Jepthah and His Daughter

In the previous blog post I discussed Jepthah and his faith, and whether that should be his legacy in Scripture or not.

I want to go ahead and finish discussing this story. After Jepthah makes his vow, the Lord delivers the Ammonites into his hand. After the Ammonites are defeated he heads home and his daughter, his only child, comes out to meet him. She is thrilled, dancing, excited at the victory her father has had. Can you imagine the pride she felt for her father? Her pride and excitement result in Jepthah’s utter despair. As he tears his clothes he tells his daughter the reason for his grief “For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.”

The daughter’s response is amazing. She seems to quickly and easily respond to her father’s news “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” I see a true fear of the Lord in this girl, she does not question her father’s vow, she accepts it. She also wants her father to fulfill his vow because the Lord had been faithful to him and given him the victory.

I think this exchange shows two things about Jepthah and his daughter. First of all, I think it shows that Jepthah was a faithful parent. He had taught his daughter a true fear of Lord, so much so that she does not seem to hesitate at her fate. She seems to share his faith completely. I do not think she quickly agrees to give her life to the Lord because of fear of her father but because of a true fear of the Lord, what an example of good parenting.

Secondly, it shows a daughter who was willing to do anything for the Lord who had saved her people. While she still mourns her fate, she comes back willingly to be made a sacrifice to the Lord. She doesn’t whine and say “Dad! How could you do this to me!” If I’m truly honest, that’s what I would have said. That is not her attitude, she accepts that this was the deal made between her father and the Lord. I wonder if I am instilling a real love and fear of the Lord in my children. I believe the only way we can expect to have children who live in the fear of the Lord is if we do so ourselves. I can see areas in my own life where I am falling short in this area. As parents, we have the important task of modeling faithfulness, love, and fear of the Lord to our children.

There is some debate as to whether Jepthah’s daughter is actually killed, or just placed in service to the Lord for the rest of her life. I don’t think it matters how her sacrifice was fulfilled. We know that Jepthah made a vow and that he kept it, that’s enough information for me.

I appreciated David and Diane’s feedback about Jepthah. I think they both made wonderful points and it was great to hear from them!

Ultimately, I think I now have a better understanding of Jepthah and his daughter. Jepthah was a man of faith who raised a daughter with great faith. While the lesson about hasty vows made to God is good, I don’t think his vow should be Jepthah’s legacy. I believe the overall truths we can learn from Jepthah’s life is that faith in the Lord and fear of the Lord are necessary to a life fully used by the Lord.