Lifted far above his natural courage, strength, and wisdom by the anointing of the spirit of God, Jeph'thah raised a large army from the tribes of Ma-nas'seh, Gad, and Reu'ben, and marched against the Am'mon-ites. His army was assembled at Miz'pah, sacred in the history of Is'ra-el as the place where Ja'cob and La'ban had made a covenant of lasting peace, as one of the forty-eight Le-vit'i-cal cities, as a City of Refuge, and as the capital of Gil'e-ad. Here Jeph'thah made a solemn vow to God that if He would give him victory over the Am'mon-ites, he would offer Him as a sacrifice whatever came forth to meet him on his return from the field of victory.
In the battle which followed, the LORD enabled Jeph'thah to win a crushing victory over the Am'mon-ites. Many of the invaders were slain, and those who escaped death fled from the land. Twenty cities formerly held by the Am'mon-ites were captured by Jeph'thah's army. The land of Is'ra-el was completely delivered from oppression, and Jeph'thah was made Judge over the tribes east of the Jor'dan.
Jeph'thah had in his home an only child, a lovely young daughter. He loved her very dearly, and she was tenderly devoted to her brave and heroic father. On his return from the great victory over the Am'mon-ites she ran out to meet him, singing for joy, and dancing on praise of her father's triumph over the enemies of Is'ra-el. Jeph'thah was smitten with anguish when he saw her, for he remembered the vow which he had made with God. His heart was filled with grief at the thought of laying his only child, his beloved and cherished daughter, on the altar of sacrifice to the LORD. Calling upon all the heroism of his noble character, he told his daughter of the vow which he had made with to God. He solemnly declared, "I have made this pledge to the LORD, and I cannot take it back."
Without pausing for a moment to reflect upon what her words might mean to her and her father, Jeph'thah's daughter said, " Do to me according to that which thou hast vowed." She then asked permission to spend two months in the mountains surrounding Miz'pah that she might "mourn her virginity." To give up the privilege of being a wife and a mother was a supreme sacrifice for an Is'ra-el-it-ish woman. Every Jewish woman hoped, in becoming a mother, that she might give to the world the promised Mes-si'ah of Is'ra-el.
When the two months had passed, Jeph'thah's daughter returnt to her home, and the Bible narrative says, "He did with her according to his vow." Some earnest readers of the Bible believe that Jeph'thah did not put his daughter to death on an altar of sacrifice, for the Scriptures do not say that he actually offered her as a burnt offering to the LORD.
It may be that the sacrifice which Jeph'thah's daughter made was that of giving her life entirely to the service of God, giving up all thought of marriage, and thereby causing the house of her father to pass away without leaving some descendant to bear his name. Such a sacrifice would require both father and daughter to give of their best to the LORD, and would carry out the spirit in which Jeph'thah made his vow unto the LORD.
