Yiftach's Vow/2

Yiftach's Vow

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Overview

Discomfort with the idea that Yiftach, a judge and national leader, could possibly sacrifice his daughter, leads Ibn Ezra and other medieval commentators to reinterpret the verses and suggest that Yiftach simply consecrated her life to Hashem.  She was cloistered away from society to lead a life of chastity and devotion to God.  Others read the verses according to their simple sense and claim that Yiftach did in fact kill his daughter to fulfill his vow. Several midrashim assert that this was a tragic mistake. Yiftach had originally intended to offer an animal, but spoke poorly and did not think through the potential ramifications of his vow.  More modern scholars, however, raise the possibility that Yiftach had always had a human sacrifice in mind.  Mired in the ways of the surrounding idolaters, Yiftach did not even realize that such an action would be abhorrent to Hashem.

Sanctified His Daughter

Yiftach did not offer his daughter as a sacrifice, but rather consecrated her life to service of Hashem.

Sources:Karaite commentators,¹ Ibn EzraDevarim 29:20About R. Avraham ibn Ezra (cited in RambanVayikra 27:29About R. Moshe b. Nachman), R. Yosef KimchiSefer HaGalui s.v. תןAbout R. Yosef Kimchi, RadakShofetim 11:31Shofetim 11:37-40About R. David Kimchi, RalbagShofetim 11:1Shofetim 11:30-40Shofetim 12:1-7About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelShofetim 11:30-40About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel

"וְהָיָה לַי"י וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹלָה" – According to these commentators, the וי"ו of the word "וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ" is a disjunctive and means "or" rather than "and".²  As such, Yiftach's vow "וְהָיָה לַי"י וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹלָה", comprised two possibilities. Depending on what was to exit his house, he swore either to sanctify it to Hashem, or to offer it as a sacrifice.³

"וְהָיָה לַי"י" – what does this include? According to these sources, Yiftach's daughter was to remain celibate⁴ and never marry,⁵ and moreover, live in seclusion from the rest of society.⁶   Ibn Ezra adds that she was to spend her days in prayer and thanksgiving to Hashem.

"וַיַּעַשׂ לָהּ אֶת נִדְרוֹ אֲשֶׁר נָדָר" – Radak notes that the verse does not say that Yiftach sacrificed his daughter but rather that he kept his vow ("וַיַּעַשׂ לָהּ אֶת נִדְרוֹ אֲשֶׁר נָדָר"), allowing for the possibility that she was simply sanctified.

"וַתֵּבְךְּ עַל בְּתוּלֶיהָ" / "וְהִיא לֹא יָדְעָה אִישׁ" – According to this approach, the verses' emphasis on the virginity of Yiftach's daughter is logical, as this was what was demanded of her by the vow.  R"Y Kimchi points out that had she been going to her death, she would have cried, instead, about the loss of her life, a much greater sorrow.⁷

"לְתַנּוֹת לְבַת יִפְתָּח" – Ralbag explains that since Yiftach's daughter was forced to live in seclusion the whole year round, four days a year were set aside for women to visit and comfort her.  According to Abarbanel, even during that time the women did not actually see each other, but only conversed and lamented together.  RambanVayikra 27:29About R. Moshe b. Nachman, though, attacks this reading, questioning how it could possibly be set as custom that people mourn someone's dedicating themselves to worship of Hashem!

Why was Yiftach upset? According to this position, Yiftach might not be bothered by the concept that his daughter was to devote herself to Hashem, but by the consequences of that fact, that he would no longer be able to see his only, beloved child, and that she would miss out on the joys of marriage.  Though he had anticipated the possibility that a human might emerge from his house, he did not think that it would be his daughter.⁸

Yiftach's daughter's reaction to her fate – Yiftach's daughter encourages her father to keep his vow, a reaction that makes sense if she heard that she was to consecrated, but not if she were about to be sacrificed.

