Jephthah's Daughter

Biblical Account

Jephthah's daughter appears in Judges 11:29–40. Before going out to fight the children of Ammon, Jephthah the Gileadite made a vow, a solemn promise to God to do something. He vowed that if he returned victorious, "whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me... shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering" (Judges 11:30–31). A burnt offering was a sacrifice in which the offering was burned whole.

When Jephthah returned victorious to his house at Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him "with timbrels and with dances." The text states that "she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter" (Judges 11:34). Jephthah tore his clothes in grief. His daughter told him to do to her according to what he had spoken with his mouth. She asked only that she be allowed two months to go up on the mountains with her companions and lament that she would die a virgin. When she returned after two months, Jephthah "did with her according to his vow which he had vowed." The text adds, "and she knew no man." Afterward a custom arose in Israel that "the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year" (Judges 11:39–40). Some translations render the Hebrew word translated "lament" as "commemorate" or "recount."

Significance Within Scripture

The story is read as one of the episodes illustrating the spiritual confusion of the period of the judges. The Law forbids offering children as sacrifices (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31), and Scripture also warns against making vows rashly (Ecclesiastes 5:4–5). The image of the daughter coming out with a timbrel recalls Miriam and other women who went out to greet returning victors.

The New Testament does not mention Jephthah's daughter directly. Hebrews 11:32 simply names Jephthah among the figures of faith.

Interpretation and Debate

Because the text says only that he "did with her according to his vow," interpreters differ over what Jephthah actually did.

• Literal sacrifice view: Josephus and other ancient Jewish writers, along with many Church Fathers, read the passage as saying that Jephthah actually offered his daughter as a burnt offering. On this interpretation, the event is a tragedy that violated the Law, illustrating the corruption of the period of the judges and the consequences of a rash vow.
• Dedication view: Some medieval Jewish commentators, such as David Kimhi, and some later Christian commentators read the passage differently: the daughter was not put to death but was dedicated to the LORD and remained unmarried for life. This view appeals to several points: the daughter bewailed her "virginity" rather than her dying as a virgin; the concluding statement, "and she knew no man"; and the provision in Leviticus 27 allowing a person who had been vowed to be redeemed for a price. A grammatical argument that the conjunction in the vow may be read as "or" is also cited in support of this view.

Denominations have not established official positions on this question, and both interpretations are found even within the same denomination. Since the twentieth century, feminist theology has produced interpretations that focus on the voice of the daughter, whose very name has not been preserved. Phyllis Trible's Texts of Terror is regarded as a representative work of this approach.

The Bible does not give the daughter's name. The ancient Jewish work Biblical Antiquities by Pseudo-Philo is known to call her Seila, but this is an extrabiblical tradition.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, this passage is usually presented alongside the lesson that vows must be made with care. The daughter's obedience to her father's word is also mentioned. As to whether an actual burnt offering took place, preachers present both interpretations, depending on the individual preacher.