This chapter in 1 Corinthians is about obeying God rightly. In regard to head coverings, it is to not despise the order God has set, and to set a right example to the unbelieving world by adhering to what is culturally moral. In regard to the Lord’s supper it is to understand the sweet unity offered in breaking bread and not to dishonor it by refusing to wait for another and letting another go hungry.
I found it helpful to read 1 Corinthians 11 in The Message translation. It clarifies that men and women have different roles but neither is truly “first” before the other.
I found this article breaking apart 1 Corinthians 11 and speaking on the whole covering aspect and felt that it was helpful in understanding that a little better!
I don’t know if you’ll come back to see this. I really didn’t understand either. But when I scrolled up in the convo there are some very helpful words by Sarah written about 2 years ago. And the discussion even earlier did help me!
I did some study on this and found that the text from the Torah does not say that he actually sacrificed his daughter by killing her. I thought it was interesting that the text focuses on the fact that she was a virgin and wanted to lament that with her friends in the wilderness for 2 months. In my research it said that this could be interpreted as her sacrifice was that she was sent away and her life was to be lived in celibacy, not that she was killed. It also states that the women who remembered her by going out into the wilderness did so because she was alive and that honoring act was not for people who were dead.
Also interesting to think about was because of Jephthah’s previous status of having no family honor (he was kicked out of his family) this victory for him would have given his family honor. But because his daughter was his only child and now she was sacrificing her future with a husband and children Japheth’s restored honor would die with him.
If anyone, like me, goes to a church where women do not cover their heads and you are worried that you are dishonoring yourself, your husband, or God, I would like to share my thoughts. I had heard this was cultural and that it was mostly prostitutes that went without their heads covered in their society, but the way it is written sure doesn’t sound like it just based on this context. After doing a little research, though, I realized that Paul here implies that it is acceptable for women to pray or prophesy publicly while in 2 Timothy 2 he says he does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. If a woman’s prophesy isn’t public, what good is it? This makes me think these instructions are based on cultural context, but I would love to hear others thoughts on the matter.
Thanks ladies for the insight. I was taken aback by the human sacrifice thing because so much of what we’ve read lately is God speaking through someone warning the Israelites not to be like the people around them & worship in detestable ways. Human sacrifice seems pretty detestable to me! Like some of the others post, I too noticed that God didn’t require or ask it from Japheth, but that was what Japheth offered to do.
Talking about communion. He actually says that some people are physically ill (& even dead) because they publicly professed to be right with God … when in fact they were flat out deceiving people. Importance of living an honorable and truthful life!
Wow this passage was very confusing for me but, as always, you ladies have shed light. I don’t understand the head covering and that women are the glory of man,
Wow what a warning to not put the LORD to the test. As I was reading, I cringed as I could only imagine who was going to step out of the house- surely not an animal…and when it was his daughter…oh my heart sank. Keeping in the Word is the best and only way to not wander off the Way.
I heard a sermon once about how the story of Japhthah can also be seen as a warning to study and know the word of God. God had already said that there should be no human sacrifice, but Japhthah apparently did not know that law. He really thought he was doing something to honor God. Other cultures near by did practice regular human sacrifice. So he was letting the world around him influence the way he worshipped God rather than focussing on the word of God itself. This story shows the danger of that.
I am so happy that we are all taking a huge step at preventing us from making this mistake by reading the word of God in its entirety this year!
Amen Sarah and thank you for this comment! I was so disheartened to hear he went through with the sacrifice — and as someone else commented, what a lesson for US to learn NOT to test God!!
Great insight ladies!
Thank you for clarifying keeping our WORD and God Abhorring human Sacrifice.
Thank God we live under a new convenant, where our mighty Jesus fights and intercedes for us . And the consequences. Yes, there are always consequences. But….
We don’t pay any more, he already did!
This again points me to Jesus.
Thank you Jesus!!!!
Yes! Carly I was just about to repost. I talked to my dad about it as he is very wise in scriptures and he said that Her not having a husband or children would b the source of her mourning. God abhorred human sacrifice!
I’m kind of confused about the head covering passage. Does that mean we should have hair? Or that we should use a scarf to cover our head? In the footnotes it seems to say that a woman should not have a shaved head and that her hair is her “covering” and that a man should not have long hair. If someone could shed some light on this! Thank you
We cover our heads during church so that we can honor God. Culturally, it was shameful to have a shaved head as a woman. Paul is likening a woman’s head being shaved to that of her “praying or prophesying” with her head uncovered. He does not mean we should shave our head. Essentially women are the glory of man and man is the glory of God. We are honoring God by covering up mans glory (his wife) during church and showing God’s glory (man) by not covering his head. Hope that helps.
