{"id":7060,"date":"2024-02-17T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drbobewell.com\/?p=7060"},"modified":"2024-02-12T18:26:48","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T01:26:48","slug":"jephthahs-vow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drbobewell.com\/?p=7060","title":{"rendered":"Jephthah’s Vow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No sooner are we done with the sordid story of Abimelech<\/a> than we come to Jephthah, Judge #9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abimelech was an outcast because his mother was a \u201cconcubine\u201d of Gideon’s. I looked up concubine, and it means, in polygamous cultures, a wife of lesser status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turns out Jephthah is an outcast in his clan of Gilead because his mother was a prostitute:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jephthah the Gileadite was one tough warrior. He was the son of a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. Meanwhile, Gilead\u2019s legal wife had given him other sons, and when they grew up, his wife\u2019s sons threw Jephthah out. They told him: \u201cYou\u2019re not getting any of our family inheritance\u2014you\u2019re the son of another woman.\u201d So Jephthah fled from his brothers and went to live in the land of Tob. Some riffraff joined him and went around with him. (Judges 11.1 – 3, MSG)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But unlike Abimelech who killed all his half-brothers so he could be in charge, Gilead\u2019s brothers came to get him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some time passed. And then the Ammonites started fighting Israel. With the Ammonites at war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. They said to Jephthah: \u201cCome. Be our general and we\u2019ll fight the Ammonites.\u201d But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead: \u201cBut you hate me. You kicked me out of my family home. So why are you coming to me now? Because you are in trouble. Right?\u201d (Judges 11.4 – 7, MSG)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jephthah tries diplomacy with the Ammonites without success (see Judges 11.14 – 27<\/a>). So Jephthah recruits an army and, empowered by \u201cGod\u2019s Spirit,\u201d defeats the Ammonites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s completely unclear why Jephthah felt it necessary to make a stupid vow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GOD\u2019s Spirit came upon Jephthah. He went across Gilead and Manasseh, went through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there approached the Ammonites. Jephthah made a vow before GOD: \u201cIf you give me a clear victory over the Ammonites, then I\u2019ll give to GOD whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in one piece from among the Ammonites\u2014I\u2019ll offer it up in a sacrificial burnt offering.\u201d\u2026Jephthah came home to Mizpah. His daughter ran from the house to welcome him home\u2014dancing to tambourines! She was his only child. He had no son or daughter except her. When he realized who it was, he ripped his clothes, saying, \u201cAh, dearest daughter\u2014I\u2019m dirt. I\u2019m despicable. My heart is torn to shreds. I made a vow to GOD and I can\u2019t take it back!\u201d (Judges 11.29 – 31, 34, 35, MSG)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll never understand the nature of Jephthah\u2019s vow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n