Reading for December 24th

Read Judges 11.29-40
In 11.29-40: Jephthah's vow.
In verse 29: Only now the spirit of the lord empowers Jephthah, perhaps reflecting the Lord's earlier reluctance to deliver Israel (10.13-16).
In verse 30: Another example of a war vow can be found in Num 21.2.
In verse 31: His vow is rash. careless, and egocentric.
The language does not necessarily specify that this will be a human sacrifice (NRSV whoever could also be "whatever").
Israelites shared their houses with farm animals.
Burnt offerings suggests an animal., although human sacrifice was not unknown to Israel.
In verse 34: She is doing an expected and predictable thing.
Israelite women customarily celebrated victories with timbrels and with dancing (Ex 15.20-21; 1 Sam 18.6-7).
In verse 35: He is distraught (tore his clothes), but also sounds as though he is blaming her.
Every ancient reader would agree that his vow was irrevocable.
In verse 36-37: She is courageous and suitably devout, but also seizes control of how she will spend her last months of her life.
Bewail my virginity: To die without the possibility of motherhood was a dreadful tragedy in Israelite culture (reemphasized in v. 39).
Jephthah too is now childless (v. 34).
In verse 40: This annual commemoration may have preserved her story for later generations.
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