By Faith, Jephthah and His Tragic Vow; a Man of Faith with A Few Too Many Words

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By Faith, Jephthah and His Tragic Vow; a Man of Faith with A Few Too Many Words (Heb. 11:32; Judges 11-12)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, November 8, 2026

I like dogs. One thing I really like about them is that they usually greet people at the door. I saw a video of someone breaking into a house, and the dog brought a toy to him, hoping he would play. My current dog, Dash, is great, but he never greets me at the door. 

Suppose you have had a hard day. You come home and walk through the door. What brightens your day? Who greets you at the door when you get home?

I grew up with cats, and I never once saw my cat greet me at the door. Though our current cat will greet me at the door.

Maybe your dog greets you at the door. You come inside and see your hunting dog there, tail wagging, and maybe that makes you feel better after a stressful day. Maybe you walk in the door and see your little lap dog greet you. Or, maybe for you cat people, the cat comes and purrs next to you. 

When my girls were little, I would be greeted not by a pet but by my children. Mercedes and Abigail would run to the door and greet me. Abigail would say, “Daddyyyy, daddyyy.” Mercedes would say, “Daddy’s home, daddy’s home.” That could really brighten my day. That could brighten any day. 

There is an account in the Old Testament book of Judges where one of the Judges comes home, and his daughter greets him by coming out the door with a tambourine and dancing. In this case, it was not a good thing at all. This judge was named Jephthah, and he had made a bad deal with God. He was going out to fight a battle, and he said that if God gave him a victory, he would sacrifice whatever came out the door first. It just so happened that his only daughter came out the door first. Yet Jephthah was listed some thousand years later in Hebrews 11. Let’s read Hebrews 11 and the Hall of Faith listing of Jephthah. 

Hebrews 11:32 (ESV)

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets…

Let’s read Judges 11:29-40:

Judges 11:29–40 (ESV)

29 Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and 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.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, 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 avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

I could take this text and talk about thinking before we speak. I could tell you why we all have two ears and one mouth, and listening is more important than talking.

I could talk about this passage and how it is important not to swear an oath, and I might go that route a little bit. But that is not my focus.

I want to talk about God’s greatness. We don’t control God. In the church world, there is a belief often called the Prosperity Gospel. These views try to control God by saying that He wants everyone to be rich and to heal everyone. Some call these beliefs “name it— claim it.” It is as if we can say something and, if we just have enough faith, God will provide it. That is partially the case here. Jephthah is trying to control God with a deal. 

My theme:

Jephthah trusted the Lord, but not enough. His vow tried to control God and proved destructive.

Application:

Trust the Lord, but not that simply. Don’t bargain with God.

Let me break that down. I think it is natural for us to think, “God, I did this for you. Why aren’t you helping me?” It is natural to think, “If I serve the Lord, He will reciprocate and provide me with…” This is not the case. We have no bargaining chips with God. We are here to glorify God. Our life is about God. Don’t control God. These views belittle God. This thinking puts God in a box. 

