A common misinterpretation is that Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering with God's approval, portraying the event as divinely sanctioned human sacrifice, which overlooks the narrative's portrayal of Jephthah's grief and the cultural horror of such an act, as well as Leviticus 18:21 and 20:2-5 prohibiting child sacrifice; instead, many scholars interpret verses 37-39 as her being dedicated to lifelong virginity and temple service, not literal death, emphasizing the tragedy of perpetual childlessness rather than endorsing infanticide, while another error assumes the daughter willingly embraced death without remorse, ignoring the mourning period she requests for her virginity.
Judges 11:35
King James Version (1769)
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back.
In this moment of profound sorrow, Jephthah tears his clothes upon seeing his only daughter as the fulfillment of his rash vow to sacrifice the first thing from his house, highlighting the irreversible weight of oaths sworn to God and the devastating personal consequences of impulsive promises made in faith, underscoring the biblical principle that vows must be kept once uttered, as echoed in Numbers 30, yet serving as a cautionary tale against hasty commitments without full consideration of potential outcomes.