• Pronunciation: In Hebrew, “Bat” (“daughter”) as in “bat mitzvah,” “Yeef-tach”, with “ch” as in “challah”. In English, “Jeff-thuh.”
• Yiftach is portrayed in the previous chapter as a sort of loser or outsider figure, who also happens to be very strong, and finds himself appointed to lead the charge against the enemy Ammonites.
• There is a tradition among Ancient Near Eastern cultures that women and girls would come out with cymbals, drums, and dances to greet victorious warriors as they returned from battle. So Yiftach should have had some inkling that this might happen.
• The book of Judges, in which we read the story of Yiftach and his daughter, is largely a series of battles between warring nations; this story is told in a context of general violence.

92 וַתְּהִי עַל־פְתָּח רוּחַ יְהוָה וַיַּעֲבֹר אֶת־הַגִּלְעָד וְאֶת־מְנַשֶּׁה וַיַּעֲבֹר, אֶת־מִצְפֵּה גִלְעָד וּמִמִּצְפֵּה גִלְעָד עָבַר בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן. 03 וַיִּדַּר יִפְתָּח נֶדֶר לַיהוָה וַיֹּאמַר: אִם-נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן בְּיָדִי 13 וְהָיָה הַיּוֹצֵא אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִדַּלְתֵי בֵיתִי לִקְרָאתִי בְּשׁוּבִי בְשָׁלוֹם מִבְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וְהָיָה לַיהוָה וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹלָה. 23 וַיַּעֲבֹר יִפְתָּח אֶל־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן, לְהִלָּחֶם בָּם וַיִּתְּנֵם יְהוָה, בְּיָדוֹ. 33 וַיַּכֵּם מֵעֲרוֹעֵר וְעַד־בֹּאֲךָ מִנִּית עֶשְׂרִים עִיר וְעַד אָבֵל כְּרָמִים מַכָּה גְּדוֹלָה מְאֹד וַיִּכָּנְעוּ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. 43 וַיָּבֹא יִפְתָּח הַמִּצְפָּה אֶל־בֵּיתוֹ וְהִנֵּה בִתּוֹ יֹצֵאת לִקְרָאתוֹ בְּתֻפִּים וּבִמְחֹלוֹת: וְרַק הִיא יְחִידָה אֵין־לוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ בֵּן אוֹ־בַת. 53 וַיְהִי כִרְאוֹתוֹ אוֹתָהּ וַיִּקְרַע אֶת-בְּגָדָיו וַיֹּאמֶר אֲהָהּ בִּתִּי הַכְרֵעַ הִכְרַעְתִּנִי וְאַתְּ הָיִית בְּעֹכְרָי וְאָנֹכִי פָּצִיתִי פִי אֶל-יְהוָה וְלֹא אוּכַל לָשׁוּב. 63 וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אָבִי פָּצִיתָה אֶת־פִּיךָ אֶל־יְהוָה עֲשֵׂה לִי כַּאֲשֶׁר יָצָא מִפִּיךָ: אַחֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְךָ יְהוָה נְקָמוֹת מֵאֹיְבֶיךָ מִבְּנֵי עַמּוֹן. 73 וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל־אָבִיהָ יֵעָשֶׂה לִּי הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה: הַרְפֵּה מִמֶּנִּי שְׁנַיִם חֳדָשִׁים וְאֵלְכָה וְיָרַדְתִּי עַל־הֶהָרִים וְאֶבְכֶּה עַל־בְּתוּלַי אָנֹכִי ורעיתי (וְרֵעוֹתָי). 83 וַיֹּאמֶר לֵכִי וַיִּשְׁלַח אוֹתָהּ שְׁנֵי חֳדָשִׁים וַתֵּלֶךְ הִיא וְרֵעוֹתֶיהָ וַתֵּבְךְּ עַל־בְּתוּלֶיהָ עַל־הֶהָרִים. 93 וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ שְׁנַיִם חֳדָשִׁים וַתָּשָׁב אֶל-אָבִיהָ וַיַּעַשׂ לָהּ אֶת-נִדְרוֹ אֲשֶׁר נָדָר וְהִיא לֹא־יָדְעָה אִישׁ וַתְּהִי־חֹק בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל. 04 מִיָּמִים יָמִימָה תֵּלַכְנָה בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְתַנּוֹת לְבַת־יִפְתָּח הַגִּלְעָדִי אַרְבַּעַת יָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה.