Jephtah may have not actually sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering, but instead she may have remained single the rest of her life, according to my Bible Study Notes.
Having a hard time with judges today and him sacrificing his daughter. I think it’s an important lesson to be careful what we promise…he had to keep his word to the Lord and had to go to that extent to do so. I’m struggling with it but that’s what I’m getting from it.
You know, what I got from this was his daughter’s obedience. That is such a difficult concept for me. To know that her dad made a mistake that would cost her very life, yet she was understanding, made a simple request for a small amount of time to prepare and then didn’t run away, but came back and allowed herself to be sacrificed. I mean, she could have run away. But she didn’t. She was obedient. Would we be obedient even unto death?
After further study, I realize that it most likely was not death that she obediently succumbed too, but rather a life of solitude and singleness. That, in my opinion speaks even MORE volumes to me asa single woman. Would I be willing to be obedient to remain single for the remainder of my life just because of the rash mistake of someone else? Hmm….that’s hard!!
My study notes say that when he made this vow Jephthah was seeking to assure the outcome of the battle by bargaining with God. (vs 30) Then later for vs 31: Now, accordingly, he cannot go back on his vow (pledge) to the Lord. Thus all his efforts to assure for himself a position of power in Israel by manipulating God backfired. God will not be used!
This verses perfectly illustrate why making hasty or rash vows without really thinking them through is a bad idea.
It took me a few reads to get it. He vowed to sacrifice to the Lord whatever came out of his front door. And his daughter came out. So he had to sacrifice her.
Confusing and crazy!
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“Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” such a great verse for people who lead to remember ultimately God is the leader!
I was initially taken aback that God would allow Jephthah’s daughter to be offered as a human sacrifice. But then a read this https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/rethinking-jephthah-foolish-vow/%3famp. Hope it helps anyone who was as confused as I was
32But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
This chapter in 1 Corinthians is about obeying God rightly. In regard to head coverings, it is to not despise the order God has set, and to set a right example to the unbelieving world by adhering to what is culturally moral. In regard to the Lord’s supper it is to understand the sweet unity offered in breaking bread and not to dishonor it by refusing to wait for another and letting another go hungry.
I found it helpful to read 1 Corinthians 11 in The Message translation. It clarifies that men and women have different roles but neither is truly “first” before the other.
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/creation-culture-and-corinthian-prophetesses
I found this article breaking apart 1 Corinthians 11 and speaking on the whole covering aspect and felt that it was helpful in understanding that a little better!
Can someone explain the daughter of Jephtha to me?
I don’t know if you’ll come back to see this. I really didn’t understand either. But when I scrolled up in the convo there are some very helpful words by Sarah written about 2 years ago. And the discussion even earlier did help me!
I did some study on this and found that the text from the Torah does not say that he actually sacrificed his daughter by killing her. I thought it was interesting that the text focuses on the fact that she was a virgin and wanted to lament that with her friends in the wilderness for 2 months. In my research it said that this could be interpreted as her sacrifice was that she was sent away and her life was to be lived in celibacy, not that she was killed. It also states that the women who remembered her by going out into the wilderness did so because she was alive and that honoring act was not for people who were dead.
Also interesting to think about was because of Jephthah’s previous status of having no family honor (he was kicked out of his family) this victory for him would have given his family honor. But because his daughter was his only child and now she was sacrificing her future with a husband and children Japheth’s restored honor would die with him.
If anyone, like me, goes to a church where women do not cover their heads and you are worried that you are dishonoring yourself, your husband, or God, I would like to share my thoughts. I had heard this was cultural and that it was mostly prostitutes that went without their heads covered in their society, but the way it is written sure doesn’t sound like it just based on this context. After doing a little research, though, I realized that Paul here implies that it is acceptable for women to pray or prophesy publicly while in 2 Timothy 2 he says he does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. If a woman’s prophesy isn’t public, what good is it? This makes me think these instructions are based on cultural context, but I would love to hear others thoughts on the matter.
Thanks ladies for the insight. I was taken aback by the human sacrifice thing because so much of what we’ve read lately is God speaking through someone warning the Israelites not to be like the people around them & worship in detestable ways. Human sacrifice seems pretty detestable to me! Like some of the others post, I too noticed that God didn’t require or ask it from Japheth, but that was what Japheth offered to do.
