Tob was the name of a place in ancient Israel , mentioned in the Hebrew Bible .
45-508: Jephthah flees from his brothers to the "land of Tob". In Tob, Jephtha gatheres some men until his brothers want him back to fight against the Ammonites ( Judges 11:3–11 ). The place may be the same as the one mentioned in 2 Samuel 10:6–8 , named Ishtob (cf. Hebrew ish Tov ). Some believe it should be translated "men of Tob", rather than "Ishtob". There is a place named as Ṭby or Ṭubu in second millennium BCE sources, mentioned among
90-514: A daughter . Jephthah tears his clothes and cries, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low!" but is bound by his vow: "I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow". The girl asks for two months' grace, "...that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity". And so Jephthah "did with her according to his vow that he had made". The story ends by recounting how "the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament
135-558: A drink offering , whose quantities depended on the variety of animal being offered (bull, ram, sheep, or goat). The schedule of obligatory sacrifices, including burnt-offerings, appears in the Book of Numbers 28:1-30:1. These include daily offerings, as well as additional offerings for Shabbat , Rosh Chodesh , Rosh Hashanah , Passover , Shavuot , Yom Kippur , and Sukkot . The sacrificial animals were required to be bulls, rams, goats (as sin offerings ) and lambs . A korban olah
180-476: A holocaust and other sacrifices to God , while it is translated in the New International Version as Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God . In classical rabbinical literature , there are several different etymologies given for the term olah , though all agree that it literally translates as (that which) goes up . Some classical rabbis argued that
225-627: A human being to Him as a burnt-offering, for His acceptance. Such offerings were common to heathen nations at that time, but it is noteworthy that Israel stands out among them with this great peculiarity, that human sacrifices were unknown in Israel. However, in the Hebrew Bible, the same word for 'burnt offering' (Hebrew, ʿōlāh ) used in reference to Jephthah and his daughter in Judges 11:31 is also used in other Biblical stories alluding to human sacrifice, such as
270-404: A slaughter offering so that he could give a meal to an angel, is told by the angel to burn it completely instead. The burnt offering is believed to have appeared as an extreme form of the slaughter offering, whereby the portion allocated to the deity increased to all of it. In slaughter offerings, the portion allocated to the deity was mainly the fat , the part which can most easily be burnt (fat
315-508: A whole and in reliance on the might of God the Judge, Jephthah challenges the Ammonites. Jephthah swears an oath: ". . . and whatever [footnote: Or whoever ] comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the L ORD 's, and I will offer it [footnote: Or him ] up for a burnt offering . The victorious Jephthah is met on his return by his only child,
360-514: Is " holocaust ", and the word olah has traditionally been translated as "burnt offering." The term was translated as holocauston in the Septuagint . Today, some English Bible translations render the word as holocaust , and others translate it as "burnt offering". For example, Exodus 18:12a is translated in the New American Bible as Then Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, brought
405-550: Is also referenced by Philo, but with significant changes. Chazal sources, 3rd-6th century CE, portray the olah form of sacrifice, in which no meat was left over for consumption by the Kohanim , as the greatest form of sacrifice and was the form of sacrifice permitted by Judaism to be sacrificed at the Temple by the Kohanim on behalf of both Jews and non-Jews . Unless the offering
450-503: Is also sometimes compared to that of Agamemnon 's daughter Iphigenia . In his play Jephthas sive votum – Jeptha or the Vow , the Scottish scholar and dramatist George Buchanan (1506–1582) called Jephthah's daughter "Iphis", obviously alluding to Iphigenia, and Handel 's 1751 oratorio , Jephtha , based on Buchanan's play, uses the same name. According to an early Jewish tradition, Jephthah
495-479: Is driven out by his half-brothers and takes up his dwelling in Tob , east of Gilead. "Outlaws collected around Jephthah and went raiding with him." The elders of Gilead ask him to be their leader in the campaign against the Ammonites, but he holds out for a more permanent and a broader position, and the elders agree that, provided Jephthah succeeds in defeating Ammon, he will be their permanent chieftain. On behalf of Israel as
