Episode 3. Jephthah’s daughter (Judges 11)

The story of Jephthah’s daughter is the tragic tale of rash promises and unintended consequences. The warrior Jephthah makes a vow to sacrifice the first person to come out of his house to greet him if the Lord gives him victory over the Ammonites. It doesn’t occur to him that that person might be his only child, his daughter. Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand finds plenty to weep about in this story – but she also finds a story of female empowerment.