March 16 / Judges 11-12

Judges 11-12

Be careful what you say!

Today we get the story of Jephthah and the tragic consequences of his rash vow to sacrifice the first thing to come out of his house. When that turns out to be his daughter, Jephthah immediately regrets his vow, but he declares that he cannot break his oath, and he subsequently follows through.

The entire scenario presents a serious moral dilemma, all because of a foolish (and unnecessary) oath. On the one hand, human sacrifice is clearly repugnant to the LORD (and should be to us!), so Jephthah undoubtedly should not kill his daughter. On the other hand, the LORD takes oaths very seriously, and Jephthah is duty-bound to fulfill his oath, however misguided it might be. You may recall that Katey brought up the story of Jephthah several weeks ago in commenting on Leviticus 5:4-6, suggesting that the law offers a solution to this dilemma, a way of being absolved of such a vow by sacrificing a lamb or goat. But we need to be careful not to abuse that law.

Let’s pick this apart a little bit.

How is it that Jephthah could even contemplate sacrificing his own daughter? We should remember that Jephthah is living in a culture far different from our own, drenched in bloody idolatry that does indeed practice human sacrifice. (That is one of the specific reasons for the LORD’s admonition to thoroughly drive out the Canaanites. See Deut. 18:9-14.) So as much as he might regret the vow, the notion of human sacrifice is not nearly as foreign to Jephthah’s experience as it should be. Repugnant to God? Yes. Repugnant to the general populace? Unfortunately, not so much. And I think that is at least part of the point of the story, how appalling it is that Israel is in such a downward spiral that even one of the “good guys” could do such a thing — and no one rushes in to save the daughter.

Here’s another thought. Given that Hebrews 11:32 mentions Jephthah as a man of faith, I would like to think that Jephthah fulfills his vow not by killing his daughter but by “setting her apart” to never be married. I am a little skeptical of that idea, though, since that is not the obvious reading of Judges 11, but it is a plausible possibility that would solve our dilemma (and it’s an idea that has been around for at least 1,000 years). The consequence of the vow is still significant and costly to all involved, but not nearly the horror of actual sacrifice. It’s at least worth considering.

Either way (the daughter’s death or her being “set apart”), Katey raises an excellent point with Leviticus 5:4-6, that the law makes provision for getting out of thoughtless oaths. If there were ever a vow that warranted undoing, surely it would be this one! But we need to be careful not to apply that law too freely. If I can simply break any oath by sacrificing a lamb, then I might well be inclined to overpromise — a lot — knowing full well that I have an easy exit. I might even make promises with no intention of fulfilling my vows at all; I’ll just sacrifice a few lambs after I get what I want. I think we can all see that such an application of Leviticus 5:4-6 would not be at all appropriate.

Rather than cheapening our words as a “loophole” for costly promises, Leviticus 5:4-6 is intended to impose an additional cost on frivolous promises, to encourage us to be careful in what we say, to say what we mean and mean what we say. For example, suppose I’m heading out the door to meet some friends. As I leave, my wife says, “Say ‘Hi!’ to the guys for me.” Of course, I respond with, “OK.” But I immediately forget that little promise and fail to deliver her message. Though I am clearly wrong in my actions, I generally suffer no immediate consequences. But what if I have to sacrifice a lamb every time I do that sort of thing? I think I’d be a bit more inclined to either: 1) say “Hi” as directed; or 2) be careful to not agree to say “Hi” in the first place, to not make such a thoughtless oath.

I certainly hope that none of us are in danger of committing human sacrifice. But I expect that most of us are very much in danger of speaking carelessly — of making promises that we can’t keep (or have no real intention of keeping), of “misspeaking” (i.e., saying things that are false), of rashly saying hurtful things. We need to heed the warning we have here in Jephthah’s unfortunate example: think before you speak.

Be careful what you say!