For me, the most horrific part of the Jephtha story is the way that priests, religions and even scholars insist on pushing this blame onto Jephtha himself -- posting this as a Rash Vow to God. Which is complete BS as near as I can tell, after re-reading the story several times. Since the 18th century, some scholars have questioned the traditional interpretation of Jephthah's sacrifice of his daughter. Alternative views of the events have been proposed claiming mistranslations or comparing the sacrifice to other biblical events and given the contradiction in the moral message, seeking a more poetic interpretation. But the fact is there is nothing wrong with the interpretation of the Hebrew, and it was exactly what it says. This isn't a few verses taken out of context... this is three chapters making it perfectly clear that Jephthah sought to save the people of the tribe, and offered the sacrifice of God's choosing for success. There are several more disturbing details of
...giving all the feels.