The book of Judges is the record of human failure in the face of God. Disturbing, lurid, and jarring, attempting to equate the records of the judges of Israel to some sort of ethical fable reminds us of the dog that returns to his vomit, as the fool to his ways. Should we look at this book as an epic? Is this the story of the establishment of Israel in the promised land? This seems correct.
Regarding one story in this tapestry, one that reminds us of the tapestry of Arachne, a tapestry produced in a competition with the greek gods making their transgressions against mankind the epic matter, we could see God as Moloch, a king of gods thirsty for the blood of children. The unnamed daughter of Jepthah is claimed as a human sacrifice in exchange for the victory of a general at war. This links Judges 11-12 to the story of Iphigenia sacrificed at the port of Aulis by her father Agamemnon as the condition for the granting of favorable winds that would carry the Greeks to their grinding war on the beaches of Troy. The gods exact the price of the dearest thing we possess in exchange for our thirst for power and domination. Look again.
In this story, we realize upon close attention that the sacrifice of a human being in exchange for the victory is an homage after the fact, not a condition for the victory. That in an act of hubris the judge Jepthah, perhaps in a mood of transcendent exultation, attempts to match magnanimous acts of his own with those of God, unconditioned in his grant of favor. Did Jepthah regard his vow as an act of piety? Almost without a doubt.
History is the stream of necessity, unavoidable consequences full of novel and unexpected twists that exalt and cast down without special favor. It is also the realm of human action both rational and irrational. There is a strong odor of the irrational in this story, and also the realization of tragedy: a result that comes to pass in a moment of triumph and produces fear and pity. We are fearful of the rash vow of Jepthah and pity the victors, now the victims of the bloodthirsty rationale of war coupled with the generosity of triumph. In the shock at the aftermath of Jepthah’s return home and worst of all outcomes, the reversal of fortune, a point that throws all human striving into incomprehensibility is the moment of fear. What is left is the sacrifice, and many turn to this as the “point” of the story when faced with its injustice. Can we charge God with injustice?
We do not make such a charge, perhaps if we can duck the punch of history. A recent interpretation laid out the story as a feminist fable. The daughter, accepting the domination of a ruling male, brave toward her fate and obligation to her family, seeks the company of other women. The close knit companionship of co-sufferers is the antithesis of the patriarchal power structure as the daughter dances her sadness in the sorority of the mountains. This is very romantic, and the story of Iphigenia gets similar readings from those disposed to make sense of the history that must bend toward justice.
Justice is only glimpsed in this reading as the victim gains a temporary reprieve, not a commutation of sentence. She returns and is slain according to the vow of her father. In the story of Iphigenia, Clytemnestra exacts revenge on the conquering father Agamemnon when he returns from war. We must remember that Agamemnon accepted the word of a priest who made the sacrifice of his daughter the condition of success in war. Jepthah made his gesture after the victory in what looks like a gratuitous exuberance. Key to this story is the silence and non intervention of God in these affairs of the Judge. Why would he not miraculously save the daughter as he saved Isaac before the altar with his father Abraham?
The tapestry of Judges is a corner of a larger tapestry. The habit of the one who looks for Christ in all things sees another story about the history. History does contain the necessities of cause and effect, like the victory, the vow, the sacrifice in this story. It does contain the calculations and wild gestures of man in time seeking assertion and rest. History as known in the “Day of the Lord” is also a working out of God’s will in the generations of man. How many stories of sacrifice and deliverance, of the hope in descendants, in the willing obedience unto death of the beloved child are woven into this tapestry as it threads its way to the center will we see if we look? Here is one.
Beyond the warning “don’t be like Jepthah” is the heartbeat of prophecy in events. That this story is recorded for us who live in the time of the revelation of Jesus and look to his sacrifice for our victory is the sign of God’s regard throughout history. His perfectly innocent Son is the objective casualty and victim in the one combat of time that is reflected in all wars. His resurrection fills the place that Jepthah’s loyal daughter and Jepthah the triumphant warrior leave behind, the fear and pity are hope and joy that this ancient tragedy thows into relief for our edification.
Leave a Reply