How we cite our quotes: (Chapter:Verse)
Quote #4
She said to him, "My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites." And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander* on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I." "Go," he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. (NRSV 11:36-39)
And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. (KJV 11:36-39)
Was Jephthah's sacrifice of his daughter really necessary? It wouldn't be the first time God required someone's death, of course, but this seems like such a fluke. Could this be saying something about the nature of violence and death?
Quote #5
On the fourth* day they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?" (NRSV 14:15)
And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? (KJV 14:15)
This is one of the most meaning-laden moves in Judges. She obviously believes their blatant threat to kill her if they don't get what they want. It seems like she must be feeling terrified, and yet she hides it from Samson somehow. Or was he too insensitive to notice? Did she try to tell him?
Quote #6
Then the spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men of the town, took their spoil, and gave the festal garments to those who had explained the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house. (NRSV 14:19)
And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. (KJV 14:19)
Whereas in other parts of the Bible, God's spirit is characterized as peaceful, quiet, and soft, in Judges it's almost always linked to anger and violence. Does God's spirit change depending on the circumstances? Why would the circumstances of Judges require it to be violent?