#Jephthah's Daughter

[penguinofspades]

Alrighty so I've got an idea for a rewrite of Hazbin Hotel's Adam: Don't make him Adam, but Jephthah.

If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about: Jephthah's a guy in the Bible who was a warrior. He promised God that he would sacrifice for him the first thing that greeted him when he came home in exchange for beating the Ammonites. God said "sure bud lol" and when Jepthah came home his daughter was the first one to greet him, much to both of their dismay. After bewailing her virginity for 2 months Jephthah's daughter was sacrificed to God.

These videos can help explain things.

Making him the leader of the angels would make sense since he was already a mighty warrior in the Bible. Here I imagine he'd be more of a pawn that's manipulated and lied to, definitely more tragic than the one note sexist pig we get in canon. He's pretty pissed about being forced to sacrifice his daughter.

Speaking of Jephthah's daughter, you could make Lute his daughter. Perhaps the two were cursed never to recognize each other or something. And in that case you could have it to where the curse is broken when Jephthah dies, his only relief being that he finally got to see his daughter again one last time. Lute gets angry at the main crew for killing her father and plots their destruction.

[cinematic-phosphenes]

Jephthah's Daughter (c. 1896 - 1902) by James Tissot

(x)

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Aimée Brune-Pagès (French, 1803–1866) La fille de Jephté, 1846 Musée de Picardie, Amiens

[youryurigoddess]

On love and sacrifices

There’s so much more to this scapegoating business and big sacrifices referenced in the Good Omens narrative than the literal goats. And they’re only getting bigger, louder, final.

But let’s take it slow and start with the beginning, quite literally — i.e., with the Good Omens 2 title sequence. As we follow Aziraphale and Crowley on their journey, the universe warps and their usual left and right side positioning switches during the magic show (not accidentally an act of trust and sacrifice required both from the angel and the demon). They stay so throughout the next scene, which is their little dance in the air, and after they seemingly get settled on the A. Z. Fell and Co.’s roof and back to normal, the flipped sky in the background suggests that something’s not quite right yet. In the central part of the shot looms a large, humanlike shadow of the Elephant Trunk Nebula.

The nebula is a part of a constellation called Cepheus, after an Ethiopian king from the Greek mythology who agreed to sacrifice his only daughter in order to appease the gods and end a local calamity started by her mother and his wife, Cassiopeia (talk about generational responsibility). With time and a delightfully ironic twist of fate, the name of said daughter, Andromeda, became more famous than that of her father. Although she was chained up to a rock and offered to the sea serpent Cetus, the girl was spotted by the warrior Perseus, casually flying over the sea — either on the back of the Pegasus or thanks to a pair of winged sandals — after his victory over Medusa. He fell in love on the spot, defeated the serpent (with the help of a magical sword or Medusa’s severed head, depending on the varying sources), and freed the princess. That’s not exactly where their story ends, but we won’t be getting into the rest here.

Not surprisingly, Neil has mentioned two parallel child sacrifice stories from the biblical context back in August. The first is one of the big ones — The Binding of Isaac. God's command to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, was a test of Abraham's faith. The angel of the Lord intervenes and provides a ram to be sacrificed in the boy’s place.

The second one isn’t nearly as popular, but you might have heard a variant of it in fairy tales or as the Law of Surprise invoked in The Witcher saga. In exchange for Israel’s victory over its enemies in battle, Jephthah had rashly promised God to repay the debt with the first thing seen on his return back home. The victorious warrior didn’t suspect to see his only child moving innocently "to meet him with timbrels and with dances" though. In horror, Jephthah covered his eyes with his cloak, but to no avail: ultimately, he was forced to honor his vow to God, and the girl was sacrificed. As grisly as it might look like in the Old Master’s paintings, it’s important to remember that human sacrifices weren’t limited to physical offerings only — Jephthah’s daughter might have been offered to God in the sense of officially shunning her family and dedicating her life to service instead, probably sequestered in a temple somewhere.