Hashem's Evaluation of Yiftach's actions – No where does the text criticize Yiftach for his vow, implying that there was nothing wrong with it, as this reading suggests.

Portrait of Yiftach – According to this position, Yiftach is a positive character who would never commit child sacrifice.  He does not act impulsively, but thinks before speaking.⁹

Cultural influences – It is possible that the above portrait of the nature of Yiftach's daughter's consecration is at least partially influenced by these exegetes' exposure to the practices of Christian monasticism. See Abarbanel who explicitly draws a connection, but in the opposite direction, saying, "And from this, the nation of Edom learned to make convents for women who enter there and never leave all their days...."¹⁰

Purpose of the story – This position might suggest that the story comes to explain what became of Yiftach's descendants.  One of the book's central themes is the competing models of leadership of judges and kings. Kingship is defined by dynastic rule and, starting with Gidon, the book repeatedly raises the question of whether the judges will bequeath their leadership to their children. Thus, this story emphasizes that Yiftach had only one daughter who was celibate, providing him with neither son-in-law nor other male descendants who could possibly rule after him.

Sacrificed His Daughter

Yiftach gave his daughter as a sacrifice to Hashem.  This position subdivides regarding Yiftach's original intentions:

Animal Intended

When Yiftach made his vow, he did not think of the possibility that a human might emerge from his house, and assumed that he was pledging to sacrifice an animal to Hashem.

Sources:Pseudo-PhiloBiblical Antiquities, 39-40About Pseudo-Philo, Bavli TaanitTaanit 4aAbout the Bavli, Bereshit Rabbah60:3About Bereshit Rabbah, TanchumaBechukotai 5About the Tanchuma, perhaps R. Yehuda ibn BalaamShofetim 11About R. Yehuda ibn Balaam,¹¹  perhaps RambanVayikra 27:29About R. Moshe b. Nachman¹²

"וְהָיָה לַי"י וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹלָה" – According to this position, these two phrases refer to the same deed.  The words "וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹלָה" explain what the term "וְהָיָה לַי"י" entails: being for Hashem means being offered as a sacrifice.¹³

Where did Yiftach err? According to most of these sources, Yiftach's first sin lay in not thinking before he spoke, and being careless in the wording of his vow.  He formulated it in general terms ("וְהָיָה הַיּוֹצֵא אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִדַּלְתֵי בֵיתִי") so that it was all inclusive, not thinking of the possibility that something might emerge from his home that was not fit for sacrifice.¹⁴

Why was Yiftach upset? Yiftach's horrified reaction is understandable, as he had never fathomed that his daughter (or any human, for that matter) would become the object of his vow.

Why not annul the vow?

• Pride – Bereshit Rabbah and Tanchuma assert that even though the high priest, Pinchas, could have annulled Yiftach's vow,¹⁵ due to a power play, neither leader would humble themselves to approach the other, leaving Yiftach's daughter to her unfortunate fate.¹⁶
• Ignorance – Tanchuma also blames Yiftach's lack of Torah knowledge and his illiteracy in the laws of vows. Ramban, similarly, asserts that Yiftach mistakenly assumed that his vow was like that of a king in the midst of battle who declares that upon victory, his enemy will be "חרם לה'" (killed for Hashem).  Such a vow can not be annulled.¹⁷ Yiftach, in his ignorance, did not realize that his oath was not at all comparable, and that no vow to offer an unsuitable sacrifice should be fulfilled.

Yiftach's daughter's reaction – It is surprising that Yiftach's daughter would be so amenable to her father keeping his vow, if it meant her death.  This leads Tanchuma to suggest that she actually argued with her father, trying to show him how human sacrifice is prohibited. When this was unsuccessful, she turned to the elders to try and annul the vow, but again to no avail.¹⁸  All of this, however, is absent from the text and negates the simple sense of Yiftach's daughter's words, "do unto me according to what has escaped your mouth."

