then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
Jephthah’s vow reveals that he had a rather unenlightened concept of Yahweh. His commitment to the Lord was strangely strong, but his understanding of God was not Scriptural. He did not know what the Law revealed about Yahweh, or he had forgotten this. His concept of God bears the marks of Canaanite influence. His belief that he needed to bargain with and bribe God to get Him to bless His people was unfortunate (cf. Jeremiah 29:11). He also believed that Yahweh took pleasure in what hurts people, that He is sadistic. This idea is also inaccurate and pagan. Furthermore he believed that God might abandon him before he finished his battle. God had promised that He would not do this as long as His people trusted and obeyed Him (Deuteronomy 28:1; Deuteronomy 28:7). Jephthah made his tragic vow because he did not have a Scriptural view of God. [Note: See Inrig, p. 195.] He should have vowed to offer the inhabitants of the cities he would conquer as sacrifices to God (Numbers 21:2).