been anointed with the oil that was prepared for me. Alas, O
mother, it was in vain thou didst give birth to me, the grave was
destined to be my bridal chamber. The oil thou didst prepare for
me will be spilled, and the white garments my mother sewed for
me, the moth will eat them; the bridal wreath my nurse wound for
me will wither, and my garments in blue and purple, the worms
will destroy them, and my companions will all their days lament
over me. And now, ye trees, incline your branches and weep over
my youth; ye beasts of the forest, come and trample upon my
virginity, for my years are cut off, and the days of my life grow old
in darkness." (108)

Her lamentations were of as little avail as her arguments with her
father. In vain she sought to prove to him from the Torah that the
law speaks only of animal sacrifices, never of human sacrifices. In
vain she cited the example of Jacob, who had vowed to give God a
tenth of all the possessions he owned, and yet did not attempt later
to sacrifice one of his sons. Jephthah was inexorable. All he would
yield was a respite during which his daughter might visit various
scholars, who were to decide whether he was bound by his vow.
According to the Torah his vow was entirely invalid. He was not
even obliged to pay his daughter's value in money. But the scholars
of his time had forgotten this Halakah, and they decided that he
must keep his vow. The forgetfulness of the scholars was of God,
ordained as a punishment upon Jephthah for having slaughtered
thousands of Ephraim.

One man there was living at the time who, if he had been
questioned about the case, would have been able to give a
decision. This was the high priest Phinehas. But he said proudly: