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In Genesis 22 Abraham is told to sacrifice his only child, but an angel stops him and provides a ram. Judges 11 describes a father who vows a sacrifice on his own, and when his only daughter appears, no one intervenes and she is killed.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 22:2
Hebrew Bible
1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. 2 God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” 3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about. 4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance.
Judges 11:30
Hebrew Bible
29 The Lord’s Spirit empowered Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. 30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 31 then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he will belong to the Lord, and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” 32 Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith—20 cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim. He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.
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Notes and References
“... There are significant differences between the stories in Judges 11 and Genesis 22, however. Abraham is ordered to sacrifice Isaac; Jephthah acts alone ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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