The biblical narrative of Jephthah and his daughter (Judges 11:31-40) recounts the story of the judge, Jephthah, who vowed to sacrifice to God whatever came to greet him upon his return from a victorious battle with Ammon, and whose daughter became the victim of this vow. The goal of this thesis is to examine a sample of the Jewish responses to this biblical narrative from ancient and medieval times through the twentieth century. The analysis demonstrates the difficult nature of this text, its linguistic and conceptual ambiguities, the solutions to a well-defined series of problems proposed by more than two dozen interpreters, and their failure to deal with most of the historical and ethical problems that emerge from the story.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, 2008. / Title from dissertation title page (viewed May 8, 2008). Includes abstract. "Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Brite Divinity School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical interpretation." Includes bibliographical references.

While there are key differences between Jephthah's daughter's story and that of Jesus, not least the difference in gender of the sacrificial victims, this thesis posits that both the similarities and differences between these two accounts can enrich readings of Jesus' death in the gospel of Matthew. A careful comparison of the narrative of Jephthah's daughter with Jesus' Passion narrative in the gospel of Matthew leads to the conclusion that Jesus' death should be interpreted as a human sacrifice. Reading Jesus' death as a human sacrifice and locating it in that socio-religious context makes his death indicative of a transactional, covenantal relationship between him and the Father. These two accounts also share archetypes that come from the Hebrew Bible. Foregrounding Jesus' narrative with Jepthah's daughter's narrative intricately reveals Jesus' connections with the Hebrew Bible, shedding light on the interpretation of his Passion.

This thesis focuses on exegesis and interpretation of Judges 11, 29-40. Main method used in this thesis is narrative analysis, via which I investigate and interpret the chosen text as one story unit in its contemporal form. I focus on the course of action, how and with whom the characters act and what is the meaning of these in the whole narrative. I examine the structure of the text, because it's essential for the story told. I examine the context of the chosen text as well, because it's in the middle of broader narrative about Jephthah, of the book of Judges and of the Old Testament. Behavior and actions of characters, as well as facts used in the story, may have different meanings, which may not be apparent from the text itself. The aim of this thesis is to find one or several interpratiations, which will be based in the text itself and its context as much as possible. That will aslo enable me to deal with other intepratations. In the conclusion, I will shortly speak about text's influence on arts and present several themes for homiletic or pastoral use, which the story presents and contents.