"וַתֵּבְךְּ עַל בְּתוּלֶיהָ" / "וְהִיא לֹא יָדְעָה אִישׁ" – It is not clear why the verses need to emphasize the fact that Yiftach's daughter never married, or why she would request two months to cry over that fact.  Her upcoming death should have been the much greater tragedy!

"לְתַנּוֹת לְבַת יִפְתָּח" – According to this position, the women lamented yearly over the unjust fate that befell Yiftach's daughter.

Hashem's Evaluation of Yiftach's actions – According to these sources, Hashem punished Yiftach both for making his vow and for fulfilling it. He died an ignoble death as his limbs fell off individually, each being buried where they fell, as the verse states, "וַיִּקָּבֵר בְּעָרֵי גִלְעָד" ("and he was buried in the cities [in plural] of Gilad"). However, this is not the simple reading of the verses, and the text contains no explicit rebuke of Yiftach, as would be expected if he had actually sacrificed his daughter.

Portrait of Yiftach – According to this position, Yiftach was not only an ignoramus, but rash and proud as well. He believed in Hashem, but knew nothing of the Torah's laws. Such a portrait might further be supported by the text's description of his chosen men as  "אֲנָשִׁים רֵיקִים".

Purpose of the story – The story comes to show the low level of the nation's leaders, reflecting the state of the nation as a whole.

Human Intended

Yiftach made his vow with full knowledge that a human might be the one to exit his home, and with full intentions of sacrificing him/her if that were the case.

Sources:Josephus5 7:10About Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, Aharon Ibn Chaim, perhaps Hoil MosheShofetim 11:31Shofetim 11:39About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi, modern scholars¹⁹

"וְהָיָה לַי"י וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹלָה" – As above, these sources assume that the two halves of the phrase explain each other.  Yiftach promised that whatever greeted him was to be for Hashem, meaning that it would be offered as a sacrifice.

Yiftach's intentions – While most of these sources assume that Yiftach intended to sacrifice whichever human exited his house first, Aharon ibn Chaim goes even further to suggest that Yiftach had his daughter specifically in mind. Since she was his most beloved, he assumed that she would be the first to greet him.

"וְהָיָה הַיּוֹצֵא אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִדַּלְתֵי בֵיתִי לִקְרָאתִי" – M. Hattin²⁰ attempts to prove from these words that Yiftach had always intended his sacrifice to be  human.  All occurrences of the phrase "יצא לקראת" in Tanakh describe an encounter between two or more humans, and never speak of an animal.  In addition, it was much more likely that it would be a human who would exit "the doors of [Yiftachs'] house" than an animal, who would presumably be in the yard or pen.²¹

Why offer a human sacrifice? This position can read Yiftach and his motives in one of two ways:

• Assimilated – Hoil Moshe maintains that it was common in ancient times for someone in distress or at war to make such deals with gods, offering a human sacrifice for promise of victory.²²  A mere animal sacrifice would not be sufficient to gain the favor of God; an exceptional offering was necessary.  Yiftach, being on a low spiritual level, was influenced by the idolatrous ways around him,²³ and he did not even realize that such a sacrifice would be viewed negatively by Hashem.
• Ignorant – Alternatively, Yiftach misunderstood the command in Vayikra 27:29, "כׇּל חֵרֶם אֲשֶׁר יׇחֳרַם מִן הָאָדָם לֹא יִפָּדֶה מוֹת יוּמָת".  He assumed that the verse teaches that if someone made a vow to sacrifice a person, the person must be put to death and a ransom cannot be taken in his stead.²⁴ As such, he assumed that the Torah allows human sacrifice.

Why was Yiftach upset? If Yiftach had always intended to sacrifice a person, why was he so troubled by the turn of events?