Talking about communion. He actually says that some people are physically ill (& even dead) because they publicly professed to be right with God … when in fact they were flat out deceiving people. Importance of living an honorable and truthful life!
So good, thanks for the comments ladies! They really helped my understanding! Amen!
Wow this passage was very confusing for me but, as always, you ladies have shed light. I don’t understand the head covering and that women are the glory of man,
Wow what a warning to not put the LORD to the test. As I was reading, I cringed as I could only imagine who was going to step out of the house- surely not an animal…and when it was his daughter…oh my heart sank. Keeping in the Word is the best and only way to not wander off the Way.
I heard a sermon once about how the story of Japhthah can also be seen as a warning to study and know the word of God. God had already said that there should be no human sacrifice, but Japhthah apparently did not know that law. He really thought he was doing something to honor God. Other cultures near by did practice regular human sacrifice. So he was letting the world around him influence the way he worshipped God rather than focussing on the word of God itself. This story shows the danger of that.
I am so happy that we are all taking a huge step at preventing us from making this mistake by reading the word of God in its entirety this year!
Amen Sarah and thank you for this comment! I was so disheartened to hear he went through with the sacrifice — and as someone else commented, what a lesson for US to learn NOT to test God!!
He didn’t actually perform human sacrifice. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/rethinking-jephthah-foolish-vow/%3famp
Great insight ladies!
Thank you for clarifying keeping our WORD and God Abhorring human Sacrifice.
Thank God we live under a new convenant, where our mighty Jesus fights and intercedes for us . And the consequences. Yes, there are always consequences. But….
We don’t pay any more, he already did!
This again points me to Jesus.
Thank you Jesus!!!!
Yes! Carly I was just about to repost. I talked to my dad about it as he is very wise in scriptures and he said that Her not having a husband or children would b the source of her mourning. God abhorred human sacrifice!
I’m kind of confused about the head covering passage. Does that mean we should have hair? Or that we should use a scarf to cover our head? In the footnotes it seems to say that a woman should not have a shaved head and that her hair is her “covering” and that a man should not have long hair. If someone could shed some light on this! Thank you
We cover our heads during church so that we can honor God. Culturally, it was shameful to have a shaved head as a woman. Paul is likening a woman’s head being shaved to that of her “praying or prophesying” with her head uncovered. He does not mean we should shave our head. Essentially women are the glory of man and man is the glory of God. We are honoring God by covering up mans glory (his wife) during church and showing God’s glory (man) by not covering his head. Hope that helps.
Jephtah may have not actually sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering, but instead she may have remained single the rest of her life, according to my Bible Study Notes.
Having a hard time with judges today and him sacrificing his daughter. I think it’s an important lesson to be careful what we promise…he had to keep his word to the Lord and had to go to that extent to do so. I’m struggling with it but that’s what I’m getting from it.
You know, what I got from this was his daughter’s obedience. That is such a difficult concept for me. To know that her dad made a mistake that would cost her very life, yet she was understanding, made a simple request for a small amount of time to prepare and then didn’t run away, but came back and allowed herself to be sacrificed. I mean, she could have run away. But she didn’t. She was obedient. Would we be obedient even unto death?
After further study, I realize that it most likely was not death that she obediently succumbed too, but rather a life of solitude and singleness. That, in my opinion speaks even MORE volumes to me asa single woman. Would I be willing to be obedient to remain single for the remainder of my life just because of the rash mistake of someone else? Hmm….that’s hard!!
My study notes say that when he made this vow Jephthah was seeking to assure the outcome of the battle by bargaining with God. (vs 30) Then later for vs 31: Now, accordingly, he cannot go back on his vow (pledge) to the Lord. Thus all his efforts to assure for himself a position of power in Israel by manipulating God backfired. God will not be used!
This verses perfectly illustrate why making hasty or rash vows without really thinking them through is a bad idea.
I love the way you explained it! I was really struggling with what the message was.
Thank u for this! Really helpful and lessened my initial confusion after first reading
Thank you Pam! This helped me too. I was struggling with the passage.
Thank you for breaking it down! I was also confused by what lesson/message I was suppose to take away from this story!
Jepthah’s daughter has me all confused.
It took me a few reads to get it. He vowed to sacrifice to the Lord whatever came out of his front door. And his daughter came out. So he had to sacrifice her.
Confusing and crazy!