but your gods are nothing.” (See Joshua 2:11. Are the gods of the Amorites even mentioned in Joshua?) By the time of Jephthah, the high point of faith is to say, “Our God can beat your god.” (See Judges 11:24.) And that high point isn’t reached very often or by very many.
2. The general pattern in Judges is downgrade. Every apostasy plunges deeper, and every revival has less elevating power than those preceding.
3. There is a tendency toward cultural/religious syncretism between the tribes of Israel and their Canaanite neighbors, both conscious and unconscious.
a. Consciously the Israelites adopt the idolatry of the Canaanites—an alarmingly easy slide from ethical monotheism into pluralistic nature worship.
b. Unconsciously they adopt the values, culture, and underlying assumptions of the Amorite religions.
c. For example, see the strange story of Micah the Ephraimite (chapters 17-18). Despite its late placement in the book, this episode occurred very early in the history of the period of the Judges. It particularly highlights the problem of piety that is divorced from knowledge and truth.
4. This is an era of self-law on the frontier. We are reminded 4 times that during this period there was no king, and everyone did what is right in his own eyes (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). It was a time of lawlessness—but not really. Rather it was a time when everyone took the law into their own hands, and filled in the gap of their ignorance with their own sense of right and wrong, usually with destructive results.
The Character of Jephthah. It is important to understand who he was, where he came from, and to discern the significant clues to his motivation.
1. He was “raised right.” Though his father could not or would not marry his mother, neither did he deny or disown Jephthah. Apparently he brought him up as a son, giving him an identity as an Israelite and a worshiper of the Lord, and teaching him the basics of right and wrong. Until his father’s death he was evidently brought up within the household and had a part in the family business (presumably herding/ranching—the major industry in Gilead).
2. He was an outcast because of jealousy. There are echoes of the Joseph story here. He was not cast out of the household and disinherited because of his character, but because of the jealousy of his half-brothers. They disdained him because he was the child of a different mother.
3. He was an outcast because of fear. No doubt his brothers’ jealousy was well-founded. It seems likely that his personal charisma and his talent for leadership and command were showing up. They considered him not only an interloper, but a threat as well. If they let him stick around he would certainly take over the leadership of the clan—by merit!
4. Being cursed by his family as a bastard, he became one. He turned to outlaw ways, gathering a violent gang around himself and making his living on the fringe of society. In the process he became powerful. We would call him a “war lord.” He may have been a highwayman, a black marketer, a cattle rustler, or a crime boss. On the other hand, he could have been what we today euphemistically call a “security consultant,” a mercenary, or a bounty hunter. He could have been a combination of the above.
5. Jephthah is like Gideon—but on the dark side. Gideon was the greatest and best of the judges. Jephthah’s exploits parallel those of the earlier judge, but there is a twist. Gideon seems to lack confidence and must conquer fear before he conquers his enemies. Jephthah apparently brims with confidence, but there also flows in him a stream of fury, a rage that he does not try to overcome so much as to direct against his enemies. Jephthah is like the dark side of Gideon.
The offer of the Gileadites gives Jephthah the opportunity to go legit. His first response is to challenge their sincerity. Yet he evidently truly desires to rejoin lawful society and to gain validation. He also now has the upper hand against his former tormenters—sweet vengeance without guilt. From a position of military, political, and moral strength he negotiates a “white knight” corporate takeover of tribal leadership—indeed, of leadership over all all the tribes east of the Jordan.
7. Jephthah’s political skill should not be underestimated. But it was, to the regret of his foes.
a. The Ammonite king was no doubt surprised by the message he received from the new Israelite chieftain. He was probably expecting craven capitulation. What he got was a sophisticated brief in history and international law, communicated with a shrewd grasp of hardball diplomacy.
b. Jephthah’s peace overture was strategic. He knew the Ammonites would not accept it, so his plan was to draw them into battle on his terms. His message reveals nothing of his military strength, leading the Ammonite king to think he is bluffing. Yet ironically he plainly states the true depth of his strength, which is spiritual. He makes no threats except to commit the issue to the judgment of the Lord—for whose name the Ammonites have no respect.
c. The Ammonites made the fatal mistake of underestimating their opponent. Jephthah did not wait for them to attack him. He struck first, hard, and pressed the attack until he had destroyed the Ammonites’ capacity to wage war. They did not recover from the shock, and they lost their ability to exercise control or even threaten Israelite territory. They would not recover enough strength to do so again until the days of Samuel and Saul.
8. Why did Jephthah abandon diplomacy in the inter-tribal dispute with Ephraim?
a. The belligerence of the Ephraimites mirrored the jealousy of Jephthah’s brothers. As they had disdained him, so Ephraim looked down on the other smaller tribes, especially the Trans-Jordan tribes. They did not like this illegitimate upstart showing them up—never mind the fact that they had not lifted a finger to help Gilead in time of need. Like the Ammonites, the leaders of Ephraim totally underestimated this judge.
b. In his ruthless reaction to Ephraim Jephthah gives vent to his pent up rage toward his brethren. They become the proxy for years of insult and rejection.
