An individual once asked me, "Did Jephthah really offer his daughter as a burnt sacrifice? I've heard 'yes' and 'no' from different preachers and have always wondered if he did."
The following are four observations regarding Jephthah's vow:
1) In the margin of my Bible in Judges 11:31, the Hebrew reads, "or I will offer it." This rendering would give the vow an alternative sacrifice. The vow would then read, "Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, or I will offer it."
In this rendering, Jephthah would have an alternative, either to dedicate his daughter to the Lord's service (cf. 1 Samuel 1:19-28), or that she would be burned in sacrifice.
2) Notice that in Judges 11:39 regarding Jephthah's daughter, "she knew no man." This phrase would imply that she would spend the rest of her life as a virgin, never to marry and experience a family. She could not have experienced this perpetual virginity had her life been terminated as a burnt sacrifice.
3) In Judges 11:40, it is interesting to note that the daughters of Israel went "yearly" (Heb. "from year to year") "to lament the daughter of Jephthah." The phrase, "to lament" in the margin of my Bible reads, "Or, to talk with."
If this is the case, it would have been difficult to have talked to a dead girl. The "daughters of Israel" obviously went to her "yearly" to give her encouragement in her dedication to the Lord's service.
4) Finally, the idea of human sacrifice was never sanctioned by God (Deuteronomy 18:9-14; cf. Deuteronomy 12:31; Leviticus 18:21).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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The following are four observations regarding Jephthah's vow:
1) In the margin of my Bible in Judges 11:31, the Hebrew reads, "or I will offer it." This rendering would give the vow an alternative sacrifice. The vow would then read, "Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, or I will offer it."
In this rendering, Jephthah would have an alternative, either to dedicate his daughter to the Lord's service (cf. 1 Samuel 1:19-28), or that she would be burned in sacrifice.
2) Notice that in Judges 11:39 regarding Jephthah's daughter, "she knew no man." This phrase would imply that she would spend the rest of her life as a virgin, never to marry and experience a family. She could not have experienced this perpetual virginity had her life been terminated as a burnt sacrifice.
3) In Judges 11:40, it is interesting to note that the daughters of Israel went "yearly" (Heb. "from year to year") "to lament the daughter of Jephthah." The phrase, "to lament" in the margin of my Bible reads, "Or, to talk with."
If this is the case, it would have been difficult to have talked to a dead girl. The "daughters of Israel" obviously went to her "yearly" to give her encouragement in her dedication to the Lord's service.
4) Finally, the idea of human sacrifice was never sanctioned by God (Deuteronomy 18:9-14; cf. Deuteronomy 12:31; Leviticus 18:21).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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