Jethro and Herod both vowed and were sorry for having done it. In both cases, they fulfilled their vows though they would have rather reneged. In both cases the fulfillment resulted in the death of an innocent. Why does the scripture label Jethro as a saint and Herod a villian?

__________________
Mary Vanderkooi
Kale Heywott Church (KHC)
Soddo, Ethiopia

Jephthah? Jethro was Moses' Father in law :-)

__________________
Tim Vaughan, 48 years old, member PCA church but currently attending EV Free church. San Luis Obispo County, California.

I think you must be referring to Jephthah, and the narrative of Judges 11. That was recently discussed a little on this thread.

Obviously, if Jephthah did not offer a human sacrifice that would ease the dilemma. And that is the approach I take. Obviously many others have disagreed with that, but I notice in Judges 11:
1. that Jephthah is quite familiar with the Old Testament.
2. that Jephthah's daughter wants to bewail her virginity, not her life.
3. that Jephthah's vow gives God the choice of what He wants from Jephthah's house, and it taxes my credulity that God chose for Jephthah to slaughter his daughter.
4. that his daughter seems to have had a good upbringing and to have learned the fear of God.
5. I notice that in Numbers the Levites are spoken of as offered to the Lord (not as a burnt offering, I am aware, but it does show that the sacrificial language can be applied to those who are devoted to God's service). Then I ask myself the question, what if a donkey had come forth? You couldn't offer those on an altar, but they could be given for service.
6. I notice that Jephthah is mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a good example of faith.

And with all of that put together, I conclude that the vow was almost certainly rash, and that Jephthah was far from perfect; but that he would kill his blameless daughter as an offering to the Lord is an unwarranted conclusion from the text. Jephthah illustrates Psalm 15:4 and Ecclesiastes 5:4,5 . The law of charity should govern Scripture interpretation as well as human interaction, and we should be careful of accusing any saint in Scripture of sin beyond the requirements of the text. Obviously, from Jephthah's reaction he did not want to follow through with his vow, and so in that sense it can clearly be called a rash vow; but he didn't withhold his daughter, his only daughter whom he loved, in order to pay what he had vowed.

__________________
Ruben

Spanish Blog -Teologia en Mexico
English Blog -The Howling Wilderness

And BTW Jephthah didn't murder his daughter, despite what some commentators have said. There are several Biblical laws that would have prohibited that, and not just the laws against child sacrifice. He probably forced her to remain a virgin the rest of her life, which was also against the Law, as a parent isn't given that authority in OT law, but the main point is that Jephthah was a hero because he was a man of faith.

The fact that he was ignorant of some of the specifics and nuances of Biblical law and treated his daughter unfairly didn't have anything to do with whether he was a hero of faith or not. David could sleep with his friend's wife and then murder him. Samson could spoil himself with a whore, drink himself oblivious and then betray himself to torture and you and I can and have done things that are similar in the sight of the Lord. But we are still considered Holy due to our faith in Christ; you and I with the huge advantage of the time in which we are living, with a better understanding of God and His will, Sampson, Jephthah and the rest with the same kind of faith looking to the promise.

Herod didn't have faith, and like even "good" non-believers was an enemy of God.

Thank you both for your thoughtful replies. I did indeed mean Jephthah--it was 2 AM when it was posted.

After the post I was thinking about this and another factor came up. Whatever Jephthah did to his daughter, it was predicated on his allegiance to God, the moral obligation to honor his vow. Herod's fulfillment of his vow is explicitly said to be to avoid dishonor to himself, predicated on his allegiance to his own reputation and exultation. Hence, even if the actual acts were the same (which, as you point out, they probably weren't), they were not morally equivalent.

You are an insightful lady. I would add (not that you are implying otherwise, but just for clarification) that if Jephthah's vow was illegal, he couldn't fulfil it and still have the act remain moral. But still, your point is very well taken, in that Jephthah's intentions were directed towards pleasing God, totally unlike Herod's.

Just this morning in James Ussher's Annals of the World I read about how Jepthah had carried out the vow he had made and had in fact killed his daughter in backing up the vow he so rashly made.

__________________
N.L./ www.foundersbaptist.org
Spring, TX

I was feeling a bit stupid! I was thinking, "Wait I have read my Bible...but Jethro...who?"

__________________
~etexas~