Questions for discussion
- Go back into the story and underline the sentences in which Yiftach’s daughter speaks or acts. Then read these sentences out loud. Do you think Yiftach’s daughter had no control over her fate, some control, or complete control?
- Some commentators understand this story to mean that Yiftach’s daughter was literally sacrificed, while others believe that she remained alive, but was “offered to God” as a sort of nun and never allowed to marry.
- What evidence in the text can you find to support each of these readings?
- How does the story change depending on which interpretation you follow?
- A challenge: can you think of any contemporary analog for this story, or a modern example of a person who acts like Yiftach’s daughter?