Interestingly, the main character of a big chunk of the Bible and the reason for the Second Coming happens to be THE most influential child sacrifice in the modern history. You know, a certain 33-year-old carpenter sent by his Heavenly Father to die on a cross for the sins of the mankind? Someone better call Aubrey Thyme ASAP.

Circling back to Aziraphale, he could be also seen as a representative of the concept of filial piety, since Eden willing to personally take a Fall not only for the humanity’s collective or individual transgressions, but the shortcomings of his Ineffable Parental Figure as well. Our favorite angel angel always fights for what is right and good, sure, but why would that be even a thing if God was truly omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent?

If Aziraphale’s medal is anything to go by, it looks like we might get an answer from the way it’s introducing another mythological narrative into the game, that is the story of Daedalus and Icarus. The most absorbing thing about this is the stark contrast to the recurring child sacrifice references for S3 mentioned in this post — Daedalus isn’t a father who wanted to sacrifice his son, it was his attempt to save him from imprisonment that ultimately drove Icarus to his death. The boy ignored his father’s explicit instructions, committing the grave and culturally universal sin of disobedience to one's parents that simply couldn’t go unpunished, one way or another.

But Icarus’s transgression could be seen both as high-flying ambition and striving for personal accomplishment as well as humanitarian sacrifice for knowledge and humanity’s advancement in general.

Similarly to a certain angel who left everything for what superficially seems like a work promotion, but is the ultimate act of love — both for his demon and the children they have been protecting and nurturing together for six thousand years. From the very Beginning, his white wings have been shielding everything he holds dear in this world.

[cannibalmutual]

a child’s sacrifice

hannibal 1x01 aperitif | and my father’s love was nothing next to god’s will amatullah bourdon | the sacrifice of isaac caravaggio | jesus takes a smoke break at the last supper @strangebedfellows | the altar george herbert | hannibal 1x03 potage | judges 11:30-31 | the daughter of jephthah edouard bernard debat-ponsan | judges 11:34-35 | sun bleached flies ethel cain

[qvincvnx]

gotta say i do enjoy the bibleposting. probably because youre normal (not ChristianTM) about it. love and well wishes,

there were, in fact, papers about wells as the setting for romantic drama in the bible but i can't find my phone that will let me two-factor authenticate my way into jstor so i can't read them

[illustratus]

Jephthah returning from Battle is greeted by his Daughter

by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini

[graceandpeacejoanne]

HER STORY: Season 3, Exodus Pioneers, Daughter of Jephthah

Was she a human sacrifice? If God would grant him victory, Jephthah vowed to make an offering of whatever came out of his house ... it was his daughter #Judges11 #JephthahsDaughter #DaughterofJephthah #WomenoftheBible #HolyVow

#Judges11 #JephthahsDaughter #DaughterofJephthah #WomenoftheBible #HolyVow One of the slowly dawning realizations I’ve had, reading the Bible, is about the celebration of powerful women in the Book of the Judges. There are some famous women—Delilah, Deborah and Jael all immediately come to mind—but there are also not-so-famous women whose stories are worth reading and retelling. On of those…

[neil-gaiman]

Hello Mr.Gaiman! :)

I was wondering if we'll ever have a flashback of Crowley and Aziraphale regarding the story of Abraham and Issac? I personally think it would be really interesting to see each character's reaction to the whole thing. Have you ever thought about it?

If it's not too spoilery to ask this, of course.

Bye!

Not really. I don't like it as a story. I might like it better if not for the much later in the bible story of Jephthah and his daughter.

