Juízes 11
Augustine of Hippo · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Juízes 11:31
With these words [of his vow] at any rate Jephthah did not vow some kind of animal that he could offer as a whole burnt offering according to the law; it is neither customary now nor was it in the past that cattle would run to meet generals returning victoriously from war. As far as mute animals are concerned, dogs often run to meet their masters and sport with them in fawning servitude. But Jephthah could not have been thinking about dogs in his vow, because it would seem that he would have vowed not only something unlawful but also something contemptible and unclean according to the law. It would have been an insult to God. Nor does he say, "I will offer as a whole burnt offering whatever will come out of the doors of my house to meet me." He says, "I will sacrifice whoever comes out of my house." Thus, there can be no doubt that he was thinking of nothing else than a human being—not his only daughter, however. Yet who would have been able to surpass her in her father's eyes except perhaps his wife? — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES 49.6
Juízes 11:34
The Scriptures do not seem to pass judgment on this vow and its fulfillment as it does quite clearly in the case of Abraham, when he was ordered to sacrifice his son and did so. Rather the Scriptures seem to have only recorded the matter and left it to the reader to evaluate, just as in the case of Judah, Jacob's son, who in ignorance lay with his daughter-in-law but committed fornication by the very act, because he thought her to be a prostitute. The Scriptures never approve nor disapprove of the act explicitly but let the matter stand, to be evaluated and contemplated after consulting the righteousness and law of God. Therefore, the Scriptures of God do not offer any comment in either the vow or its fulfillment, so that our mind might be put to work to pass judgment on this matter and so that we might now say that such a vow displeased God and led to the punishment that his only daughter, of all people, ran out to meet her father. — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES 49.7
Juízes 11:39
But we rightly ask whether human sacrifices must have foreshadowed future events.… But if this were true, this type of sacrifice would not displease God. But in fact the Scriptures themselves clearly testify that human sacrifices displease him. For when God wanted and commanded all the firstborn to belong to him and to be his, he nonetheless wanted the firstborn of humankind to be redeemed by their parents, so that they would not entrust their firstborn children to God through immolation.…Now clearly God loves and rewards those sacrifices when a just man endures injustice and struggles for the truth even to the point of death or when he is killed by enemies whom he has offended for righteousness' sake, as he has returned them good for evil, that is, love instead of hatred.… In imitation of Abel, thousands of martyrs have struggled for the truth to the point of death and have been sacrificed by savage enemies. The Scripture says of them, "God has tested them like gold in a furnace and he has accepted them as a whole burnt offering." So too the apostle says, "I am being sacrificed."13 But that is not how Jephthah made a whole burnt offering to the Lord out of his daughter. Rather he offered her as a literal sacrifice in the way that it was commanded for animals to be offered and forbidden for humans to be sacrificed. What he did seems rather similar to what Abraham did. In that instance the Lord gave him a special command that this ought to be done. He did not order him by way of a general commandment that such sacrifices should take place at some time. Indeed, the general rule prohibited it. — QUESTIONS ON JUDGES 49.2-4
Juízes 11:39
Quanto ao fato de Jefté ter sacrificado sua filha a Deus como holocausto, estes são os fatos: ele havia jurado que, se obtivesse a vitória, ofereceria como holocausto todo aquele que saísse de sua casa e o encontrasse; porque ele havia jurado isso e vencido a batalha e sua filha foi quem o conheceu primeiro, ele cumpriu seu voto. Este evento tornou-se uma questão grande e bastante difícil de resolver, tanto para alguns que investigam o assunto com piedade e genuinamente procuram saber o que esta passagem significa, quanto para alguns que, por impiedade ignorante, se opõem às Sagradas Escrituras e chamam isso de um delito horrível que o Deus da lei e dos profetas teria se deleitado em sacrifícios, sim, até mesmo em sacrifícios humanos. Primeiro, respondamos às suas calúnias observando que todos os holocaustos de gado não agradaram ao Deus da lei e dos profetas - ou, como prefiro dizer, ao Deus de Abraão, Isaque e Jacó. O que agradou a Deus nesses sacrifícios foi que eles eram cheios de significado e prefiguravam coisas futuras. Nós, porém, temos a mesma substância que foi prefigurada por esses sacrifícios que ele quis nos recomendar. Além disso, houve também uma razão muito pertinente pela qual esses sacrifícios foram alterados para que não sejam mais ordenados, mas até proibidos: é para que não pensemos que Deus se agrada de tais sacrifícios de acordo com alguma paixão carnal. — PERGUNTAS SOBRE OS JUÍZES 49.1