Four opened with vows; three made unreasonable requests but the Holy One blessed be He responded favorably, and one made an unreasonable request and the Omnipresent responded to him unfavorably. These are they: Eliezer, servant of Abraham; Saul; Yiftaḥ; and Caleb. Eliezer made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “It will be that the girl to whom I shall say: Tilt your jug please…[it is she You have confirmed for Your servant, for Isaac]” (Genesis 24:14).
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: Had a Canaanite maidservant or a prostitute emerged, would you have said: “It is she You have confirmed for Your servant, for Isaac” (Genesis 24:14)? But the Holy One blessed be He acted on his behalf and arranged for Rebecca to [come to] him. Caleb made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “Caleb said: To whoever smites Kiryat Sefer and captures it, I will give Akhsa my daughter to him as a wife” (Joshua 15:16).
The Holy One blessed be He responded to him: Had a Canaanite, a mamzer, or a slave captured it, would you have given him your daughter? What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He arranged for his brother to capture it, as it is stated: “Otniel ben Kenaz, [brother of Caleb,] captured it” (Joshua 15:17). Saul made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “It will be that the man who smites him, the king will enrich him with great wealth, and he will give him his daughter” (I Samuel 17:25).15Saul offered his daughter in marriage to the man who would smite Goliath.
The Holy One blessed be He said: Had an Amonite, a mamzer, or slave killed him, would you have given him your daughter? The Holy One blessed be He arranged for David [to kill Goliath], and [Saul] gave him his daughter Mikhal. Yiftaḥ made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “It will be, that whatever emerges from the doors of my house […I will offer it up as a burnt offering]” (Judges 11:31).
The Holy One blessed be He said: Had a camel, a donkey, or a dog emerged, would you have presented it as a burnt offering? The Holy One blessed be He responded to him unfavorably and arranged for his daughter [to emerge] for him. “It was upon his seeing her that he rent his garments” (Judges 11:35) – he could have had his vow dissolved and gone to Pinḥas. He said: I am a king; shall I go to Pinḥas?16Yiftaḥ considered it beneath his dignity for him to have to go to Pinḥas to dissolve his vow.
Pinḥas said: I am the High Priest and the son of a High Priest; shall I go to this ignoramus? In the meanwhile, that miserable one17Yiftaḥ’s daughter; see Judges 11:35–40. died, and both of them were liable for her blood. Pinḥas, the Divine Spirit left him. That is what is written: “Pinḥas son of Elazar had been the chief official over them in the past; the Lord was with him” (I Chronicles 9:20).
Yiftaḥ’s limbs fell off one by one and were buried. That is what is written: “He was buried in the cities of Gilead” (Judges 12:7). It is not written, “In the city of Gilead,” but rather, “in the cities [of Gilead].” It teaches that his limbs fell off one by one, and he was buried in many places.
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish and Rabbi Yoḥanan: Reish Lakish said: He was obligated to give money and to sacrifice upon the altar.18When Yiftaḥ’s daughter emerged, he should have just taken a sum of money corresponding to her value and used it to purchase animals for sacrifice. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He was not obligated to give money, as we learned: An item that is fit to be sacrificed atop the altar, shall be sacrificed; an item that is not fit to be sacrificed atop the altar, shall not be sacrificed atop the altar.19Thus, his vow did not take effect at all upon his daughter.
Some add, based on Tanḥuma, that the text here should state: The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: If you bring your valuations before Me, I consider it as though you sacrificed your souls [nafshotekhem] before Me. That is why it is stated: “If a man articulates a vow in accordance with the valuation of persons [nefashot] to the Lord” (Etz Yosef). Moreover, anyone who vows and fulfills his vow, merits to pay his vow in Jerusalem.
That is what is written: “I will pay my vows to the Lord” (Psalms 116:18). Where? “In the courtyards of the house of the Lord, in your midst, Jerusalem. Halleluya” (Psalms 116:19), and it says: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His kindness is forever” (Psalms 118:1).