[spirit-of-art]

Alexandre Cabanel, The Daughter of Jephthah, 1879

[eesirachs]

I just read the story of Jephthah’s daughter in Judges 11 and it made me so sad. Do you have any thoughts on the story? I kind of wonder why god didn’t spare her like he spared isaac, but also, i understand it could be considered different circumstances. Anyways. I just wondered what you thought of it :)

i do not think isaac was spared: though both abraham and isaac ascend the mountain, the bible tells us only abraham goes down it. something happened there that killed isaac, though his body lived on.

this god is interested in a faith that is violent, tender to the touch, generated at its own limits. he does not want to kill children: he wants you to kill your children. he does not hesitate here, and he plays cruel games. bodies mean nothing to god, because they mean everything to him. if it's tough to read, then you're reading it right

[beebopboom]

Refined by Fire

annndddd we are back folks with the Death of one Agnes Nutter

Awhile ago @justhereforthemeta made this post about Agnes having some parallels to Jesus which is what really got the wheels turning in my brain in the first place and well now here we are

but just to recap-

Check out part 1 for a list of all her prophecies that we know of and all the artwork I could find referenced in her book

In part 2 we started to dive into where she was getting her prophecies from through some clues left in her book and on her work bench

but now we are going to look into the events surrounding her death

There is something poetic about the last true witch in England and all her prophetic work going up in flames. Even moreso that Agnes Nutter knew her fate and yet she still went out on her own explosive terms

But let's just start with the basics

Fire

Biblically speaking fire is seen as a symbol of God's presence and a tool for their judgement - to either purify or destroy

But generally speaking it is a symbol of transformation, purification, and rebirth

Pentacle

Now something interesting Agnes wears to her death - other than roofing nails and gunpowder - is a pentacle. From my understanding the main difference between a pentacle and pentagram is just the circle on the outside

At their core pentacles - no matter the symbol on the inside - are objects of evocation. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa summarized their use as,

“fore-know all future, and command whole nature, have power over devils, and Angels, and do miracles”

Going back a bit to the actual symbol on the inside - the pentagram was actually an early symbol for the five wounds of Jesus represented by the five points. This was a symbol of the church and could be used as a symbol of protection against demons and witches

Now it wasn't really until the 1800’s that this symbol started to be associated with the more modern interputation with witchcraft and even then it was only associated with “evil” when inverted.

There is a long history with this symbol with tons of different meanings - from the body of man to the elements with a common theme of mind over matter - but at the time of Agnes’s death, 1656, it had not yet been associated as a symbol of witchcraft as far as I am aware but I’m willing to accept that maybe it was just an oversight or that I’m reading too far into it as it really is just a small detail.

Offering

A burnt one to be exact - now just hear me out I know we are going off the rails a bit

Yes burnt offerings are laid out to only be certain animals but there are instances of human ones as well - Jephthah’s daughter for example and well, Jesus.

Not that the show skips out on the animal burnt offering just look to the Job minisode plenty of examples there - the goats supposedly destroyed in the explosions only for them to be transformed and the whole ass ox upon the altar - but anyway

Jesus’s sacrifice on the Cross is seen as like the Ultimate Burnt Offering apparently. Burnt offerings were typically used as a way to atone for wrongdoings, to show appreciation and a way to appease God - the act of completing giving oneself over to God.

But because Jesus died on the Cross people no longer had to atone. With the burnt offering Jesus accomplishes the Will of God - completely consumed and ascended to God - he restores humanity relationship with God.

So upon the altar that they willingly went to, they were tied. For they knew the reason of their death and called out,

Father, please. You have to forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing

And let my death be a message to the world. Come. Come, gather thee close I say, and mark ye well the fate of those who meddle with such as they do not understand.

Those around them are unaware of the consequences of their actions - one begs for their forgiveness, the other cast judgement onto them.

Agnes does not take her fate of going out quietly. If her death is be an offering, of the start of the end - well what better way to go than with a bang

All her neighbors that she helped heal had all turned on her and called for her death - so she gave them their judgement through explosion and roofing nails

Her village got a completely new start with her death - a chance to be better

also fun fact the Hebrew word for "burnt offering" actually means to “ascend” mainly referring to the smoke that would rise and the smell would appease God

(also maybe there is something to be said about how they were early for Job and late for Agnes)

Gold

but Agnes’s story hardly ends with her death - No her work lives on but we aren’t here to talk about her prophecies but rather something she gives in return for keeping them safe

Gold Coins

she leaves a letter each for the two men we see having to keep track of the box containing the further prophecies and when those letters are opened out drops a gold coin

They each have a different reaction to the gold coin - one acknowledges it and then continues on to his letter the other reads letter first and then scrambles to grab the coin and leave.

