Does the god of the bible allow human sacrifice or the sacrifice of children? [Spirituality & Religion]

It's said in the bible that one of the foul things done by the nations whom the Israelites conquered was sacrificing their children to their god.

But isn't that exactly what happens in the story of Jephthah?
He promises god that if he will grant Jephthah victory in battle then he will sacrifice whatever comes out of his house to meet him upon his return.
Now let's just blow right past the fact that at BEST something coming out of his house to meet him is going to be a pet and more likely a family member.

[quote]When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child.[/quote]

Judges 11:34

And then Jephtha burns his daughter as a sacrifice to god in return for his victory.

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robb65 · 56-60, M

There's two problems here:
1) just because the Bible records that someone did something doesn't mean it is acceptable to G-d. Assuming the English translation is taken at face value, anything could have came out of his house including a donkey. You can't offer unclean animals as burnt offerings either so offering a donkey as a burnt offering could not have happened, and even if it did somehow happen it would not have been acceptable either.

2) The bible never says that Jephtha actually offered his daughter as a burnt sacrifice. There's a glitch with the English translations that is easy to miss, the letter "Vey" added in front of a word is usually translated as "and" but it can also be correctly translated as "or". In other words the verse can correctly be translated as he would "offer it as a burnt offering... OR... he would give it to G-d". The second reading is not only more plausible but also more consistent with the rest of the passage that says something to the effect that she was given time with her friends to "bemoan her virginity".

Pikachu

@robb65

[quote]just because the Bible records that someone did something doesn't mean it is acceptable to G-d[/quote]

God knew what the sacrifice would be and accepted it anyway as evidenced by the fact that he gave Jephthah victory.

[quote]The second reading is not only more plausible but also more consistent with the rest of the passage[/quote]

Disagree.
Jephthah breaks down when he finds out that it is his daughter. You've destroyed me, this is a disaster. Not the reaction of people giving their only child into the service of god (As we see in Ruth).
And his daughter bemoaning the fact that she will die a virgin is no more indicative of a life in service of god than that she will die.
In fact, for a girl so immediately willing to go through with the sacrifice her father had promised to god, it seems more likely that she wanted two months before she died than because she was so cut up about having to go into the service of god.
Furthermore, the immediate description of her death following her return home seems to indicate that she was sacrificed. She returned home, her father kept his vow and she died a virgin, not and she was given to the lord.