In the haftarah of parashat Hukkat we read the story of Jephtah, a story best known to us because of the fate of Jephtah’s daughter. “And Jephtah made the following vow to the Lord: If you will deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me on my safe return from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s and shall be offered by me as a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-31). The haftarah does not recount the rest of the story, other than to tell of Jephtah’s victory, but the end is well known: “Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And when he saw her, he rent his clothes, and said, ‘Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me; for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.’ And she said to him, ‘My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone forth from your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites’” (11:34-36).

As Professsor Moshe Benovitz point out, “Jephtah’s sacrifice of his daughter is not in any way condemned in Judges 11.” And he adds: “It would seem, however, that the consent of the offering is required; otherwise, the sacrifice is murder” (Kol Nidre: Studies in the Development of Rabbinic Votive Institutions, 88). Indeed, there appears to be no criticism of Jephtah in the biblical narrative, and Jephtah’s daughter is presented as a heroic figure. But the sages took a different view:

Four made vows. Three asked improperly and God answered them appropriately, and one asked improperly and God answered him inappropriately. And these are the examples, Abraham’s servant Eliezer, Saul, Caleb and Jephtah: Eliezer asked improperly, as it says: “let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, Pray give me a little water from your jar to drink” (Genesis 24). God said to him: “If it had been a Canaanite slave or a prostitute would you have said: “let her be the one You have decreed for Your servant Isaac”? And the Holy One answered him and brought Rebecca. Caleb asked improperly, as it says: “Whoever smites Kiriath-Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife” (Judges 15). God responded, “If a Canaanite or a bastard or a slave had taken the city, would you give him your daughter?” What did God do? He brought his brother who took it, as it says: “And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it”. Saul asked improperly, as it says: “the man who kills him, the king will enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter” (I Kings 17). So God said to him: “If an Ammonite or a bastard or a slave kills him, would you give him your daughter?” The Holy One brought David, and he gave him his daughter Michal. Jephtah asked improperly, as it says: “whatever comes out of the door of my house”. God said: “If it were a camel or an ass or a dog, would you offer it as a sacrifice? The Holy One answered him inappropriately and brought his daughter (Leviticus Rabba (Vilna) 37).

In another midrash, the criticism is aimed at a different aspect of Jephtah’s vow:

And so you find in the case of Jephtah the Gileadite, that because he was not learned in Torah, he lost his daughter. When? When he fought the Ammonites and vowed… At that time, the Holy One was angered at him. The Holy One said: “If a dog or a pig or a camel would come out, would you offer it before Me? The Holy One brought his daughter… But was not Pinhas [the High Priest] there, so why did he [Jephtah] said; “I cannot take back my vow”? But Pinhas said: “I am the High Priest, son of a High Priest, shall I lower myself to go to a laymen?” And Jephtah said: “I am the chief of the tribes of Israel, the head of its nobility, shall I lower myself to go to a commoner?” Between the two of them, that poor one was lost, and both were guilty of shedding her blood (Tanhuma (Buber) Behukkotai 7).

1. Why does the haftarah end before the end of the chapter?

2. In Judges, both Jephtah and his daughter see God as responsible for the victory, but each holds a different view than that of the midrash as to who bore responsibility for the fate of Jephtah’s daughter. Who is responsible according to each approach, and why?

3. What difference does the midrash see in Jephtah’s vow, as opposed to those of Eliezer, Caleb and Saul, that warranted a different response and even punishment? Why doesn’t the midrash cite the example of Saul, who said: “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies” (I Samuel 14:24), where we read: “But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; so he put forth the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes became bright… And Saul said, ‘God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan’” (27-44)?

4. The first midrash is critical of the very making of the vow. What is the object of the second midrash? What is the subject of this midrash? Do both midrashim take the same view of God’s role and responsibility? Why is neither midrash critical of the sacrifice of Jephtah’s daughter?

5. Why are we not told the name of “Jephtah’s daughter”?