• According to most of these sources, Yiftach was upset only because it was his daughter, rather than a servant or the like, who was the first to greet him.
• Ibn Chaim, in contrast, asserts that it was only upon returning home that Yiftach realized the full impact of his rash words and immediately regretted them.  This is why he laments, "וְאָנֹכִי פָּצִיתִי פִי", realizing that when he offered his daughter, he spoke with his mouth, but not with his head or heart.

Yiftach's daughter's reaction – It is possible that Yiftach's daughter, growing up amidst idol worship and child sacrifice, did not find her father's vow so reprehensible.  She was therefore willing to be the sacrifice that brought victory to her people.

"וַתֵּבְךְּ עַל בְּתוּלֶיהָ" – The only thing which bothered Yiftach's daughter was that she had never merited to marry or bear children, and thus it is about this which she cries.

Why not nullify the vow? According to the opinion that Yiftach was assimilated, Yiftach might not have attempted to nullify his vow since he assumed that giving his daughter was the highest show of devotion to God. Alternatively, even though he wanted to, he understood from Vayikra 27:29  that it was prohibited to do so.²⁵

"וַיַּעַשׂ לָהּ אֶת נִדְרוֹ אֲשֶׁר נָדָר" – Hoil Moshe explains that the verse does not say explicitly that Yiftach sacrificed his daughter, preferring the more general formulation of "and he fulfilled his vow" in order to soften the cruelty of the act.

"וְהִיא לֹא יָדְעָה אִישׁ וַתְּהִי חֹק בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל" – According to Hoil Moshe, the verse emphasizes that Yiftach's daughter never slept with a man to highlight that she had no descendants to cry over her grave.  It is for this reason that a custom was set that maidens would lament her four days a year.

Hashem's Evaluation of Yiftach's action – It is surprising that no where in the text is there any rebuke of Yiftach for his actions.

Parallels to the Binding of Isaac – There are several striking parallels between the two episodes.²⁶  Both center around child sacrifice, with the text highlighting that the one selected for sacrifice is an only ("יְחִידָה") child. The text further emphasizes the child-parent relationship by repeatedly referring to the characters as אב-בן/בת.   Finally, in each story the language of "וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ עֹלָה" / "וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם לְעֹלָה" is used, and mountains are mentioned. The many parallels, however, appear to simply highlight the contrast between the stories.  Hashem commanded Avraham to sacrifice his son, but prevented the actual killing, teaching all that human sacrifice is not the way to worship Hashem.  Yiftach, unfortunately, forgot the crucial lesson.

Portrait of Yiftach – This position presents two potential portraits of Yiftach:

• Yiftach was a leader who was so mired in the idolatrous ways of Israel's Canaanite neighbors that he thought that human sacrifice would actually be pleasing to Hashem.  One might question how could it be that Hashem would choose such a leader.  This position might answer that Yiftach, as opposed to other judges, was chosen by the people themselves, not by Hashem.²⁷
• Alternatively, Yiftach was not assimilated; he simply misunderstood a difficult verse in Torah, with disastrous results.

Purpose of the story – According to this position, the story comes to highlight how deeply the nation had absorbed Canaanite practices, that even its leaders were totally acculturated and no longer knew how to correctly worship Hashem.

¹ See J. Berman, "Medieval Monasticism and the Evolution of Jewish Interpretation to the Story of Jephthah’s Daughter," JQR 95:2, (2005): 228-256 about the Karaite origins of this approach.

² R. Yosef Kimchi brings Shemot 21:17, "וּמְקַלֵּל אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ", as another example of this usage.  It is prohibited to curse either your father or your mother.

³ Yiftach realized in advance that it was possible that something would exit his house that was not fitting for sacrifice so he vowed that in such a scenario the object would instead be consecrated.

⁴ The Karaite Jacob Qirqisani suggests that this stems from the laws of consecrating items in Vayikra 27:28 since no benefit may be obtained from such an object.  He claims that since a daughter can be considered a man's property, through his vow, Yiftach had turned his daughter into someone from whom no benefit (and hence no sexual pleasure) could be derived.  Though the other sources agree that Yiftach's daughter remained celibate, they refrain from pointing to Vayikra as the model for Yiftach's actions since Bavli Arakhin specifically prohibits consecrating one's daughter in such a manner.

