Is the consensus that Jephthah killed his daughter?

Whilst many theologians view this passage as vague in itself, it’s clear the New World Translation deliberately manipulates the wording.

Judges 11:39 (NWT): “At the end of two months, she returned to her father, after which he carried out the vow he had made regarding her. She never had relations with a man.”

Byington (and all other translations worth their salt) add a different finality to the occasion: “And at the end of two months she came back to her father, and he did with her what he had made the vow to do, when she had not known man.”

It’s heavily implied that she doesn’t survive… And that’s probably the reason for her two-month self-mourning ritual.

Next verse (Jg 11:40) in NWT: “From year to year, the young women of Israel would go to give commendation to the daughter of Jephʹthah the Gilʹe·ad·ite four days in the year.”

Commendation… sure… what do other translations say?

Byington: “And it became a usage in Israel that year by year the Israelite girls should go to celebrate the memory of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.”

KJV: “That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.”

Sounds to me like they were mourning a dead soul – and that the practice continued well beyond her natural lifespan even if she had lived.

Methinks they weren’t making a regular pilgrimage just to mourn a living woman’s virginity… I think the Borg twisted this passage to sell their dream of Bethel to future generations.

Under what circumstances in ancient patriarchal society would a woman be called on to “serve” at the tabernacle etc. anyway? I think Jephthah was a cowardly killer who had expected a sheep to come out to greet him rather than his daughter. 🤣 Then the Borg retrofitted this depraved narrative to suit modern moral sensibilities.