29 Then the Spirit of G-D came on Jephthah, and...he passed over to the children of Ammon. 30 Jephthah vowed a vow to G-D, and said, "If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be G-D'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." 32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and G-D delivered them into his hand. 33 He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

34 Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to G-D, and I can't go back." 36 She said to him, "My father, you have opened your mouth to G-D; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because G-D has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon." 37 She said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions." 38 He said, "Go." He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains. 39 It happened at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel, 40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. --JPS Translation

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. 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?

when my father came back from the war
I knew he would want to see me first
so I ran out to greet him
but he fell to his knees in the dirt

he told me daughter
I have promised God to offer
the first creature that I saw

father the vow you have made
is one you cannot escape
but first let me go with my sisters
down to the shores of the lake

I lived two months with them
my sisters in the forest
and then I returned back home

the night he took me to the mountain
neither of us spoke
we reached the peak together
just as sunrise broke

I could have run from him
I almost thought he wished it
but I could not run from God

it was the last day of my life
the sun had never shone so bright
my father held the knife
I kept my eyes open wide

then angels came to me
with faces of my sisters
and they filled my eyes with tears

1. Unlike the original text and interpretations we have seen, this song is written from the perspective of Yiftach’s daughter herself. How does hearing “her voice” change our experience of the story?
2. The artist struggles with the question, “Why would Yiftach’s daughter return to her father to be offered up?” How does the song answer this question? Do you agree or disagree?
3. Optional: listen to the rock version of this song. How does the artist’s decision to tell the story with these sounds affect her interpretation of the story?

Note: While the version of this song included with the curriculum is in a quieter, folk ballad style, there is also a rock version of the song recorded by Girls in Trouble. If you think it will interest the class, you can download or stream the rock version here and have them discuss question #3.

by Alicia Jo Rabins/Girls in Trouble

when my father came back from the war

I knew he would want to see me first¹

so I ran out to greet him

but he fell to his knees in the dirt

he told me daughter

I have promised God to offer

the first creature that I saw

father the vow you have made

is one you cannot escape²

but first let me go with my sisters³

down to the shores of the lake⁴

I lived two months with them

my sisters in the forest

and then I returned back home

the night he took me to the mountain⁵

neither of us spoke

we reached the peak together

just as sunrise broke

I could have run from him

I almost thought he wished it

but I could not run from God

it was the last day of my life⁶

the sun had never shone so bright

my father held the knife

I kept my eyes open wide

then angels came to me

with faces of my sisters

and they filled my eyes with tears⁷

1 I imagined a close relationship between Yiftach and his daughter, based on the fact that they do not seem to have other family. This is in addition to the historical fact that returning warriors were greeted by their tribeswomen women dancing and playing timbrels.

2 This echoes the text’s understanding that Bat Yiftach herself insists on the sanctity of the vow and the impossibility of cancelling out a vow made in error.

3 “Sisters” here is meant figuratively, as her close friends.

4 As you may have noticed, there’s no lake in the text, and in fact she bewails her virginity on the mountains; but for some reason I wanted to imagine them camping out by a lake in the forest.

5 The text does not say Yiftach brought his daughter up a mountain; this is another detail I imagined since this story echoes the Akeidah, the sacrifice of Isaac, which occurs on a mountain.

6 I went with the more tragic interpretation: that Yiftach literally sacrifices his daughter, rather than the more forgiving interpretation that she is consecrated as a nun. I appreciate the ambiguity of the story, but also find the literal interpretation more convincing given that his vow uses the word “olah,” a burnt offering.

7 These angels are borrowed from a midrash about the sacrifice of Isaac, a compassionate addition to the story in which angels cry into his eyes, blinding him to his father holding the knife above him. (For the rabbis, this explains the vision problems that afflicted Isaac for the rest of his eyes.) I felt Yiftach’s daughter could use some of this ancient anesthetic as well, and that the most comforting faces for those angels would be her best friends. Here is the midrash:

Bereshit Rabbah 65:10

ד"א מראות מכח אותה ראיה שבשעה שעקד אברהם אבינו את בנו על גבי המזבח בכו מלאכי
השרת, ... ונשרו דמעות מעיניהם לתוך עיניו והיו
,’רשומות בתוך עיניו וכיון שהזקין כהו עיניו הה"ד ויהי כי זקן יצחק וגו

At the moment when our father Abraham bound his son Isaac on the altar, the ministering angels wept...Tears dropped from their eyes into his, and left their mark upon his eyes, and so when he became old his eyes dimmed.

Choose one of these verses and write, draw, dance or sing about it:

• And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter (Verse 34)
• And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said: ‘Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art become my troubler; for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.’  (Verse 35)
• And she said unto him: ‘My father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD; do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth (Verse 36)
• And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed; and she had not known man (Verse 39)
• And it was a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year (Verse 39-30)

Or try one of these:

Visual

Retell this story in images by representing the objects that seem most important, either drawing or in collage (Some examples: veil, knife, mountain, fire, hut, hands)

Choose a scene from the story, use any available materials to stage or build a sculpture of this scene, and photograph it with your phone camera

Music

Write a mourning melody for Yiftach’s daughter, to be sung by the girls each year

Write a song in Yiftach’s daughter’s voice describing how you think she might have experienced the story

Movement

Create a series of positions or tableaux describing Yiftach’s daughter’s feelings at different moments in the story

Make a dance in which you go back and forth between being Yiftach and his daughter

Writing

Write a letter from Yiftach’s daughter explaining why she returned after two months away

Write about a personal experience you had that feels connected to the story of Yiftach’s daughter

Create a ritual memorializing Yiftach’s daughter to be observed in her memory each year