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#1732851163159540-408: Is elaborated and emphasized; "the author has done his utmost to put this woman on the same level as the patriarchs, in this case especially Isaac." John Chrysostom held that God allowed Jephthah to kill his daughter in order to prevent similar rash vows being made in the future and that it was for that purpose that the annual bewailing of the event took place as a constant reminder. Ambrose cited
585-809: Is referenced once in the Epistle to the Hebrews 11:32. Jephthah's sacrifice of his daughter stands in stark contrast to the Binding of Isaac in the Book of Genesis , in which Abraham was about to perform a divinely ordered sacrifice of his son, when an angel of God directly intervened and stopped the sacrifice. Some writers have observed that the Israelites of the time widely disrespected Mosaic law , which forbade human sacrifice; and that there are several other examples of rash vows , some with similarly terrible consequences (for instance 2 Samuel 21:6–9 ). David Janzen argued that
630-503: The Book of Judges as a judge who presided over Israel for a period of six years ( Judges 12:7 ). According to Judges, he lived in Gilead . His father's name is also given as Gilead, and, as his mother is described as a prostitute, this may indicate that his father might have been any of the men of that area. Jephthah led the Israelites in battle against Ammon and, in exchange for defeating
675-505: The Sea of Galilee , corresponding to modern-day Taibah near Irbid in northern Jordan. It has been suggested that the "land of Tob" was back country , used by outlaws as a place of refuge. Tob is also a town referred to in the Amarna letters , circa 1350 BCE. Among the c. 382 letters (EA 1 through EA 382) there is only one mention of the town, by the name TuBu , and in this small group of letters,
720-463: The tabernacle was built, it was specified that the tabernacle's altar be used. The major types of sacrificial offerings, their purpose and circumstances, details of their performance and distributions afterwards are delineated in the Book of Leviticus 1:1-7:38. The animals were required to be "unblemished"; the list of blemishes includes animals "that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs". The animals were brought to
765-649: The twenty-four priestly gifts in Tosefta Hallah (or Tosefta Challah). The Hebrew noun olah (עֹלָה) occurs 289 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. It means "that which goes up [in smoke]". It is formed from the active participle of the verb alah (עָלָה), "to cause to ascend." It was sometimes also called kalil , an associated word found in Leviticus, meaning "entire". Its traditional name in English
810-459: The 14th century and continues to be propounded today, as by Solomon Landers, who considers it most likely that the fate of Jephthah's daughter was perpetual virginity or solitary confinement. Ethelbert William Bullinger , looks at the word "and" in Jephthah's vow (Judges 11:31: "whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be
855-511: The 8th century BCE, when the Northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria) began to collect its heroic tales, royal stories, and foundation myths. Finkelstein has also suggested that the story of Jephthah's vow may have been added into the story as late as the Hellenistic period. Some observers have noted the similarities between Jephthah and the mythical Cretan general, Idomeneus , as related by Servius
900-447: The Ammonites, made a vow to sacrifice whatever would come out of the door of his house first. When his daughter was the first to come out of the house, he immediately regretted the vow, which bound him to sacrifice his daughter to God . Jephthah carried out his vow. Traditionally, Jephthah ranks among the major judges because of the length of the biblical narrative referring to him, but his story also shares features with those of
945-507: The Grammarian in his Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil . Idomeneus had asked the gods to calm a storm, promising in return that he would sacrifice the first living thing he saw upon his return, which turned out to be his son. The similarity has caused some to wonder if they share a common ancestor. A similar story about Meander is given by Pseudo-Plutarch . The story of Jephthah's daughter
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#1732851163159990-527: The Hebrew olah with the common Greek term holokaustos , a traditional Greek religious practice in which the sacrificial victim was reduced to ash rather than parts consumed in a meal; for example, in Genesis 22:2, Isaac is to be sacrificed "as a holocaust" (Greek: εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν). Josephus uses the term both for Abraham and Isaac, but also in relation to the human sacrifice by Ahaz of his son to Baal. The practice