  1. Let’s break down the passage by talking about Jephthah.
    1. Verse 1: He was a mighty warrior.
    2. He was the son of a prostitute.
    3. His father was Gilead.
    4. Verse 2: Gilead’s siblings drove him away because he was the son of another woman. Gilead was married.
    5. Verse 3: He went to the land of Tob, and “worthless fellows” followed him.
    6. Verse 4: The Amorites made war with the Israelites
    7. Verse 5: The elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah.
    8. Verse 6: This is when they invite him to be their leader. One must wonder why they ask him.
    9. Verse 6: God did not raise him up as a leader. The people came to him without God.
    10. In verses 7ff, there is an exchange in which Jephthah responds that they hated him before.
    11. Verse 9: Jephthah says, “If the Lord give them [the Amorites] over to me…” At this point, he recognizes the Lord.
    12. Judges 11:12-28 has a history recorded in Numbers 20:14-21.
    13. Now, toward the end of that section, Jephthah appeals that the Lord be the judge. But let’s see how it pans out.
  2. So, let’s look at the battle and the vow in verses 29-33, of Judges 11.
    1. Notice that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah. This does not mean God condoned his vow. God empowered him to win the battle.
    2. He passed through Gilead, Manasseh, and Mizpah of Gilead to the Ammonites. In these cities, he is recruiting an army.
    3. In verses 30-31, we see the vow.
    4. Judges 11:30–31 (ESV)
    5. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
    6. We must take note: It seems that Lev. 27:1-8 explains how he could have gotten out of this vow.
    7. His daughter comes out to meet him, carrying tambourines and dancing.
    8. She must have gotten word about the victory.
    9. She is his only child.
    10. It is repeated that there are no sons or daughters other than her.
    11. Verse 35: He is in grief and cannot take back his vow, but Leviticus 27:1-8 says that he could take back the vow.
    12. Verse 36: She agrees, following the vow.
    13. Verse 37: This may be indicative that this had to do with a life of celibacy: she wants to go for a few months and weep for her virginity with her companions.
    14. Judges 11:37 (ESV)
    15. 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.”
    16. Verse 39: She came back after two months, and he fulfilled the vow.
    17. The vow is not listed at this point. It does not say that he killed her or anything.
  3. What does the vow mean?
    1. If you look at the Moody Bible Commentary, which is a good source, it favors the view that the vow was a vow of celibacy.
    2. If you look back at the vow, notice the first-person pronouns: my house, my land, me, I.
    3. This vow was not about God it was all about Jephthah.
    4. One reason for the belief that he never intended to sacrifice his daughter is that the vow uses masculine verb forms and suffixes, even though he has only a daughter.
    5. We would think he expected an animal to greet him; however, M. Bal (Death and Dissymmetry: The Politics of Coherence in the Book of Judges [Chicago: University Press, 1988], 45) is correct in reminding us that in the ancient world animals did not go out to meet returning conquerors.[1]
    6. However, on another view, Recently S. Landers (“Did Jephthah Kill His Daughter?” B[2]R 7/4 [1991]: 27–31, 42) has revived the rabbinic view that because Jephthah’s child was female she would have been unacceptable as a sacrifice (cf. Lev 1:3–10) and that לְתַנּוֹת in v. 40 should be translated “to console” rather than “to lament.” Accordingly, Jephthah must have modified his vow and “consigned her to an isolated life as a virgin” (p. 42).[3]
    7. Pagan culture included other vows, and Jephthah seems to have been very pagan.
    8. So, did Jephthah sacrifice his daughter to God? I don’t know. There are so many different views.
    9. Until the Middle Ages, that was the predominant view. I do find it interesting that the Moody Bible Commentary takes the belief that he committed her to celibacy and work in the Temple. The Moody Bible Commentary had Dr. Michael Rydelnik as one of the general editors, and he is a professor of Jewish studies and Jewish himself. So, given his Jewish roots, that is a good source.
    10. But now you know what happened, so let’s focus on the application. Don’t try to control God with a vow in the first place.
  4. Applications:
    1. How did Jephthah have faith? It seems his faith was trusting the Lord when he won the battles. The Bible does not endorse the many sins in his life, but it highlights his overarching faith in the Lord. I think Hebrews shows that the Lord uses sinful people. I also think these stories in Judges show how far the Israelites would stray from the Lord. 
    2. Trust the Lord, but not that simply. Don’t bargain with God.
    3. Let me break that down. I think it is natural for us to try to think, “God, I did this for you; why aren’t you helping me?” It is natural to think, “If I serve the Lord, He will reciprocate and provide me with…” This is not the case. We have no bargaining chips with God. We are here to glorify God. Our life is about God. Don’t control God. These views are belittling to God. This thinking puts God in a box.
  5. Jephthah made a vow when he shouldn’t have. He should have continued trusting the Lord. We must trust the Lord.
  6. To truly apply this, we will not make a vow with God. We will not tell God, if He does something, then we will do something.
  7. We must trust the Lord whether He does what we want or not.
  8. Everyone say, “It is not about me.” It is not about us; it is about trusting the Lord.
  9. Get rid of certain views. Just because you follow Christ does not mean you won’t face trouble.
  10. We must not expect God to give us good health for being a Christian.
  11. We must not expect God to give us lots of money for being a Christian.

Close:

I believe it is natural to bargain with God. It is natural to think that this life is about us, when it is not. We pray, and we seek God; that is what we are to do. I do believe God takes care of us. I know that God hears our prayers.

James 5:16:

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

(from New International Version)

We pray in God’s will. We pray for His Kingdom.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

  1. Daniel Isaac Block, Judges, Ruth, vol. 6, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999). ↑

  2. BR Biblical Research ↑

  3. Daniel Isaac Block, Judges, Ruth, vol. 6, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999). ↑

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