I was an only child. No brothers or sisters. All of my friends had lots of brothers and sisters. They would ask me, “Aren’t you lonely?” I would say, “No.”
My best friend was my dad, Jephthah. He was my hero.
When he was younger, he had been driven out of his family because he had a different mom than his brothers. He didn’t let that stop him. His blood wasn’t pure, but his heart was. He moved to Tob, the town where I grew up, and he became the leader of a group of adventurers.
When he would come home, we would go outside and play adventurer together. We would pretend to explore new lands and discover new people. He would carry me on his shoulders, and we would play the tambourines, and we would wrestle, and we would laugh.
So I was very sad when he went off to fight in the war.
The elders of his old tribe – the tribe he had been driven out of – came to him and said, “Come, be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.” Their hearts were not so pure. They didn’t like him until they needed him.
I had always loved him.
He gave me a big hug and kiss and told me he’d be home soon. But soon feels very far away when your daddy’s in the war.
Every day I would sit by the window and I would watch, hoping to see my daddy walking toward the house. Every day my mom would tell me to go out and play. But it wasn’t the same without my dad.
After what felt like forever, I finally saw him walking in the distance!
I jumped up. I ran to my mom to tell her. And I ran to find my tambourine. I had waited for infinity already – I couldn’t wait a second more. I rushed to the front door, bursting through as I danced and played the tambourine to welcome my daddy home.
I expected him to run to me, to pick me up and spin me around and kiss me and smile.
Instead, he tore his clothes and cried.
I stopped dancing. I dropped my hands to my sides. I looked up at my dad’s face.
“Oh! My daughter!” he cried, “You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.” He explained that during battle he had called to the LORD, saying, “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” And he threw himself on the ground, tossing dirt on his head and crying terrible sobs.
I’d never seen him like this, and his twisted face scared me more than the thought of being sacrificed. I wanted nothing more than to comfort him, so I said, “My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you have promised.”
And then he hugged me and both of us cried.
Before the sacrifice, my friends and I spent two months in the hills. We mourned because I would never marry, would never have kids, would never be able to play adventurer with my own children.
Judges 11:39b-40: From this comes the Israelite custom that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Neglected Word 