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Article JEPHTHAH'S VOW CONSIDERED. ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Jephthah's Vow Considered.
offer it for a burnt-offering , " the preposition "for , " expressed in the Hebrew by 7 ( lamed ) , would have been found preceding the word rniy , making rfotyb , in conformity to the genius and construction of the Hebrew language , as we see in the following instances : il 7 W 7 D ! i ?
• irpynl and offer him there for a burnt-offering , Gen . xxii . 2 . ilbty ? -: i—. T : ^ roy "l and he offered him ( the ram ) for a burnt-offering . Here we may remark , that the pronoun in ( him or it ) affixed is used in all these instances with the verb offer , and this affix implies in the word used by Jephthah , in'MT ^ ni to him , and is put for ) 7 { to Mm ) as we find ) for 17 in ) D ^ H to speak to him , Gen . xxxvii . 4—in T"iy > he had
appointed to him ; although in our authorized version the word to is not inserted , but it is clearly implied by the context , " but he tarried longer than the time appointed ( to ) him , " 2 Sam . xx . 5 , —in VJ ^ pTyill " and I would do ( to ) him justice , " 2 Sam . xv . 4 ; and in 1 Kings xx . 9 , we find a passage exactly parallel in construction to that under discussion , viz . ~) in 1 i"Qt £ ?' 1 " and they brought ( to ) him word again , " see Parkhurst , sub . PT / i ? . The expression , "for a burnt-offering , " with the preposition for prefixed , viz . n ^ J ? ? occurs about thirty times , and
there are two instances where the word "for" is added by the translators in our authorized version , viz . in the verse containing Jephthah ' s vow , Judg . xi . 31 , and in 2 Kings iii . 27 , where we may observe the term "for" is printed in italics , shewing that there is no equivalent in the original ; but in Judg . xi . 31 , the word is printed in the usual type . Now the context in the verse from 2 Kings iii . gives a reason why our translators inserted the term '' for , " as we shall see by quoting the 26 th and 27 th verses : —
_ " And when the King of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him , he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords , to break through even to the King of Edom ; but they could not . " " Then he took his eldest son , that should have reigned in his stead , and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall . " It would be useless to contend here that a human sacrifice was not offered up , but who offers it ? A heathen—a King of Moab ; and to
suppose that he offered a burnt-offering to bis son would be equally so . Of this passage there can be no doubt as to the interpretation ; but in the case of Jephthah , where so strong a doubt can be cast upon the reading adopted by many , upon the principle of its being opposed to the general construction of the Hebrew language , we ought to be governed by that construction , and not suffer ourselves to be biassed by a solitary confirmation of any expressionwhile we have thirty-three instances to
, the contrary . Having thus maintained the " proposed" reading , and we trust with some claim to consideration , we shall submit a few observations on the expression— " And Jephthah vowed a vow . " In the Mosaic dispensation we find two kinds of vows , 1 st—the "yj } ( neder ) which in its primary sense denotes— " to vow , promise to God , von . vi . " Y
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Jephthah's Vow Considered.
offer it for a burnt-offering , " the preposition "for , " expressed in the Hebrew by 7 ( lamed ) , would have been found preceding the word rniy , making rfotyb , in conformity to the genius and construction of the Hebrew language , as we see in the following instances : il 7 W 7 D ! i ?
• irpynl and offer him there for a burnt-offering , Gen . xxii . 2 . ilbty ? -: i—. T : ^ roy "l and he offered him ( the ram ) for a burnt-offering . Here we may remark , that the pronoun in ( him or it ) affixed is used in all these instances with the verb offer , and this affix implies in the word used by Jephthah , in'MT ^ ni to him , and is put for ) 7 { to Mm ) as we find ) for 17 in ) D ^ H to speak to him , Gen . xxxvii . 4—in T"iy > he had
appointed to him ; although in our authorized version the word to is not inserted , but it is clearly implied by the context , " but he tarried longer than the time appointed ( to ) him , " 2 Sam . xx . 5 , —in VJ ^ pTyill " and I would do ( to ) him justice , " 2 Sam . xv . 4 ; and in 1 Kings xx . 9 , we find a passage exactly parallel in construction to that under discussion , viz . ~) in 1 i"Qt £ ?' 1 " and they brought ( to ) him word again , " see Parkhurst , sub . PT / i ? . The expression , "for a burnt-offering , " with the preposition for prefixed , viz . n ^ J ? ? occurs about thirty times , and
there are two instances where the word "for" is added by the translators in our authorized version , viz . in the verse containing Jephthah ' s vow , Judg . xi . 31 , and in 2 Kings iii . 27 , where we may observe the term "for" is printed in italics , shewing that there is no equivalent in the original ; but in Judg . xi . 31 , the word is printed in the usual type . Now the context in the verse from 2 Kings iii . gives a reason why our translators inserted the term '' for , " as we shall see by quoting the 26 th and 27 th verses : —
_ " And when the King of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him , he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords , to break through even to the King of Edom ; but they could not . " " Then he took his eldest son , that should have reigned in his stead , and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall . " It would be useless to contend here that a human sacrifice was not offered up , but who offers it ? A heathen—a King of Moab ; and to
suppose that he offered a burnt-offering to bis son would be equally so . Of this passage there can be no doubt as to the interpretation ; but in the case of Jephthah , where so strong a doubt can be cast upon the reading adopted by many , upon the principle of its being opposed to the general construction of the Hebrew language , we ought to be governed by that construction , and not suffer ourselves to be biassed by a solitary confirmation of any expressionwhile we have thirty-three instances to
, the contrary . Having thus maintained the " proposed" reading , and we trust with some claim to consideration , we shall submit a few observations on the expression— " And Jephthah vowed a vow . " In the Mosaic dispensation we find two kinds of vows , 1 st—the "yj } ( neder ) which in its primary sense denotes— " to vow , promise to God , von . vi . " Y