How the Pride of Jephthah and Phinehas Doomed the Girl

Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish [disagreed]. Rabbi Yohanan said: Jephthah was liable for the monetary value of the consecration. And Resh Lakish said: he was not even liable for the monetary value of the consecration. For we have learned: if one said of an impure animal, "This shall be a burnt offering," or of a blemished animal, "This shall be a burnt offering," he has said nothing [it does not become an offering]. [But if he said,] "These shall be for a burnt offering," they are sold and he brings a burnt offering with their value. And there was no Phinehas present to release him from his vow. Rather, Phinehas said: he needs me, and shall I go to him? Jephthah said: I am the head of the chiefs of Israel, and shall I go to him? Between the one and the other, the girl was lost. This is what people say in the proverb: "Between the midwife and the destroying angel, the child of the unfortunate woman is lost." And both of them were punished for her blood. Jephthah died by the falling away of his limbs: wherever he went a limb dropped from him and they buried it there. This is what is written, "And Jephthah died and was buried in the cities of Gilead" (Judges 12:7); it is not written "in the city of Gilead" but "in the cities of Gilead." From Phinehas the holy spirit departed, as it is said, "And Phinehas son of Eleazar was ruler over them in time past, the LORD being with him" (I Chronicles 9:20) [implying: formerly, but not after].