Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,
"His negotiations with the elders, his diplomacy with the Ammonites, and his vow, have all amply displayed Jephthah’s facility with words. Jephthah, we know, is good at opening his mouth. (How ironical that his name means literally ’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." [Note: Barry Webb, "The Theme of the Jephthah Story (Judges 10:6-12:7)," Reformed Theological Review 45:2 (May-August 1986):42.] 