Judges 11.1-33
This Haftarah is more complex than I had originally thought. I’ve come up with two every different takes on it. Since I had much difficulty deciding one over the other, I’m providing both perspectives here…abbreviated, so you can decide for yourself.
דְּבַר רִישׁוֹן This week’s haftarah really ends in the middle of the story. Jephthah is the victor in his battle with the Ammonites. He is the uncrowned “king” of Israel despite his “humble” origins. Before his victory he makes a vow to God: “If You indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace shall be the Eternal’s, & I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” (Verses 30-31) In the lines that follow the haftarah, we find out that his own daughter, his only child, is the one who comes out to greet him. (verses 34-35) Oh crap!
A Jewish text called the Tanhuma explains this troubling episode, it begins by citing Proverbs 11.30: ‘The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; a wise man can acquire people’ The tree of life refers to Torah. For if a person is knowledgeable in Torah, he (or she) will know how to help people. Here is what happened to Jephthah. Since he was not learned in Torah, he lost his daughter. When he fought the Ammonites, he made a vow to God: ‘If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me on my safe return from the Ammonites shall be offered by me as a burnt offering.’ At that moment, God became livid with Jephthah. God responded: ‘If a dog or a pig or a camel came out from your house would you offer it before Me!?’ So God arranged that his daughter should exit the house first, as it said: Behold, his daughter came out toward him, & he saw her (11.34-35).
Wasn’t Pinchas (a well known sage) there, so how could he say that he could not retract this vow(See 11:35)? Rather Pinchas said: I’m the high priest, the son of the high priest & I should lower myself to go visit that boor (unlearned oaf)? Jephthah said: I’m the head of the tribes of Israel, the head officer & I should lower myself to go see that moron? Between [the arrogance] of the two of them, the poor girl was lost & both of them were liable for her life. Pinchas lost the spirit of prophecy &, [as for] Jephthah, his bones were spread all over, as it written (in 12.7): And he was buried in the cities (plural) of Israel.
Jephthah’s daughter said to him: Is it written in the Torah that they should sacrifice the lives of their children? Isn’t it written: When a person makes for himself an offering to God from the herd of the flock, etc. (Leviticus 1.2) – from the animals & not from the children. Jephthah responded: But I made a vow, that whatever came out of the door! She retorted: Jacob, our Patriarch, vowed to give a tenth of all that God gave him (Genesis 28.22) God gave him twelve tribes & did he sacrifice a single one? All this she said to him, but he wouldn’t listen to her. ‘Let me be, & let me go to a beit din (a Jewish court), in the hope that one of them can find a way to release your vow, as it said: Let me be for two months that I may depart & go down to the mountains (11.37). – [the mountains refer to] the Sanhedrin Council.
So she went to the local Jewish court (beit din), but they did not find a way to rescind his vow & so he went up & slaughtered her before God & God cried out: ‘Have I requested from you to sacrifice human beings before Me? I neither spoke of nor did it even occur to Me to request it. (Jeremiah 19.5) Rather I said to Abraham: ‘Don’t raise your hand against the boy’ (Genesis 22.12)… I did not command Jephthah to offer to Me his daughter…what caused Jephthah the loss of his daughter? It is that he did not read the Torah, for if he had studied it he would not have offered his daughter… for ‘Fruit of righteous is a tree of life & he will know how to preserve a person’s life. (Heavily adapted from Tanhuma Buber Behukotai 7, p. 112-4)
We see so much arrogance & negligence of Torah in this passage on the part of those who should know & do much better. The only hero or heroine in this story is Jephthah’s daughter. She is also the only sage in the story as well as its tragic victim. This not so well known story should serve as a valuable lesson to both the knowledgeable & the powerful of the consequences of callousness & arrogance in the supposed “service to God”.
Ok, so much for the first view…the second take on this is shorter…
דְּבַר אַחֵר We’ve all seen the movie. The outcast from the wrong side of the tracks comes home to save the day. His name might have been Maverick, or Wolverine, or Rocky, but the story is the same. We've seen this movie many times, & we see it again in our Haftarah this week, which just might have been the original version. It tells the story of Jephthah. He’s an able warrior from the region of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. This makes his father's other sons, the ones from his legitimate wife, dislike Jephthah, so they drive him out of town. Jephthah flees & finds a home in a rough neighborhood, with "men of low character." But he thrives there, & becomes their leader.
Everything seems perfect for Jephthah. He’s leading a band of ruffians & raiding neighboring towns. What more could a lonely outlaw want? Other than maybe some great in laws! But then, one day, it all changes. Jephthah is visited by the elders of Gilead. They have been attacked by the Ammonites, & they need his help. He is their only hope. Jephthah agrees, as long as they make him their commander & chief. They hesitate, but ultimately approve. Jephthah is coming home!
Upon returning, Jephthah first tries to negotiate with the king of the Ammonites, but these negotiations quickly breakdown. So Jephthah leads the Gileadites into battle, & they crush the Ammonites. The people of Gilead can once again live in peace.
We have a soft spot for the underdog, the outcast who no one wants but who is ultimately what everyone needs. This is why I feel like there is something compelling about Jephthah. When the elders came to ask for his help at the beginning of the story, he could have said no. Forget you. You had your chance. But he doesn't. After everything that has happened, he still feels a sense of responsibility to his community. He still feels driven to help the very people who spurned him. We are not outcasts, nor warriors, but we also have a responsibility to our community. We might not always feel like it, & it might not be convenient, but adding our voices & our energy to our synagogue makes a difference. We can't just affirm its importance & then do something else. To paraphrase: our words can't write checks that our bodies can't cash. Maverick might not have understood this critique, but Jephthah did. He came back to help, & by doing so he saved his people. It's a good plot for a movie, & an even better story in real life.
How do you react to this complex Haftarah? Isn’t it deceptive of the early rabbis, to cut the Haftarah short to end on a very positive passage about Jephthah & remain silent regarding his deplorable shortcomings? Or does reading a bit more of the text than the traditional Haftarah provides, make him more relatable in some ways? What is your take on this text? It’s ok to think about it for a while. But I would love to get your perspective on it. I want to learn from you…if you’re comfortable sharing with me. Since I’ve already shared my thoughts, I promise to listen to yours.
~Christo Chaney [כָּלֵב דָּנִיֵּאל]
Congregation Sha’areth Israel - Lubbock TX