Jephthah's Daughter

#Judges11 #JephthahsDaughter #DaughterofJephthah #WomenoftheBible

One of the slowly dawning realizations I’ve had, reading the Bible, is about the celebration of powerful women in the Book of the Judges. There are some famous women—Delilah, Deborah and Jael all immediately come to mind—but there are also not-as-famous women whose stories are worth reading and retelling.

On of those women is Jephthah’s daughter, and hers is a fascinating story, well worth the read, in the Book of Judges chapter 11.

Jephthah’s daughter has unsettled theologians and scholars for thousands of years.

How could God sanction, let alone inspire, a vow that could seemingly only be fulfilled by child sacrifice? By literally putting the knife to a human being, and shedding their blood on the altar of a vow made to God? Yet that is how the narrative seems to be written in Judges 11.

Or is it possible that God provided another way, just as the Lord provided for Abraham when he climbed Mount Moriah with his son Isaac to offer a similar sacrifice?

We’ll learn about her family background, the events leading up to her father’s vow, and what that would ultimately mean for the course of her life.

I Jephthah’s Background, Judges 11:1-3

II Jephthah’s Bargains, Judges 11:4-33

III Jephthah’s Daughter Beatified, Judges 11:34-40

IV Jephthah’s Daughter’s Blessing

Each video is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.

The "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" series is a companion to the book, available on Amazon, and published by Wipf and Stock.