Now gold in general is a symbol of God’s glory and is associated with a divine presence. It can also represent material and spiritual wealth.

but it’s probably worth mentioning The Parable of the Ten Gold Coins yeah?

In this Jesus tells of a nobleman that gives one coin each to ten servants and tells them to use it while he is gone and when he gets back the first one had turned his one coin into ten, the second had turned his into five, and the third hid his in fear of losing it. The first two are praised and rewarded while the third is punished.

The message from this is that of how people are to use the gifts given to them in order to produce results for the Kingdom of God whenever it comes around. People are to use their gifts wisely, responsibility, and productively.

Now remember those two men from earlier - one using the coin and predictions to build a successful law firm and the other almost seems like a punishment? Where is our first/middle man? The Device family? I would say so

*kicking at the door with Job parallels* Not now

Originally I thought this was a lesson of greed but this seemed to fit slightly more. Also way to hammer in that you are a divine presence Agnes with the gold

Agnes has rigged her Wheel of Fate and I hope she is raising some hell up in Heaven - she certainly succeeded on Earth

————————————————————————

and that’s a wrap on her death. Join in next time for the finale where we will dive into the legacy left behind - family, masonry, ……and what’s up with Maggie?

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Aimée Brune-Pagès (French, 1803–1866) La fille de Jephté, Detail, 1846 Musée de Picardie, Amiens The daughter of Jephté is the innocent victim of the oath of her father, who had promised to sacrifice the first person he would meet in exchange of his victory over the Ammonites. The spell designates his only daughter, who obtains to leave for two months to cry in the mountains.

[tanakhsexywoman]

TANAKH SEXYWOMAN ULTIMATE POLL

You've asked for it, so here you have it! The Tanakh Sexywoman Tumblr poll. (not affiliated with Tanakhsexyman)

-The pairings have been randomly generated.

-Sexual assault victims like Tamar bat David and Dina are not included, because it teeters on victim-blaming to call them sexy, even in jest.

Round 1:

Deborah vs. Vashti

Batsheba vs. Serah daughter of Asher

Queen of Sheba vs. Sarah

Rahab vs. Jezebel

The anthropomorphized Jerusalem in Lamentations vs. Tzipporah

Jephthah's daughter vs. Whoever Song of Songs was written about

Eve vs. Pharaoh's daughter

Ruth vs. Potiphar's wife

Rachel vs. Huldah

Naomi vs. Abigail

Zelophehad's daughters vs. Tamar

Gomer vs. Jael

Hannah vs. Jochebed

Hagar vs. Delilah

The Witch of Endor vs. Queen Esther

Miriam vs. Abishag

*The polls will go live at 9:00 AM 2/8 EST*

Happy voting!

Round Two List

Round Three List

Semifinals

[d3epfriedangels]

ALso for science ( visual arts )

[thepastisalreadywritten]

"The mother art is architecture."

Here are 10 examples of paintings that vividly imagine architectural wonders and impossibilities:

1. The Architect's Dream, Thomas Cole (1840)

2. Architectural Fantasy - Hubert Robert (c. 1802 - 1808)

3. Architectural Capriccio with Jephthah and His Daughter, Dirck van Delen (1633)

4. Gothic Cathedral by a River, Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1813)

5. View of the Interior of a Cathedral, Jenaro Pérez Villaamil (19th century)

6. The School of Athens, Raphael (1511)

7. The Tower of Babel, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1563)

8. Modern Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini (1759)

9. Capriccio with Palladian buildings, Canaletto (c. 1756 - 1759)

10. The Consummation of Empire, Thomas Cole (1836)