Jephthah is probably also showing an emotional backlash to the adverse consequences of his rash vow. Having just surrendered the life of his daughter to gain victory over Ammon, he is in no mood to trade soft words for insults as Gideon had done.
What, then, is the right and the wrong here? The tribe of Ephraim is clearly out of line, and they get what they would have dished out had they won the battle. Moreover Jephthah is acting with lawful authority. But legal is not necessarily righteous. The heavy-handed savagery did not heal the breech between the tribes, but instead inflicted new wounds. Once again we are reminded that this is the book of Judges. This is an era in which it seems to be impossible to do something right without doing something wrong, or to solve a problem without creating a new one.
Jephthah’s Rash Vow.
1. It’s best to interpret “burnt offering” in its plain sense. There is a line of interpretation that Jephthah did not actually slay his daughter for sacrifice, but gave her up to a solitary life. Though it is possible, it is not probable, and most scholars believe it means what it appears to mean. (It doesn’t mean she would be burned alive. She would be quickly and mercifully—yes, I know it’s an oxymoron!—slain first.)
2. How can this story be part of God’s inspired word? Remember, this is the book of Judges. (See the discussion of context above.) If in part it seeks to inspire, it also seeks to horrify us and to stir our indignation. It also seeks to explain why the tribes of Israel gave up much freedom in order to be subject to a monarch. The Bible frankly tells the truth about the folly of men, and this is one such story of folly.
3. What was he thinking!?! Jephthah had to know that the first thing out of his house was likely to be a person, not a lamb or a calf! Yes, he was thinking like a pagan. What we have in this vow is a demonstration of how much Israel had absorbed the Amorite worldview, including Amorite theology.
a. By making this vow, Jephthah shows a laudable consciousness of personal inadequacy, and that he does not merit the help of God. By making a vow he is declaring his loyalty to the Lord and promising that he will not take divine aid for granted.
b. On the other hand, Jephthah’s vow also shows a regrettable quality of superstition, as though uttering a spontaneous oath will impress God and get his attention.
c. Jephthah clearly thinks that God will be pleased with such an offering as he proposes—deplorable thinking that is pagan to the core.
d. There is also an evident streak of cold-blooded callousness in Jephthah’s declaration. Would it have so broken his heart to follow through on his vow if a servant had come running out? If it had been someone else’s daughter? Obviously not.
e. Thus, while there are aspects of Jephthah’s character and faith that we can admire and emulate, we must recognize that this hero is deeply flawed. Even his faith in the true and living God is polluted by the influence of idolatry.
4. The depth of Israelite backsliding is underscored by the tribal and national response to all of this.
a. No one raises a cry of outrage at his vow, or at the fact that he fulfilled it upon his daughter. At most there seems to be some sense of regret for a tragic event, but that’s it.
b. Jephthah’s own daughter urges him to follow through as though it were a matter of fate, as though it would be the noble thing to do, and as though the worst thing is that she would never be married!
c. There was likely some national consciousness of the Joshua had made to the Gibeonites. Though it was to the disadvantage of the nation of Israel, and though it was obtained by deceit, the Lord required that it be kept—and that vow continued to stand even to the days of Saul. It was a national memorial that vows to the Lord must be kept, no matter what. So God ends up getting the blame for the follies of men.
d. Jephthah’s daughter became a cause, not for protest, but for an annual memorial. It was a bittersweet event that apparently evolved into a festive celebration—probably associated in some way with the Baalist winter festivals mourning the seasonal loss of fertility and praying for its return.
5. The writer’s objectivity and lack of comment or condemnation does not imply divine approval of Jephthah’s vow or its aftermath.
a. The faithfulness of God shines forth. He responds with covenant love toward his people as they cry out to him, though their repentance is incomplete. He chooses a deliverer and clothes him with his Spirit, though the man is unworthy and flawed. God gives victory, and patiently withholds sanctions as he gives his people room to examine themselves.
b. God gave victory to Jephthah according to his prior promise and for his own purposes, not as a reward to Jephthah for making a vow. Jephthah’s victory was not an endorsement of the oath. He would have won without making any oath.
c. God does not normally prevent folly and disobedience, and does not force either the knowledge or obedience of his law upon people. Neither does he withhold from them the consequences of their choices.
6. Conclusion: Everything about Jephthah’s vow is pagan, and not in any way according to God’s law. Putting it into the context of the whole book, this is clearly how the prophet-writer sees it. It is an even that gave mockers from that time until now the opportunity to slander the worship of God. “See, the worship of Yahweh emerged out of the swamp of Baalism.” No—it had sunk into the swamp of Baalism.
General Conclusion. The story of Jephthah is a demonstration of how terribly fouled up people’s lives can get when religious feeling is divorced from truth and knowledge. “Those who worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Spirit and truth is not an either/or proposition. The two cannot be divorced. If knowledge without zeal leads to coldness and spiritual death, zeal without knowledge has consequences that, if anything, are even more destructive.
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