How do you interpret the story of Jephthah (Judges chapter 11)?

Jephthah was a judge of Israel, of the tribe of Manasseh. (Nu 26:29; Jg 11:1) He administered justice over the territory of Gilead for six years perhaps during the priesthood of Eli and the early life of Samuel. (Jg 12:7) Jephthah’s reference to “three hundred years” of Israelite control E of the Jordan would seem to place the start of his six-year judgeship around 1173 B.C.E.—Jg 11:26.

Jephthah a Legitimate Son.

The mother of Jephthah was “a prostitute woman,” not meaning, however, that Jephthah was born of prostitution or was illegitimate. His mother had been a prostitute prior to her marriage as a secondary wife to Gilead, just as Rahab had once been a prostitute but later married Salmon. (Jg 11:1; Jos 2:1; Mt 1:5) That Jephthah was not illegitimate is proved by the fact that his half brothers by Gilead’s primary wife drove him out so that he would not share in the inheritance. (Jg 11:2) Additionally, Jephthah later became the accepted leader of the men of Gilead (of whom Jephthah’s half brothers seemed to be foremost). (Jg 11:11) Moreover, he offered a sacrifice to God at the tabernacle. (Jg 11:30, 31) None of these things would have been possible for an illegitimate son, for the Law specifically stated: “No illegitimate son may come into the congregation of Jehovah. Even to the tenth generation none of his may come into the congregation of Jehovah.”—De 23:2.

Jephthah was evidently the firstborn of Gilead. Consequently he would normally have inherited two portions in the property of his father Gilead (who apparently was dead at the time Jephthah’s half brothers drove him out) and would also have been the head of the family. Only by illegally driving him away could Jephthah’s half brothers deprive him of his rightful inheritance, for even though the firstborn son of a father was the son of a secondary wife, or even a less-favored wife, he was, nevertheless, to receive the firstborn’s rights.—De 21:15-17.

“Idle Men” Gather to Jephthah.

When Jephthah was driven away by his half brothers he took up dwelling in the land of Tob, a region E of Gilead, apparently outside the borders of Israel. Here Jephthah would be on the frontier, exposed to Israel’s foreign enemies, particularly Ammon. “Idle men,” that is, men evidently made idle or put out of employment by Ammonite harassment, and revolting against servitude to Ammon, came to Jephthah and put themselves under his command. (Jg 11:3) The people living in the territory E of the Jordan River (the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh) were mainly cattle raisers, and the forays of the Ammonite raiders (who even crossed the Jordan at times) had apparently taken away the possessions and the means of livelihood from many of the inhabitants of Gilead.—Jg 10:6-10.

Ammonites Threaten War.

For 18 years oppression by the Ammonites continued. This was permitted by God because the Israelites had unfaithfully turned to serving the gods of the nations round about. But now the sons of Israel were brought to their senses, repenting of their folly and calling on Jehovah for help. They began to do away with their idols and to serve Jehovah. At this point Ammon gathered together in Gilead for large-scale warfare. (Jg 10:7-17; 11:4) This fact indicates that it was actually the great invisible enemy of God, Satan the Devil, who incited the pagan nations against Israel and that the real issue was worship of the true God.—Compare Re 12:9; Ps 96:5; 1Co 10:20.

Israel gathered its forces at Mizpah. The half brothers of Jephthah were evidently prominent among the older men of Gilead. (Jg 10:17; 11:7) They saw the need for proper leadership and direction. (Jg 10:18) They realized that they must be under the headship of a God-appointed man if they were to defeat Ammon. (Jg 11:5, 6, 10) Undoubtedly Jephthah and his men had been performing exploits in Tob, suggesting that he was God’s designated choice. (Jg 11:1) The men of Gilead decided to go to Jephthah, whom they had despised, to ask him to be their head.

Jephthah Becomes Head of Gilead.

Jephthah agreed to lead them in the fight against Ammon on one condition: if Jehovah gave him victory, he would continue as head after returning from the fight. His insistence on this was not a selfish demand. He had shown himself concerned with the fight in behalf of God’s name and his people. Now, if he defeated Ammon, it would prove that God was with him. Jephthah wanted to make sure that God’s rule would not be forsaken again once the crisis had passed. Also, if he was indeed Gilead’s firstborn son, he was only establishing his legal right as head of the house of Gilead. The covenant was then concluded before Jehovah in Mizpah. Here again Jephthah showed that he looked to Jehovah as Israel’s God and King and their real Deliverer.—Jg 11:8-11.

Jephthah, a man of action, lost no time in exercising vigorous leadership. He sent a message to the king of Ammon, pointing out that Ammon was the aggressor in invading Israel’

I guess this answer is about five years late, but, then again, according to our scholar, above, it all occurred in about 1173 B.C. (and, by the way, exactly what does "B.C.E." mean? Oh, it means "Before the Common Era"? So, when did before this "Common Era" begin? Oh, I see -- it means before Christ! So, what is the silly PRETENSE? It is a liberal, pagan, "academic", pretense that is really silly, isn't it? As a factual matter, why don't we just call it want it is, instead of working so hard to try and exclude Jesus Christ from history??)

But, I digress. Take a look at this web page, http://womeninthebible.net/1.9.Jephtahs_daughter.h... It is very informative regarding Jephthah and his daughter. I very much like the thought that the daughter had, indeed, heard that her father would sacrifice the first person who came out the door, and she choose herself, instead of having a poor, innocent servant killed. This makes sense since the Bible says that Jephthah was very angry with his daughter for being the first person that he would see. He was angry that she CHOSE to sacrifice herself. (this fits into the fact that, then as now, there are no secrets in a Jewish community. Everyone talks A LOT! Jephtheh's vow would have been known to his servants, on the battlefield and know to his fellow officers, etc. The information would surely have been taken back to his home.)

Before entering into a covenant consider all the ramifications.