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Article JEPHTHAH'S VOW CONSIDERED. Page 1 of 5 →
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Jephthah's Vow Considered.
JEPHTHAH'S VOW CONSIDERED .
BY J . S . KEOnELT ,, P . M . 184 . [ Continued from page lfll , Fol . VI . ) Having , in the preceding papers , offered such observations as appear necessary to the full understanding of the Vow , let us proceed to a farther examination of the subject . The tendency of the remarks in the Pictorial Bible , is to convey an
idea , that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter , and we cannot communicate the sentiments of the writer of the notes in that useful and instructive work , better than by giving them in substance . "It may be granted that the hero acted with the most devout intentions , without , therefore , conceding that he was so well instructed in the law of God , as to be incapable of making an unlawful vow . Who was Jephthah ?—a man who , before his expulsion , seems to have led a bold and daring
life , which obtained for him the reputation of being ' a mighty man of valour , ' and which reputation enabled him , after he became a fugitive , to collect a troop of ' vain men , ' which he formed into a hand of robbers , and became tlieir captain . Moreover , he was bred up beyond Jordan , where the connection with the tabernacle and its observances were very loose , if at all maintained , where the Ephod of Gideon had been a snare to that heroto his homeand to the people ; and where
, , , after his death , the people had turned aside , and made Baal-berith their god . Under these circumstances , it is not too much to suppose that the law had become very imperfectly known in general , and least of all to a man leading the kind of life which the brave Gileadite had led . It is highly probable , that the people during their idolatry , had offered
human sacrifices in imitation of their heathen neighbours , who certainly did so , and Jephthah ' s mind being familiarized to the notion that such sacrifices were acceptable to the gods , -mingled with a misunderstood recollection ( facts being better retained than precepts ) , of Abraham ' s intended sacrifice of Isaac by divine command , there is nothing very violent in the notion that he may have contemplated the possibility of such a sacrifice in pronouncing his vow . One thing seems certain ,
that whatever he intended , he could not be unaware that some human being might , quite as probably as an animal , be the first to come to meet him on his return home . Indeed , ' coining to meet him , ' seems to imply an act which could scarcely be expected from any but a human being . That this human being would be his daughter was within the limits of possibility ; but we see from the result , that it was his secret hope that she might he spared . He did nothowevermake her an
, , exception , because the prevalent notion was , that the offering , whether for sacrifice or living consecration , was the more acceptable in the same proportion that it was cherished and dear . " In analyzing these observations , we shall first observe on the statement of Jephthah ' s " acquaintance with the law of God . " We think there is enough to prove Jephthah ' s greater acquaintance with the law of Jehovahthan the author of the foregoing remarks
, supposes , or is inclined to admit . He was sufficiently conversant with that law , and with what was due to Jehovah , as to ask the elders of Gilead , " If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Amnion , and the Lord deliver them before me , shall I be your head ? ( Judg . xi . 0 . ) There was then in Jephthah no vain confidence in himvon . VI . 1 ! it
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Jephthah's Vow Considered.
JEPHTHAH'S VOW CONSIDERED .
BY J . S . KEOnELT ,, P . M . 184 . [ Continued from page lfll , Fol . VI . ) Having , in the preceding papers , offered such observations as appear necessary to the full understanding of the Vow , let us proceed to a farther examination of the subject . The tendency of the remarks in the Pictorial Bible , is to convey an
idea , that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter , and we cannot communicate the sentiments of the writer of the notes in that useful and instructive work , better than by giving them in substance . "It may be granted that the hero acted with the most devout intentions , without , therefore , conceding that he was so well instructed in the law of God , as to be incapable of making an unlawful vow . Who was Jephthah ?—a man who , before his expulsion , seems to have led a bold and daring
life , which obtained for him the reputation of being ' a mighty man of valour , ' and which reputation enabled him , after he became a fugitive , to collect a troop of ' vain men , ' which he formed into a hand of robbers , and became tlieir captain . Moreover , he was bred up beyond Jordan , where the connection with the tabernacle and its observances were very loose , if at all maintained , where the Ephod of Gideon had been a snare to that heroto his homeand to the people ; and where
, , , after his death , the people had turned aside , and made Baal-berith their god . Under these circumstances , it is not too much to suppose that the law had become very imperfectly known in general , and least of all to a man leading the kind of life which the brave Gileadite had led . It is highly probable , that the people during their idolatry , had offered
human sacrifices in imitation of their heathen neighbours , who certainly did so , and Jephthah ' s mind being familiarized to the notion that such sacrifices were acceptable to the gods , -mingled with a misunderstood recollection ( facts being better retained than precepts ) , of Abraham ' s intended sacrifice of Isaac by divine command , there is nothing very violent in the notion that he may have contemplated the possibility of such a sacrifice in pronouncing his vow . One thing seems certain ,
that whatever he intended , he could not be unaware that some human being might , quite as probably as an animal , be the first to come to meet him on his return home . Indeed , ' coining to meet him , ' seems to imply an act which could scarcely be expected from any but a human being . That this human being would be his daughter was within the limits of possibility ; but we see from the result , that it was his secret hope that she might he spared . He did nothowevermake her an
, , exception , because the prevalent notion was , that the offering , whether for sacrifice or living consecration , was the more acceptable in the same proportion that it was cherished and dear . " In analyzing these observations , we shall first observe on the statement of Jephthah ' s " acquaintance with the law of God . " We think there is enough to prove Jephthah ' s greater acquaintance with the law of Jehovahthan the author of the foregoing remarks
, supposes , or is inclined to admit . He was sufficiently conversant with that law , and with what was due to Jehovah , as to ask the elders of Gilead , " If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Amnion , and the Lord deliver them before me , shall I be your head ? ( Judg . xi . 0 . ) There was then in Jephthah no vain confidence in himvon . VI . 1 ! it