Assumptions Kill: The Unsettling Truth About Jephthah’s Perspective of Divinity

There is this heart-breaking narrative of an Israeli judge from the Old Testament in the book of Judges sic, who makes a vow that turns out fatal. The story goes that Jephthah, in the lead up to a major battle against the Ammonites, makes an unsolicited vow to God that if He would give him triumph over his enemies, he would sacrifice the first thing that would come out of his front door upon his return home. Unfortunately that thing was his daughter. I’ll leave to your imagination what came next. What perplexes me every time I read this story is what the hell Jephthah was thinking. What was he expecting would come out from the house to greet him first, his pet chihuahua? Disclaimer for PETA - I’m not suggesting sacrificing a dog is humane either.

But this situation begs the question: did God really tell Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter? Did God ever require of Jephthah a sacrifice in order to give him victory over the Ammonites? How many “cultured” Christians, and non-believers, seem to read this story is that God made a fool of the judge by using his own vow against him in an evil twisted turn of events, humbling him to be cautious with the vows he makes with his mouth. It’s reminiscent of what we would see from the Greek or Norse gods. But does it say that God did any of these things? Oh, I’m sure He knew what was going to happen because He is omniscient, but did He say it doe… think about it…

It also points to the fact that Jephthah wasn’t a twenty-first century Christian man sitting in a church pew in a suit and tie, or the modern equivalent, tattooed with a fade wearing hipster clothing, jumping up and down to contemporary Christian EDM beats. In his era, humans would often make vows to their gods to gain their favor. In fact, human sacrifices were common form of sacrifice in a multitude of religions across the globe. This is what makes Yahweh so different. Never once in this passage did He demand Israel or Jephthah to sacrifice anything in order to bring them victory. The one occasion in which He demanded a human to sacrifice his own son, He Himself intervened and stopped the sacrifice altogether- see Abraham and Isaac.

It can be argued that Jephthah’s fear of not following through with his vow to Divinity most likely led to his man-centered decision to kill his daughter. Rather than asking God for mercy, he moves forward with the sacrifice. He makes a critical assumption about the character of God, that He would not allow Jephthah to roll back on his vow. Which, for all intents and purposes, maybe was the correct assessment of God, but the lack of trying ensured the subsequent result.

So what does this teach us? One of man’s greatest flaws (sins-missing of the mark), is presumption. Man afflicts on himself and others judgment and evil that he/she believes is required by his/her interaction with the Divine. We attribute much to the Maker, both true and false. But is not the Maker one who has reasoned with man from his/her inception?