⁵ Thus, the verses emphasize, "וְהִיא לֹא יָדְעָה אִישׁ".

⁶ Ramban questions why being consecrated to God need mean living a life of chastity and seclusion; after all, Shemuel, too, was "given to Hashem", but he was involved in society, allowed to marry, and served in the Mishkan. See also Hoil MosheShofetim 11:31About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi who attacks this position with vehemence, saying, "there never was and never will be stupidity such as this in Israel, and a thousand times better to assume that the least of the judges sacrificed his daughter against the command of Hashem..."  
Ralbag responds to Ramban by explaining that Shemuel differed from Yiftach's daughter since, as a male, he had other ways of serving Hashem.  If Yiftach's daughter were to marry, on the other hand, she wouldn't be able to devote herself exclusively to Hashem because she would have to also serve her husband.

⁷ Hoil Moshe questions why Yiftach's daughter would request two months to cry, if she had the rest of her life to do so.  These sources might answer that Yiftach's daughter was requesting permission to cry with her companions, as afterwards she would be cloistered from them.

⁸ One might question why the possibility never occurred to him; after all, it would be natural that his daughter might rush to greet him as he returned from the dangers of battle.

⁹ Throughout the chapter, Ralbag consistently attempts to view Yiftach in a similarly positive light. Thus, for example, he claims that the phrase "בֶּן אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה" does not mean that YIftach was the son of a whore, but that this was an epithet given to his mother by her angry tribesmen after she married into a different tribe. He also defends Yiftach's war with Ephraim which caused the death of 42,000 people, claiming that they deserved it for being ungrateful and threatening to burn down Yiftach's house.

¹⁰ For an in depth analysis of potential Catholic influences, see J. Berman, "Medieval Monasticism and the Evolution of Jewish Interpretation to the Story of Jephthah’s Daughter," JQR 95:2, (2005): 228-256.

¹¹ Ibn Balaam does not speak of Yiftach's original intentions, so it is not clear whether he agrees with the Midrashic sources that Yiftach had originally hoped to sacrifice an animal, or if he thinks that it is possible that Yiftach had a human in mind from the beginning. He does, however, argue very strongly that Yiftach sacrificed his daughter, claiming that to say otherwise would be "to overturn that which is abundantly clear" and to disregard the simple meaning of the text. J. Berman (see the article cited above) suggests that Ibn Balaam's vehement opposition to the "not sacrificed" approach may stem from his awareness of the Karaite origins of the approach. [Ibn Balaam was an outspoken opponent of the Karaites.]

¹² This passage is one of the additions made by Ramban to his commentary after arriving in the Land of Israel.  See Ramban's Updates for a full discussion and comparison tables of the original commentary and its updated form. 
Ramban is not explicit as to the intentions of Yiftach since he focuses, instead, on the question of why the vow was not nullified.  In contrast to the assumption here that Ramban agrees with the Midrashic sources that Yiftach made a general vow, see J. Schwartzmann, "הנדר של יפתח: טיפולוגיה של הפרשנות המסורתית", Beit Mikra 50:3 (2005): 261-280, who thinks that Ramban assumes that Yiftach's original intention was to sacrifice only a human.

¹³ Accordingly, the "וי"ו" of the word "וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ" is a conjunctive, meaning "and".

¹⁴ Interestingly, the midrashic sources all rebuke Yiftach for not realizing that an impure animal might exit his house, rather than chiding him for not thinking that a human might emerge.  In fact, they go so far as to suggest that Hashem punished him for this oversight by ensuring that it was not a dog or the like who came to greet him, but his own daughter!

¹⁵ Yiftach could have substituted money or a pure animal for his daughter.  According to Resh Lakish, even this would not have been necessary.

