Why Jephthah Lost His Daughter for Lacking Torah

Another interpretation of "When a person sets apart a vow, etc." (Leviticus 27:2). This is what Scripture says: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, [and the wise one acquires souls]" (Proverbs 11:30). This refers to the Torah, for because one is a child of Torah he learns how one acquires souls, as it is said, "the wise one acquires souls." And so you find with Jephthah the Gileadite: because he was not a child of Torah, he lost his daughter. When? At the time he fought with the children of Ammon and made a vow, as it is said, "And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and whatever comes forth, etc." (Judges 11:30-31). At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry with him. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Had there come forth from his house a dog, or a pig, or a camel, would he have offered it before Me? The Holy One, blessed be He, brought forth to him his daughter, as it is said, "And behold, his daughter came out to meet him, and it came to pass when he saw her" (Judges 11:34-35). But was not Phinehas there? And he said, "I cannot turn back" (ibid.). Rather, Phinehas said: I am a high priest, son of a high priest; shall I lower myself and go to a commoner? And Jephthah said: I am the head of the tribes of Israel, head of the officers; shall I lower myself and go to an ordinary man? Between the two of them that wretched woman perished, and both of them were held liable for her blood. From Phinehas the holy spirit departed; Jephthah's bones were scattered, as it is said, "And he was buried in the cities of Gilead" (Judges 12:7). His daughter said to him: My father, is it written in the Torah that they should offer up the souls of their children upon the altar? Is it not written, "[A person who brings near from you an offering to the LORD,] from the cattle, from the herd, and from the flock, etc." (Leviticus 1:2) - from the cattle and not from human beings? He said to her: My daughter, I made a vow, "and whatever comes forth, etc." (Judges 11:31). [She said to him:] Jacob our father, who vowed, "and of all that You give me I will surely tithe to You" (Genesis 28:22), and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him twelve tribes - did he offer up one of them? [And moreover, did not Hannah, when she vowed and said, "and I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life" (1 Samuel 1:11), did she offer up her son to the Holy One, blessed be He?] All these things she said to him, but he did not listen to her. She said to him: Let me be, and let me go to the court of law; perhaps one of them will find an opening for your words, as it is said, "Let me alone for two months, [that I may go and go down upon the mountains]" (Judges 11:37). Rabbi Levi ben Berekhyah said: Is there a person who goes down upon the mountains? Surely one goes up upon the mountains! Rather, what is "and I will go down upon the mountains"? These are the Sanhedrin, as it is said, "Hear, O mountains, the LORD's case" (Micah 6:2). [She went to them, but they did not find an opening to release his vow. And concerning him Scripture says, "A poor man who oppresses the weak is a sweeping rain that leaves no bread" (Proverbs 28:3). "A poor man" - this is Jephthah, who was poor in Torah; he was a stump of a sycamore. "Who oppresses the weak" - for he oppressed the weak: when they would say, he said "Shibboleth" and the other said "Sibboleth" (Judges 12:6), and he slaughtered him. Therefore, "a sweeping rain that leaves no bread" - for he had one who could release his vow, but "no bread," for the Holy One, blessed be He, hid the halakhah from them so that they would not find an opening to release his vow. Since they did not find an opening to release his vow, he went up and slaughtered her before the Holy One, blessed be He. And the holy spirit cried out: Was it souls that I sought, that you should offer before Me - "which I did not command, nor speak, nor did it enter My mind" (Jeremiah 19:5)? "Which I did not command" Abraham to slaughter his son; rather I said to him, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, etc." (Genesis 22:12) - in order to make known to you how Abraham did My will, for the nations of the world were saying: Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, cherish Abraham so much? Therefore He said to him, "Take now your son, etc." (Genesis 22:2). Thus "which I did not command" Abraham to slaughter his son, certainly; "nor speak" to Jephthah to offer up to Me his daughter; "nor did it enter My mind" that the king of Moab would fall into the hand of the king of Israel and offer up to Me his firstborn son, as it is said, "And he took his firstborn son who was to reign in his place and offered him up as a burnt offering upon the wall" (2 Kings 3:27).] What caused Jephthah to lose his daughter? Because he did not read in the Torah; for had he read in the Torah he would not have lost his daughter, as it is written, "When a person sets apart a vow, etc." (Leviticus 27:2), "and if it is a female" (Leviticus 27:4). Behold, "the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life."