Steve Gregg vs. Daniel Block (on Jephthah)

[mattrose]

I'm teaching through the book of Judges right now in Sunday School
I've used two resources to help me prepare

1) Daniel Block's written commentary
2) Steve Gregg's audio commentary

I found it quite interesting how different the two interpret the Jephthah story. For example, here are some key differences

GREGG interprets 10:16b to mean that God was sympathetic to their genuine cry
BLOCK interprets 10:16b to mean that God was frustrated by their empty cry
I'll side with Steve here
GREGG interprets the arrival of Jephthah as a divine enterprise (hand-in-hand w/v.16)
BLOCK interpret the arrival of Jephthah as a human enterprise (hand-in-hand w/v.16)
I say both are true
GREGG sees Jephthah as a devout man, unusually godly for his time
BLOCK sees Jephthah as thoroughly Canaanized, continuing the downward spiral
I think Steve is right
GREGG sees some comparisons to David
BLOCK sees some comparisons to Abimelech (the bad Abimelech from Judges 9)
Steve again
GREGG sees the men he surrounded himself with positively (social outcasts)
BLOCK sees the men he surrounded himself with negatively (hit men)
Steve
GREGG thinks Jephthah's acceptance of the Gileadite request was gracious
BLOCK thinks Jephthah deliberately played hard to get and held out for power
Mostly Steve, but nothing wrong with it if Jephthah held them to the fire a bit
GREGG sees Jephthah's message to the enemy as pious knowledge
BLOCK sees Jephthah's message to the enemy as political propaganda
Mostly Steve, but nothing wrong if there was some political propaganda there
GREGG sees Jephthah's vow as evidence of pious nature
BLOCK sees Jephthah's vow as evidence of manipulative nature
Still on the fence here. I lean toward Steve (if the "OR" is legit), but do think Jephthah had a habit of 'negotiating' with humans that carried over to his relationship with God.
*interestingly, neither see the vow as 'rash' (a typical interpretation)

GREGG believes Jephthah's daughter was consecrated to the LORD
BLOCK believers Jephthah's daughter was sacrificed to the LORD
I'm going with Steve here (Adam Clarke Commentary is good on this too)
GREGG implies that Jephthah's daughter is pious b/c she has a pious father
BLOCK implies that Jephthah's daughter is pious to show a contrast w/her father
Steve

GREGG thinks Jephthah was devastated mostly for his daughter
BLOCK thinks Jephthah was devastated mostly about his own loss
Both/And
GREGG says the narrator doesn't mention death b/c she didn't die
BLOCK says the narrator doesn't mention death to spare the reader
Steve
GREGG sees Jephthah as unusually godly for this time period
BLOCK sees Jephthah as a further illustration of increasing Canaanization
Steve
It's hard to disagree more than Steve and Daniel disagree on this story. Yet Steve is my favorite bible teacher and Daniel Block's commentary on Judges/Ruth has been excellent.

What gives???

[mattrose]

I am thinking that Daniel Block has the right THEME in mind (that Judges is about the Canaanization of Israel), but is somewhat forcing Jephthah, as a character (instead of just his story) to fit that theme. In other words, it seems that Block feels the best way for the Jephthah story to fit the theme of canaanization is to argue that Jephthah himself was thoroughly canaanized (and what better example than to argue that he practiced child sacrifice?). Block takes every opportunity to point out something negative about Jephthah when, in truth, most parts of the story can be read in a couple of different ways at least.

I think, however, that a pious Jephthah can still fit into his theme of Canaanization. Here was a man who was the product of an Israelite turning to prostitution (that's evidence of canaanization). He was wrongfully persecuted by his brothers (who acted like canaanites). His people were worshipping false gods and when it came time to go against the Ammonites, nobody would stand up and they had to turn to this outcast Jephthah. He, in contrast to the rest of Israel, takes charge, attempts diplomacy, is empowered by the Spirit, is victorious, etc. And what does he get as a result? The Ephraimites force him into civil war.

What of the vow, though? I think we can read it as a pious man making a vow (assuming the "OR" translation is legit). He kept the vow (she was dedicated to the Lord's service and remained a virgin). How does this forward Block's theme? I suggest that the author of Judges wants to show that one of the few remaining pious families in Israel did not produce any progeny. In other words, piety was almost completely gone in Israel by the end of Jephthah's reign.

Such is my attempt to agree with Steve while salvaging Block's overall theme.

[mattrose]

My 2 teaching assignments this week are Judges 11 and Genesis 22.... ugh