¹⁶ Bereshit Rabbah and Tanchuma write that both leaders were punished for this act.

¹⁷ This is how Ramban understands the prohibition in Vayikra 27:29, "כׇּל חֵרֶם אֲשֶׁר יׇחֳרַם מִן הָאָדָם לֹא יִפָּדֶה מוֹת יוּמָת".

¹⁸ The midrash reads the verse, "הַרְפֵּה מִמֶּנִּי שְׁנַיִם חֳדָשִׁים וְאֵלְכָה וְיָרַדְתִּי עַל הֶהָרִים" metaphorically to mean that she asked for two months to consult with the nation's mountains = elders.

¹⁹ For example, see Shimon Bar Efrat, Olam HaTanakh, Shofetim (Tel Aviv, 1994): 205 and M. Hattin, "Yiftach's Vow".

²⁰ See article cited above.

²¹ See, however, Devarim 22:1-2, which might suggests that at times animals lived together with humans inside their homes.

²² See, for example, Melakhim II 3:26-27.  Though the verses are ambiguous, it seems that this is a parallel case, where the King of Moav, afraid of losing in battle, offers his eldest son as a sacrifice.  See also Bemidbar 21:1-3 where the Nation of Israel vows to Hashem that if He helps them in their war against Arad, they will destroy their cities.

²³ For evidence of child sacrifice in Canaan and the Ancient Near East and the fear that Israel will learn to imitate these practices, see Devarim 12:29-31 and Mikhah 6:6-8.

²⁴ At first glance, the verse, taken literally, does seem to suggest this. Voltaire (Dictonnaire Philosophique, entry "Jephte"), in fact, understood it in this exact manner and, in his attacks on Judaism, tried to prove from it that Israelites practiced child sacrifice.  Cf. ShadalVayikra 27:29About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto who cites Rosenmueller as understanding the verse in the same way. 
Traditional commentators, assuming that human sacrifice could not possibly be condoned by the Torah, struggle to reinterpret the verse. Thus, the Mekhilta explains that it refers to the prohibition of ransoming someone who has been sentenced to death for a capital crime.  RambanVayikra 27:29About R. Moshe b. Nachman and ShadalVayikra 27:29About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto, instead, suggest that it refers to a case in which the nation (or king / ruling body) vow that a rebelling segment of the population will be exterminated, or that in a specific situation, a certain action will result in capital punishment.  Thus, when the nation vowed that if Hashem gave the Canaanites into their hands, they would destroy them :"וְהַחֲרַמְתִּי אֶת עָרֵיהֶם" (Bemidbar 21:2), they were obligated to kill them all. Similarly, in Shofetim 21:5-10, after the nation vowed that whoever did not join in the battle against Binyamin would die, they were obligated to kill the inhabitants of Yavesh Gilad who had not participated in the battle.

²⁵ See discussion above regarding YIftach's misunderstanding of the verse.

²⁶ Connections have been drawn between the two stories already from the time of Pseudo-Philo, who has Yiftach's daughter compare herself to Yitzchak who went willingly to be slaughtered.  Bavli Ta'anit also draws comparisons between the stories.  See also E. Baumgarten, "Remember that Glorious Girl:Jephtah's Daughter in Medieval Jewish Culture," JQR 97:2 (2007): 180-209, who speaks of a medieval custom known as the tekufah, (a practice of refraining from drinking water from wells or rivers four times a year, during  the equinox and solstice) which also connects the two episodes, giving each as part of the reason for the establishment of the custom. Here, the comparison was not meant negatively and no contrast is drawn.  Thus, she suggests that in Ashkenazic lands Yiftach's actions might have been viewed positively.  These Jews, who sometimes killed their own children in order to prevent their conversion, might have looked to Yiftach, who killed his daughter in order to fulfill an obligation to God, as a model of sanctification of God's name.

²⁷ See Shofetim 10:13-14 and 11:6.