He made a vow before the battle. He did not think about who might come through the door.
📖Based on Judges 11:35
Jephthah was a mighty warrior.
His mother was a prostitute. His half-brothers had driven him away.
He had gathered worthless men around him and lived in the land of Tob.
When Israel needed a fighter, they called him back.
He made conditions. They agreed.
He led the army against the Ammonites.
Before the battle, he made a vow to the LORD.
He said: If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace shall be the LORD's.
And I will offer it up as a burnt offering.
He defeated the Ammonites with a great blow.
He came home to Mizpah.
His daughter came out to meet him.
She was dancing with tambourines.
She was his only child.
He had no son or daughter except her.
When he saw her, he tore his clothes.
He said: Alas, my daughter. You have brought me very low.
You have become the cause of great trouble to me.
For I have opened my mouth to the LORD and I cannot take it back.
She said: My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD.
Do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth.
She asked only for two months in the mountains to weep with her companions.
She went.
She came back at the end of two months.
He did with her according to his vow.
She had never known a man.
What exactly happened is debated.
What is not debated is that a young woman paid the price for a vow she had no part in making.
He had made the vow in the heat of a moment before a battle.
He had not considered what it might cost.
Until she came through the door dancing.
Scripture — Judges 11:35
"And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back."
Reflection
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The vow was made without thought of cost. The cost arrived dancing with tambourines.
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She accepted the consequence of a decision that was not hers. That silence — her willingness — is the most heavy thing in the account.