Part of the Bible Women unit from the King James Bible, link to the reading online.
Sculpture, Jephthah and His Daughter, by Emil Wolff.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The story of Jephthah's daughter is about self-sacrifice and the sacrifice of a loved one. It is about a father's submission to his god and his daughter's submission both to her father and her god.
Jephthah makes what seems like a rash and foolish vow. Why did he promise to offer whatever/whoever came out to meet him? Didn't he know a human would come out to meet him? Why was he willing to sacrifice another's life instead of his own? Why isn't he rebuked for this in the story? Why was a life worth winning the battle? He seems to think of everyone in his house as his property, including his daughter.
When Jephthah sees his daughter, he blames her for the misfortunes that are about to occur. He tells her that she is the cause of his trouble, even though he is the one who made the vow in the first place.
Jephthah's daughter submits so readily. In fact, she insists that her father fulfill his vow when he has only told her of the vow and not actually ordered her to be sacrificed.
The phrase "bewailed her virginity upon the mountains" is very tragic to me.
I see Jephthah's daughter as a strong woman, yet she submitted so easily to her father. Is this a sign of her strength (as with Buddha in the Jataka stories) or is the narrator treating her as property and celebrating her meekness as a woman? I want to explore these questions in my retelling.
The text is unclear about whether Jephthah's daughter is actually killed. She either must spend the rest of her life as a virgin, belonging to God, or she is literally sacrificed as a burnt offering.
Jephthah has no other children; this is emphasized. So is his sadness and ripping of his clothes due to love for his daughter or the fact that his genetic line will not be carried on?
The women in Jephthah's daughter's life are important to her. They are with her when she bewails her virginity, and they come to lament her yearly.
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