Letter to the Editor
On Jephthah's vow, against Bodoff and Mehlman. The first words — it shall be the Lord's — say plainly that he did not intend to kill anyone, and the words that follow quote Abraham at the Akedah, which everyone knows did not end in a death. Olah can mean ascent as easily as burnt offering. Jephthah consecrated his daughter, as Hannah did Samuel; unlike Samuel and Samson, she was asked, and she agreed.
Sir,
The key words for understanding the shocking episode of the tragedy of Jephthah, dealt with by Lippman Bodoff (“The Tragedy of Jephthah,” JBQ 28:4, 2000; Oct.-Dec. 2000) and previously by Israel Mehlman (“Jephthah’s Daughter,” JBQ 25:2, Apr.-June 1997), seem to me והיה לה’והעליתיהו עולה [usually rendered as and it (or he) shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it (or him) as a burnt offering].
The first two words והיה לה’ [and it shall be the Lord’s] indicate strongly that Jephthah did not have it in mind to kill anyone. The people of Israel were surely aware then that the Lord does not require human sacrifices, nor would they please Him. The last two words of Jephthah’s utterance support this: they are a literal quotation from Genesis 22:2, wherein Abraham is commanded: ‘לעלה העלהו ש’ [usually translated and offer him there as a burnt offering]. While the word עולה can mean a burnt offering (as in Lev. 1:10), it simply means “ascent,” “elevate,” and in modern language “immigrate” – that is, one who “comes up” to the land of Israel. Apparently, Jephthah, taken in by the spirit of the Lord (v. 29), felt urged to imitate Abraham, and when his daughter came out first from the house, he consecrated her to the Lord.
Everyone knew (and knows) that the akedah [“sacrifice“ of Isaac] did not result in his death. Likewise here, the consecration of Jephthah’s daughter could well have meant for him and his daughter (and for us readers) that she was to remain a virgin dedicated to some service in the sanctuary, somewhat similar to the dedication of Samuel by his mother Hannah; or to the dedication of Samson. In neither of these cases was the one to be dedicated asked for his consent – in contrast to Jephthah’s daughter: she bewailed that she had to remain virgin, but agreed.
The Midrash, based upon the supposition that the daughter, there called Shielah, had actually been killed, was probably developed to discourage people from hastily making vows, and for that matter, from unnecessary ones. Ashkelon
Cite this article
Asher Eder. "Letter to the Editor." Jewish Bible Quarterly 29, no. 2 (April – June 2001).
Asher Eder. "Letter to the Editor." Jewish Bible Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 2, 2001.