The Condemnation Of Jephthah -- By: Tamie S. Davis

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 64:1 (NA 2013)
Article: The Condemnation Of Jephthah
Author: Tamie S. Davis


The Condemnation Of Jephthah

Tamie S. Davis

Summary

This paper argues that literary context, commonly used by evangelicals, and intertextuality, often championed by feminist scholars, are complementary tools for understanding the story of Jephthah and his daughter in Judges 11:29-40. The lack of comment from the narrator on the morality of the story has perplexed many readers but, when viewed together, these approaches build a compelling case for Jephthah’s condemnation. The literary context gives warrant to the feminist horror at the events of Judges 11:29-40. Intertextual contrast relating to gender can alert the reader to other differences between the stories which then present Jephthah as an inversion of Abraham: unfaithful and abhorrent to Yhwh.

1. Introduction

In the introduction to Tamar’s Tears: Evangelical Engagements with Feminist Old Testament Hermeneutics, Andrew Sloane calls evangelicals to ‘engagement not conflict’ with feminist readings of Scripture.1 This paper attempts to add to that discussion using the intriguing story of Jephthah and his daughter in Judges 11:29-40 as a case study. Perhaps the most vexing aspect of the story is that the narrator does not comment on its morality. Such silence has led to great attention from both evangelical and feminist scholars but there has been little interaction between the two perspectives. It is my contention that this lack of dialogue has impoverished discussion of the story of Jephthah and his daughter. Instead, accessing both evangelical and feminist approaches clarifies the narrator’s implied condemnation of Jephthah.

Cheryl Exum provides a good basic definition for a feminist approach to biblical criticism: ‘the concerns of feminism as a political enterprise’.2 These concerns include identifying women’s voices and overcoming men’s control of them. Exum herself contrasts this approach with those who seek to understand ‘the biblical text in its own right’3 which is how we shall use the term ‘evangelical’. This is not to say that only those who self-identify as evangelicals seek to understand the text on its own terms;4 it is meant only as a broad brushstroke for those who approach Scripture as normative. ‘Evangelical’ and ‘feminist’ are also not by any means exclusive labels. In ...

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