1035-457: The Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering"). As he explains the Hebrew prefix "ו" that is translated in the above passage as "and" is often used as a disjunctive, and means "or", when there is a second proposition. Indeed, this rendering is suggested in the margin of the A.V. Bullinger goes on to give examples from the Bible where the same word has been translated as "or". According to him,
1080-407: The altar (which was constantly on fire due to the large number of sacrifices carried out daily), and slowly burnt. After the flesh (including any horns and goats' beards) had been reduced to ashes, usually the following morning, the ashes were removed by a Kohen, as refuse, and taken to a ritually clean location outside the Temple. The burnt-offering was offered together with a meal offering and
1125-586: The cities in Bashan . This led Benjamin Mazar and Martin Noth to identify it with the region near " Taiyibeh ", to the east of biblical Edrei (today's Daraa in southern Syria), where today there is a Syrian village by this name (coordinates: 32°33'45 N, 36°14'38 E). Conder gave for his choice of Tob/Taibeh the coordinates "32° 35' N., 35° 42' E.", a place described in Brown–Driver–Briggs as 12 miles southeast of
1170-589: The daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in the year". Later, Jephthah was forced to fight against the Ephraimites , who refused to aid him in his struggle against the Ammonites. The story is remembered for the killing of the fugitive Ephraimites who were identified by their accent; they said the Hebrew word shibboleth as sibboleth . "At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell" ( Judges 12:5–6 ). Jephthah
1215-429: The high priesthood was taken from him and temporarily given to the offspring of Ithamar , essentially Eli and his sons. Since at least the 12th or 13th century, Jewish scholars, among them the compiler and summarizer David Kimhi (1160–1235) and Levi Ben Gershon (1288–1344), have taken fulfilment of Jephthah's vow as meaning that he only kept her in seclusion. This view is put forward also by Christian scholars from
1260-465: The leader of the town of Tubu is only referred to as the "Man" of the town, i.e. "the mayor" or "governor". Man was one of many common designations. He would have been a prince-type local leader - the chief of a tribe, clan, city, region, etc. EA letter 205 is the letter from the "Man of Tubu" and is one of 6 letters written by the same scribe. Jephthah Jephthah (pronounced / ˈ dʒ ɛ f θ ə / ; Hebrew : יִפְתָּח , Yīftāḥ ) appears in
1305-508: The minor judges, such as his short tenure—only six years—in office. The story of Jephthah is found in the Book of Judges , chapters 11 – 12 . The Israelites "again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ... they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites ...". Jephthah, having been born illegitimately,
1350-450: The north side of the altar, and ritually slaughtered . The animal's blood was carefully collected by a priest and sprinkled on the outside corners of the altar . Unless the animal was a bird, its carcass was flayed, with the skin kept by the priests. The flesh of the animal was divided according to detailed instructions given by the Talmud (Tamid 31), and would then be placed on the wood on
1395-439: The practice of the burnt offering. In the story of Gideon , a slaughter offering of a young goat and unleavened bread is consumed by fire sent from heaven. In the story of Samson 's birth, his father, who was intending to make a slaughter offering so that he could give a meal to an angel, is told by the angel to burn it completely instead. Initially, the burnt-offering was required to be offered on an "altar of earth". After
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1440-433: The right translation of this passage is: "whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, or I will offer it up as a burnt offering." Jephthah's daughter, being the first that came out of the house, was thus, according to Bullinger, dedicated to God. He also says: In any case, it should have been unlawful, and repugnant to Jehovah, to offer
1485-418: The sacrifices of Noah "of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar", and to the near- sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham : "offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains". Another burnt-offering is that of Jethro , Moses' father-in-law ( Exodus 18:12 ). The Nevi'im section of the Hebrew Bible, particularly passages in the Book of Judges , presents
1530-461: The shedding of his limbs, which are buried in numerous places, as is learned from Jud. 12:7: 'Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and he was buried in the towns of Gilead.' One limb would slough away and be buried in one location, and then another would fall off somewhere else and be buried there." Rashi also quotes the Midrash Rabba saying that he was punished for not going to the high priest to get
