Judges 11:29-40 (NRSV)
Jephthah's daughter
Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord's, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering." So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. He inflicted a massive defeat on them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty towns, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow." She said to him, "My father, if 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 given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites." And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I." "Go," he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Jephthah's daughter
Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord's, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering." So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. He inflicted a massive defeat on them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty towns, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow." She said to him, "My father, if 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 given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites." And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I." "Go," he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Reflection
Doesn't it just anger you that Jephthah would make such a statement? What arrogance! It seems the odds were too great that a his daughter, or even a human, would come out of that door! Why would he make such a statement? What an idiot!
But then the response of the nameless daughter...no seemingly anger or revenge in her response to a father that must be some kind of idiot! This entire passage angers me so! So what's the point? Sure, she became a living legend that created a custom that for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah (nameless again). So what! Is this a story of contrast?
Contrast the difference of this wasted sacrifice to uphold the word of Jephthah with the everlasting sacrifice of Jesus to uphold the Word of the Father. Jesus was sacrifice in a way that brought life out of death. Jesus was sacrificed to save the world. Word of Truth upheld through law and sacrament in Jesus. A sacrifice of eternal value. And so also the contrast of the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter. Man's sacrifice of life cannot equal in any way the value of the Father's ultimate sacrifice. My word, your word, even Jephthah's word would pale next to the Word of God.
And in the contrast of Jesus life and death, we have Jephthah's gift of life...always remembered...Jesus always remembered...God desires us...not sacrifice...so give yourself this day to Christ...that's the life to give...be recreated...live anew...what a story of contrast...what a life! --- Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Lord, I offer myself to you this day. You have won the victory and have brought life out of sin and death. Live in and through me this day as I heed your call and your way...now and forever. --- Amen
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