Jephthah, the offspring of this union, had to bear the consequences
of his mother's irregular conduct. So many annoyances were put
upon him that he was forced to leave his home and settle in a
heathen district. (107)

At first Jephthah refused to accept the rulership which the people
offered him in an assembly at Mizpah, for he had not forgotten the
wrongs to which he had been subjected. In the end, however, he
yielded, and placed himself at the head of the people in the war
against Getal, the king of the Ammonites. At his departure, he
vowed before God to sacrifice to Him whatsoever came forth out
of the doors of his house to meet him when he returned a victor
from the war.

God was angry and said: "So Jephthah has vowed to offer unto me
the first thing that shall meet him! If a dog were the first to meet
him, would a dog be sacrificed to me? Now shall the vow of
Jephthah be visited on his first-born, on his own offspring, yea, his
prayer shall be visited on his only daughter. But I assuredly shall
deliver my people, not for Jephthah's sake, but for the sake of the
prayers of Israel."

The first to meet him after his successful campaign was his
daughter Sheilah. Overwhelmed by anguish, the father cried out:
"Rightly was the name Sheilah, the one who is demanded, given to
thee, that thou shouldst be offered up as a sacrifice. Who shall set
my heart in the balance and my soul as the weight, that I may stand
and see whether that which happened to me is joy or sorrow? But
because I opened my mouth to the Lord, and uttered a vow, I
cannot take it back." Then Sheilah spoke, saying: "Why dost thou