Shoftim 11: Daughter of Mine, Tell me Where Have You Been?

Eager to gain G-d’s support against Ammon, Yiftach makes a calculated mistake. He vows that the first thing that walks into his barn will be given as a burnt offering to G-d.וַיִּדַּר יִפְתָּח נֶדֶר לַה׳ וַיֹּאמַר אִם־נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן בְּיָדִי׃ וְהָיָה הַיּוֹצֵא אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִדַּלְתֵי בֵיתִי לִקְרָאתִי בְּשׁוּבִי בְשָׁלוֹם מִבְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וְהָיָה לַה׳ וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עוֹלָה(Judges 11:30–31) Like Yaacov’s proclamation to Lavan cursing the individual who stole Lavan’s idols that doomed Rachel, this vow turns tragic. Yiftach’s daughter is the one who walks into Yiftach’s barn. Based on Yiftach’s promise, his daughter should have been sacrificed. What actually happened? When his daughter walks in, the Navi adds that “she was his only child, he had no other son or daughter” (verse 35). וְרַק הִיא יְחִידָה אֵין־לוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ בֵּן אוֹ־בַת(Judges 11:34) This recalls the command of G-d to Avraham to take his son, his only son, that he loves, before the Akeidat Yitzchak. קַח־נָא אֶת־בִּנְךָ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַבְתָּ אֶת־יִצְחָק(Genesis 22:2) On the one hand this could mean that he would have to sacrifice her, on the other hand, Avraham ultimately did not have to sacrifice Yitzchak. Perhaps the reference to Akadat Yitzchak hints that she was not actually sacrificed. Next, Yiftach tears his clothes and tells his daughter that he is upset because he made a vow and cannot retract it.Ripping clothes is connected to mourning. The implication is that he was “pre mourning” his daughter’s death. By stating that he could not go back on the vow it adds impact to the gravity of the situation. The Midrash in Bereishit Rabbah 60:3 chastises both Yiftach and Pinchas, the Kohen gadol at the time, for not getting together to have the vow annulled. Annulment is possible for most vows under halacha. Neither approached the other, accounding to the midrash, as each wanted the other to come to him. As a result, both Pinchas and Yiftach were punished. Pinchas lost his prophetic vision and Yiftach had to sacrifice his daughter. How Pinchas could still be alive at the time of Yiftach is a whole other issue. Yiftach’s daughter responds that Yiftach made a vow, so Yiftach should follow through because G-d kept His side of the bargain. She then asks for two months to go with her friends and “lament and bewail my maidenhood”.וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל־אָבִיהָ יֵעָשֶׂה לִּי הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה הַרְפֵּה מִמֶּנִּי שְׁנַיִם חֳדָשִׁים וְאֵלְכָה וְיָרַדְתִּי עַל־הֶהָרִים וְאֶבְכֶּה עַל־בְּתוּלַי אָנֹכִי וְרֵעוֹתָי(Judges 11:37)The midrash interprets this request as Yiftach’s daughter taking matters into her own hands to find a legal loophole. Some commentators latch onto “bewail my maidenhood” as a hint from the text that she was condemned to a life of solitude and not that she was killed. She should have been lamenting her life, not her maidenhood.Next, “after two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She had never known a man. So it became a custom in Israel / for the maidens of Israel go every year for four days and sing for the daughter of Yiftach” (verses 39–40).וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ שְׁנַיִם חֳדָשִׁים וַתָּשָׁב אֶל־אָבִיהָ וַיַּעַשׂ לָהּ אֶת־נִדְרוֹ אֲשֶׁר נָדָר וְהִיא לֹא־יָדְעָה אִישׁ וַתְּהִי־חֹק בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל׃ מִיָּמִים יָמִימָה תֵּלַכְנָה בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְתַנּוֹת לְבַת־יִפְתָּח הַגִּלְעָדִי אַרְבַּעַת יָמִים בַּשָּׁנָהIt seems like Yiftach followed through with his oath, and as a result the date lived in infamy. But, the Navi never directly mentions that he killed her. Some commentators focus on the second part. They explain that she was sent to a solitary life and was only allowed visits four days a year from other maidens, which is why this ceremony was mentioned. If Yiftach indeed killed his daughter, it is yet another tragic example of the lawlessness during the time of Judges, where even those who tried to be loyal to God, still had a dark side.