Explanation of the Haftarah of Parshat Chukat 26 Sivan 5786

The Connection Between the Haftarah and the Parsha

In the haftarah it is told about the war of Israel with the children of Ammon, and about the land that Israel conquered from Sichon, which he [had] conquered from Ammon, and this is a matter related to the Parsha, where it is told about the children of Ammon that Israel did not fight them, but they fought with Sichon and conquered from him the land, which he [had] conquered from Ammon.

The Content of the Haftarah

Yiftach the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor and he was the son of a harlot woman and his father was Gilead, but to the wife of Gilead there were other sons, and when they grew up, they drove out Yiftach arguing that he is a son to another woman. Yiftach fled from his brothers and went to the land of Tov, men gathered around him and he became a leader to them.

And when war broke out between the children of Ammon and Israel, the elders of Gilead went to the land of Tov and requested from Yiftach that he come and fight with them against the children of Ammon and be a head and a captain to them. Yiftach rebuked them for [the fact] that initially they did not protest against the brothers, who dispossessed him from the inheritance of his father, and whereas now that trouble came upon them, they came to him.

They said to him, the elders of Gilead, for this reason we have come to you now, and we did not send a messenger, because we regretted that which we did to you, and now we came to appease you. Yiftach said to them, I request that from now on you appoint me as head and captain, because after the war there is no need for your appointment, rather if I conquer the children of Ammon, it is clear that I will be the head.

The elders of Gilead agreed to his demand and appointed him immediately to rule over them. Afterward, Yiftach sent messengers of peace to the king of the children of Ammon, and requested to know over what we are fighting with him. The king of the children of Ammon said to him, that he should return the cities that Israel took from him when they came up from Egypt and go away from upon him.

Yiftach said to him, that Israel did not take anything from Ammon, because Hashem commanded not to fight them, but rather Sichon is the one who conquered Ammon, and Israel conquered from Sichon, and these cities have been in the hand of Israel for more than three hundred years, and even Balak did not try to fight with Israel to return the cities, because he knew well that Israel did not take from him directly.

The king of Ammon did not pay heed to the words of Yiftach, and then there rested upon Yiftach courage to fight from Hashem, may He be blessed, and he decided to transfer the war to the land of the children of Ammon. Yiftach vowed a vow to Hashem, that if he returns in peace from the war, behold, whoever comes out to meet him, he will offer him up as a burnt offering to Hashem. His prayer was accepted and Hashem delivered the children of Ammon into his hand and he conquered from them another twenty cities.

Judges Chapter 11, [Verses] 1 - 33

1 And Yiftach the Gileadite [A] was a mighty man of valor and he was the son of a harlot woman the son of a concubine, and since she was designated (only) for him, it was clear to everyone that Gilead begot Yiftach that Yiftach is the son of Gilead (Malbim): 2 After all this it is said And the wife of Gilead bore to him sons and the sons of the woman grew up and they drove out Yiftach by force and they said to him you shall not inherit in the house of our father for a son of another woman [are] you a concubine, and this was not according to law because a son of a concubine inherits a portion with the rest of the sons (Malbim): 3 And Yiftach fled from before his brothers because they wanted to kill him (Malbim) and he settled in the land of Tov a man whose name was "Tov" (Radak), and there is an opinion [that it was] a place exempt from tithes (Jerusalem [Talmud] Shevuot) [B] and there gathered to Yiftach empty men who do not possess good qualities [C] and they went out with him to every place that he went out, they went out with him (Metzudot): 4 And it was from days after many days passed since Yiftach was driven out (M"D) and the children of Ammon fought with Israel: 5 And it was when the children of Ammon fought with Israel and the elders of Gilead went to take Yiftach to return him to Gilead (M"D) from the land of Tov not from the side of justice rather because they have no one who will fight for them (Malbim): 6 And they said to Yiftach come and be to us for a captain for a prince and leader and we will fight against the children of Ammon: 7 And Yiftach said to the elders of Gilead did you not hate me and drive me out from the house of my father by helping my brothers to expel me and why have you come to me now only now and not before, only when distress [is] to you (M"D): 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Yiftach the truth is according to your words (Malbim) therefore now we have returned [D] to you because we regretted that which we did to you, therefore we came ourselves to return you, and we did not send a messenger and you shall go with us and fight against the children of Ammon and you shall be to us for a head for all the inhabitants of Gilead as is the law of the victor in war (Malbim): 9 And Yiftach said to the elders of Gilead if you are regretting and submitting to me in truth, set me before the war as head and as captain, if you return me to the land of Gilead to fight against the children of Ammon and Hashem delivers them before me then I myself will be to you for a head from the side of justice (M"D): 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Yiftach Hashem shall be a hearer between us if not according to your word so we shall do that you will be king and ruler immediately (M"D): 11 And Yiftach went with the elders of Gilead and the people set him over them for a head and for a captain and Yiftach spoke all his words [H] the words of his prayer and his supplications (M"D) before Hashem in Mizpah to the place where everyone gathered, for the Shechinah dwells upon the majority of a community (Rashi) [1]: 12 And Yiftach sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon saying what [is it] to me and to you that you have come to me to fight in my land and what is the reason for the enmity and the hatred that is between us (M"D) because you have come to me to fight in my land: 13 And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Yiftach because Israel took my land when they came up from Egypt from Arnon and unto the Jabbok and unto the Jordan and now return them in peace return to me all my land without strife and war (M"D): 14 And Yiftach added yet and he sent messengers Targum Yonatan interprets the word as messengers to the king of the children of Ammon: 15 And he said to him by means of the messengers thus said Yiftach [J] Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the children of Ammon from them, because at the time that Israel took it, it was no longer their land (Radak): 16 For when they came up from Egypt and Israel walked in the wilderness unto the Red Sea in the south of the land of Edom (Rashi) and they came to Kadesh: 17 And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying please let me pass through your land to come to the land of Canaan and the king of Edom did not hearken and also to the king of Moab he sent whose land was to the east of Edom and to the south of the land of Israel (Rashi) and he did not consent and Israel dwelt in Kadesh: (M"Z) 18 And he walked in the wilderness the Red Sea (Radak) from the west to the east in a strait

