Judges 11:39

JUDGES—NOTE ON Judges 11:39 who did with her according to his vow. Most likely this means Jephthah literally sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering. Another interpretation is that Jephthah dedicated his daughter to permanent virginity, as a figurative sacrifice (see references to her uniqueness [v. Judges 11:34] and virginity [vv. Judges 11:37]). This would be a tragedy for her, as she would bear no children, and also for Jephthah, whose family line would come to an end. Some support for this comes from Jephthah’s speech in vv. Judges 11:12, which shows enough knowledge of Israel’s history to imply that he might have stopped short of literally sacrificing his own child.