Jephthah’s Vow and Reticence of God: A Rhetorical Critical Interpretation on Judges 10:17-11:40

For both Christians and non-Christians, one of the most problematic stories in the Bible would be the story of Jephthah’s daughter in Judges, a report of human sacrifice. This is the text (Judges 10:17-11:40) this paper deals with through rhetorical criticism. Initial questions are raised as follows: Why does Jephthah perform such a rash and harsh vow?, How could a father offer his daughter as a sacrifice?, What kind of God would accept such a human offering?, How horrible and tragic it was for the daughter of Jephthah?, How can we reconcile with this miserable text? These questions have been explored by narrative criticism in which the development of each narrative is carefully investigated focusing on some obstacles and differences found in crucial points of the text. Also, the characteristics of characters of the story are discussed regarding Jephthah, his daughter, and God. Through rhetorical critical tools of interpretation, we have found the most essential motif of the whole narrative of Jephthah is ambiguities. The hebrew narrator does not intentionally give explicit reports in each incident. However, we have discovered that those ambiguities are clues from which a new light is given in the interpretation of the problematic text. This paper has concluded theologically that God has been with Jephthah all the way of the whole narrative even though Jephthah could not perceive it due to his adherence to tangible proof of God’s presence. Rhetorical critical methods along with complementary methods of historical criticism have brought the terrible and ambiguous story of Jephthah into the courageous and atoning salvation story of Jephthah’s daughter.