Jephthah, we know, is good at opening his mouth (how ironical that his name should be yiptaḥ “he opens”). What has precipitated the crisis with his daughter is that he has opened his mouth to Yahweh, that is, he has tried to conduct his relationship with God in the same way that he has conducted his relationships with men. He has debased religion (a vow, an offering) into politics. It is the sequence of dialogues in episodes 2–4 which gives the point its dramatic force. The same point is made by the “parallel” dialogues of episodes 1 and 2: Israel has debased repentance into negotiation.72