1575-507: The skins should be sold, with the monetary proceeds being given to the Temple in Jerusalem (Tosefta 19). Some passages in the Book of Judges show the principle and practice of whole offerings ; in the story of Gideon, a slaughter offering of a young goat and unleavened bread is destroyed when fire sent from heaven consumes it; in the story of Samson's birth, his father, who was intending to make
1620-580: The story as an example of how it is "sometimes contrary to duty to fulfill a promise, or to keep an oath". One midrash characterizes Yiftach (Jephthah) as a person of poor judgment, who makes "unfitting" vows without proper consideration for consequences ( B'reishit Rabbah , 60:3). Another midrash (Tanhuma Bechukotai 7) asserts that if Jephthah had read the laws of vows in the Torah, he would not have lost his daughter. The rabbis also ascribe Jephthah's death to his actions, as punishment: "Jephthah’s penalty consists of
1665-425: The story of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22) and Mesha of Moab and his son (2 Kings 3:27). Moreover, an ʿōlāh in the Hebrew Bible exemplifies a pure gift to the deity. Thus, Jephthah is not stating an alternative between dedicating something to God and offering it up as a burnt offering, but clearly linking the two. Adam Clarke 's Commentary has an exposition of the issues at stake in this passage and contends that
1710-499: The story was an integral part of the Deuteronomist picture of moral decline through adoption of non-Israelitic practices such as child sacrifice. Solomon Landers believed that the absence of express judgement implies that the sacrifice was not acceptable to God, notwithstanding the fact that the sacrifice nevertheless happened. Pseudo-Philo 's Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum gives a name for Jephthah's daughter, Seila. Her character
1755-409: The term referred to ascent of the mind after making the sacrifice, implying that the sacrifice was for atonement for evil thoughts, while others argued that it was a sacrifice to the highest , because it is entirely intended for God. Modern scholars, however, argue that it simply refers to the burning process, as the meat goes up in flames . The first uses of the olah for burnt offering refer to
1800-567: The vow Jephthah made was not as rash as it sounds. The Order of the Eastern Star refers to her as Adah. Israel Finkelstein has suggested that behind multiple and large-scale Deuteronomistic and post-Deuteronomistic additions and redactions, there may lie an oral story which reflects a conflict on the boundary between Israelite and Ammonite settlements in Transjordan, around the towns of Gilead and Mizpah. It may have been first written down in
1845-421: The vow annulled and was afflicted with an illness that caused his limbs to decompose off of his body at which point it would be buried where it fell thereby explaining the verse that said he was buried in the cities as opposed to city of Gilead. According to some rabbinical commentators, Phineas also sinned by failing to address the needs of relieving Jephthah of his vow to sacrifice his daughter. As consequence,
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1890-480: Was partly burnt and most of it eaten in communion at a sacrificial meal. During the First Temple and Second Temple periods, offerings took place twice daily offered on the altar as a burnt animal in the temple in Jerusalem that was completely consumed by fire. The skin of the animal, however, was not burnt but given to the priests respective of their priestly division . These skins are listed as one of
1935-520: Was a bird ( olat haof ), its corpse was flayed. The skin of the offering was then kept by the priests who were serving their shift as part of the rotation of the priestly divisions . The Tosefta narrates that, as time evolved, more powerful priests forcibly took possession of the skins from the lesser priests. Subsequently, it was decreed by the Beth din shel Kohanim (the court of the priests in Jerusalem) that
1980-440: Was also made as a sin offering on the appointment of a priest , on the termination of a Nazirite 's vow, after recovery from tzaraath , by a woman after childbirth , after recovery from a state of abnormal bodily discharges , a gentile 's conversion to Judaism , or as a voluntary sacrifice, when the sacrificial animal could be a young bull, ram, year-old goat, turtle doves, or pigeons. The Septuagint mainly translates
2025-622: Was buried in Ajloun , a town in present-day Jordan. The story of Jephthah has influenced a number of literary works. Burnt offering (Judaism) A burnt offering in Judaism ( Hebrew : קָרְבַּן עוֹלָה , qorban ʿōlā ) is a form of sacrifice first described in the Hebrew Bible . As a tribute to God , a burnt offering was entirely burnt on the altar . This is in contrast to other forms of sacrifice (entitled zevach or zevach shelamim ), which
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