Chula Bible Dance

   [This is another segment in the Music in the Bible series which begins in Genesis and finishes in Revelation.] 

When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. (Judges 11:34)

image source: PNGitem

Daughters are a precious gift from God. And the gifted and talented ones who have a flair for performance are especially a lot of fun. Add to that a heart for the Lord and you have a blessed combination that can warm any family gathering. So you can imagine how tragic it was that Jephthah had to offer this beautiful young virginal spirit as a sacrifice to the Lord because of a vow he made. 

Now Jephthah was the son of a prostitute and he was cast out of his father's house by his siblings because of this. But when his people needed a leader to fight the Ammonites, they sought him out for some reason not explained in the Bible. So he made a vow to the Lord that if he won the battle he would offer to Yahweh the first thing that came through his door when he returned home from war and, lo and behold, his precious only daughter greeted him with a victory dance!

Given the fact that God forbade human sacrifice among the Israelites, we cannot be sure that Jephthah actually killed his child. More likely, he gave her up into some kind of celibate servitude for some religious order but, nevertheless, he would be deprived of her talents and warmth for the rest of his life into his old age. Vows to the Lord are not to be taken lightly. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Anything else is sinful. (Matthew 5:37)

No Me Queda Mas -- Selena