Judges, Ruth: Revised Edition (The NIV Application Commentary)

by K. Lawson Younger

Jephthah is negotiating with Yahweh as he had with the Gileadite leaders and with the king of Ammon, seeking to acquire concessions and favors from him as he had from others in the past.57 But his success in negotiating steadily declines. “With the Gileadites he achieved all he wanted (11:4–11); with the Ammonites he received a verbal if negative response (11:12–28); with Yahweh there is only silence,”58 indicating that God disregards Jephthah’s vow. While some scholars have interpreted Jephthah’s vow as rash and hastily worded,59 others have seen it as manipulative.60 In fact, Jephthah’s vow is both rash and manipulative.61 (1) In light of his manipulating character as noted in other sections, the vow is another attempt to manipulate the circumstances to his own advantage. In this sense, then, it is not impulsive but has a specific intent (i.e., to get Yahweh to perform: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands . . .” v. 30). Ironically, this shrewd attempt to manipulate Yahweh demonstrates both folly and faithlessness in the character of Jephthah. (2) The vow is, however, also rash and imprudent. If Jephthah had said simply, “I will offer a burnt offering [‘olah] to you when I return safe and secure62 from the Ammonites,” then, of course, there is nothing rash in this (though it still would have been calculating and manipulative). The problem is in the qualification “whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites.” This ...