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Article JEPHTHAH'S VOW CONSIDERED. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Jephthah's Vow Considered.
j"fi 3 . n ? by the sense of that verse , as we have submitted it in a previou paper . * We shall , on that principle , select the word " celebrate , " preferring it to " to talk with , " the marginal rendering , as we find there was a . custom , or ordinance established respecting this extraordinary transaction . Now , if the daughters of Israel went " to talk with" Jephthah ' s daughter four days in the year , the custom or ordinance could only have
lasted her lifetime ; but if they '' celebrated '' her piety and resignation to her father ' s vow , this would justify the use of the term " custom" or " ordinance ; " an expression , implying a term of longer duration than that of Jephthah ' s daughter ' s natural life . It may , however , be observed , that this custom might only have lasted during the life-time of the devoted maiden , from this circumstance , that the Jewish maidens went four days in the year , & c . & c . ; therefore it
may be reasonably said , that this custom was not likely to be of a perpetual duration , as many events of far more importance to the Jewish nation were celebrated but once a year—the Passover , forinstance . These remarks may serve to support the marginal reading " to talk with , " which is adopted by Arius Montanus , Kimchi , Pagninus , Junius , Weems , and others . Some lexicographers give another meaning to the root rU / l viz . to
bestow a gift or reward , remunerate for hire . The first of these meanings probably induced Dr . Randolph to propose rendering it " to make presents to" Jephthah ' s daughter . Either , then , of the renderings , "to talk with , " "to make presents to , "
or " to celebrate , " is evidently preferable to that of our Authorized Version " to lament , " although the rarity of the word in the Hebrew scriptures will not admit of an easy definition of its primary meaning , but ive find it conveys a very clear idea of celebrating with joy and gladness in Judges c . 5 . v . 11 , why , then , should we h esitate to attach the same meaning to the word in Judges , c . 11 v . 40 , and consider it as conveying the idea , that these Jewish maidens went four days in the year " to rehearse" with Jephthah ' s daughter the great and signal mercy of Jehovah in delivering
his people Israel from their enemies , and thus " celebrate" His goodness and power ; as well as her piety and submission ? It is also recorded in the 39 v . of c . 11 , Judges , that " she knew no man . " Here we would ask , had a sacrificial death been the consequence of Jephthah's vow , would the sacred historian have favoured us with so gratuitous a piece of information ? We can easily infer that " she knew no man ' as she had asked her father ' s permission to occupy two months
, "in bewailing her virginity , " which he granted , and when she returned from thus " bewailing , " it is said her father " did with her according to his vow , which he had vowed , and she knew no man ; " even the order of the narrative seems to indicate the error of those who maintain that Jephthah did immolate his . daughter ; there was clearly no necessity whatever to declare that " she knew no man , so closely after her liaving been engaged for two months in " bewailing her virginity" had it not referred
, to the condition in which she remained after her father had dealt with her according to his vow . Having thus completed our task , we venture to express a hope that we have succeeded in rescuing Jephthah from the foul charge of murder on the one hand , and gross abomination on the other ; we feel convinced
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Jephthah's Vow Considered.
j"fi 3 . n ? by the sense of that verse , as we have submitted it in a previou paper . * We shall , on that principle , select the word " celebrate , " preferring it to " to talk with , " the marginal rendering , as we find there was a . custom , or ordinance established respecting this extraordinary transaction . Now , if the daughters of Israel went " to talk with" Jephthah ' s daughter four days in the year , the custom or ordinance could only have
lasted her lifetime ; but if they '' celebrated '' her piety and resignation to her father ' s vow , this would justify the use of the term " custom" or " ordinance ; " an expression , implying a term of longer duration than that of Jephthah ' s daughter ' s natural life . It may , however , be observed , that this custom might only have lasted during the life-time of the devoted maiden , from this circumstance , that the Jewish maidens went four days in the year , & c . & c . ; therefore it
may be reasonably said , that this custom was not likely to be of a perpetual duration , as many events of far more importance to the Jewish nation were celebrated but once a year—the Passover , forinstance . These remarks may serve to support the marginal reading " to talk with , " which is adopted by Arius Montanus , Kimchi , Pagninus , Junius , Weems , and others . Some lexicographers give another meaning to the root rU / l viz . to
bestow a gift or reward , remunerate for hire . The first of these meanings probably induced Dr . Randolph to propose rendering it " to make presents to" Jephthah ' s daughter . Either , then , of the renderings , "to talk with , " "to make presents to , "
or " to celebrate , " is evidently preferable to that of our Authorized Version " to lament , " although the rarity of the word in the Hebrew scriptures will not admit of an easy definition of its primary meaning , but ive find it conveys a very clear idea of celebrating with joy and gladness in Judges c . 5 . v . 11 , why , then , should we h esitate to attach the same meaning to the word in Judges , c . 11 v . 40 , and consider it as conveying the idea , that these Jewish maidens went four days in the year " to rehearse" with Jephthah ' s daughter the great and signal mercy of Jehovah in delivering
his people Israel from their enemies , and thus " celebrate" His goodness and power ; as well as her piety and submission ? It is also recorded in the 39 v . of c . 11 , Judges , that " she knew no man . " Here we would ask , had a sacrificial death been the consequence of Jephthah's vow , would the sacred historian have favoured us with so gratuitous a piece of information ? We can easily infer that " she knew no man ' as she had asked her father ' s permission to occupy two months
, "in bewailing her virginity , " which he granted , and when she returned from thus " bewailing , " it is said her father " did with her according to his vow , which he had vowed , and she knew no man ; " even the order of the narrative seems to indicate the error of those who maintain that Jephthah did immolate his . daughter ; there was clearly no necessity whatever to declare that " she knew no man , so closely after her liaving been engaged for two months in " bewailing her virginity" had it not referred
, to the condition in which she remained after her father had dealt with her according to his vow . Having thus completed our task , we venture to express a hope that we have succeeded in rescuing Jephthah from the foul charge of murder on the one hand , and gross abomination on the other ; we feel convinced