JEPHTHAH'S VOW AS A NARRATIVE OF TERROR:

An Analysis of Jephthah's Vow from a Feminist Perspective According  to Phyllis Trible and Its Implications for Family Vows in the Context of Nias

Abstract

This study challenges the conventional interpretation of the biblical account of Jephthah’s vow (Judges 11:29–40), which tends to overlook the gender-based violence against Jephthah’s daughter; this will be examined through the feminist lens of Phyllis Trible. This article will uncover the existence of a “narrative of terror” in which a religious vow functions as an instrument of patriarchal oppression and domestic trauma, which has long been overlooked by traditional interpretations that glorify Jephthah as a hero of faith and loyalty. This research will address a crucial research gap: the lack of systemic critique regarding the use of biblical texts to justify the spiritual and domestic subjugation of children, employing a feminist biblical hermeneutical qualitative method combined with contextual fieldwork in Nias. Field data indicates that parental vow practices within Nias’s patriarchal structure often function as a system that deprives children, especially daughters, of personal autonomy and life choices in the name of parental spiritual ambitions. This article concludes that it is essential to redefine the vow not as a violent transaction that legitimizes human subjugation, but as an ethical commitment that liberates and respects the ontological freedom of others.