Southern to the boundary of Edom and Moab and he went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and afterward they turned northward and he came from the rising of the sun on the eastern side to the land of Moab and they encamped on the side of south of theirs beyond the Arnon to the end of the east of the land of Moab (Rashi) and they did not come into the border of Moab for they encamped beyond this (M"D) for Arnon [is] the border of Moab: 19 And Israel sent messengers to Sichon king of the Amorite king of Heshbon and Israel said to him please let us pass through your land unto my place the land of Canaan, a place that Hashem gave to me (M"D): 20 And Sichon did not trust Israel to pass through his border because he thought that with fraudulent intent they came, and to conquer his land (M"D) and Sichon gathered all his nation and they encamped in Jahaz and he fought with Israel [in a manner] that he began in the war (Malbim): 21 And Hashem the L-rd of Israel delivered Sichon and all his people into the hand of Israel and they smote them and Israel possessed [K] all the land of the Amorite inhabitant of that land: 22 And they possessed all the border of the Amorite from Arnon and unto the Jabbok which Sichon had conquered in his time from Moab and from Ammon and from the wilderness and unto the Jordan which there were only wildernesses there (Rashi): 23 And now Hashem | the L-rd of Israel that all the land is His has dispossessed the Amorite from before His people Israel so that they should possess it and should you possess it (M"D): mocking him and saying 24 Is it not that which Chemosh the name of an idolatry your god that he did not succeed to rescue the land from the hand of the Amorite king causes you to possess, it you shall possess and all that which Hashem our L-rd has dispossessed drove out [from the language of expulsion] from before us, it we shall possess nirash from the language of inheritance (Radak): 25 And now [are] you any better than Balak son of Zippor king of Moab who reigned at that time – and he kept silent, and so after him many kings, and already much time has passed and Israel are dwelling and holding in the land, did one of them strive at all with Israel or did he fight at all against them on account of his land (Radak): 26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and in its daughter-towns, and in Aroer and in its daughter-towns, and in all the cities that [are] along the banks of near (Rashi) Arnon, three hundred years [L] and why did you not rescue [them] from the hand of Israel during that time during the course of this time (Radak): 27 And I have not sinned against you for I did not do to you any bad thing (M"D) and you are doing me harm to fight against me and there is no arbiter between us (Malbim) therefore may Hashem the Judge today between the children of Israel and between the children of Ammon: 28 And the king of the children of Ammon did not hearken to the words of Yiftach which he sent to him because he wanted to fight against Israel (Ralbag), and then: 29 And there was upon Yiftach a spirit of might and courage of heart from Hashem (M"D) and he passed through Gilead and Menashe and he passed through Mizpeh of Gilead and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the land of (Radak) the children of Ammon to fight against them (M"D): 30 And Yiftach vowed a vow to Hashem [M] and he said if indeed You deliver the children of Ammon into my hand: 31 Then it shall be, that the one who comes forth, who comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall be to Hashem if it is not fit for an offering, but if it is fit for an offering and I will offer it up [N] for a burnt offering (M"D): 32 And Yiftach passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them and Hashem delivered them into his hand: 33 And he smote them from Aroer and until you come to Minnith which was at a distance, that place was twenty cities (M"D) and until Abel Keramim (T"I plain of vineyards) a very great slaughter and the children of Ammon were subdued before [O] the children of Israel:

Insights and Notes

A. It is said (Judges 10, verses 13–16): "And you have forsaken Me, and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress. And the children of Israel said to Hashem: We have sinned; do You to us according to all that is good in Your eyes; only deliver us, please, this day. And they removed the foreign gods from their midst, and they served Hashem; and His soul became impatient with the misery of Israel" (He did not desire to see them any longer in their suffering – in their distress). And in verse 18 it is said: "And the people, the princes of Gilead, said each man to his neighbor: Who is the man who will begin (will start) to fight against the children of Ammon – he shall be for a head to all the inhabitants of Gilead." At that same hour, the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared for them Yiftach, to teach them a lesson: that just as they drove out Yiftach and afterward in the time of their distress turned to him for help and humbled themselves before him, so it was fitting for them to do now, to humble their hearts before Hashem, may He be blessed, and then He would save them from the hand of their enemies.

And furthermore we have learned a moral lesson, that just as Yiftach overlooked his standard of attributes [i.e., overcame his personal resentment], for even though they drove him out he came to assist them in the time of their distress, so the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with Israel, for even though they forsook Him, when they prayed and requested mercy He helped them in the time of their distress, and so it is said (Shabbat 151b): "Anyone who has mercy on the creations, mercy is shown to him from Heaven," and in Tractate Yoma (23a) it is said: "Anyone who overlooks his standard of attributes [i.e., forgives wrongs done to him], all his transgressions are overlooked for him," and the merit of an individual can tip himself and the entire world to the side of merit.

B. And Yiftach fled from before his brothers and settled in the land of Tov – they said in the Jerusalem [Talmud], the seventh [chapter] of Shevuot, [that it was] the land of Tov which is exempt from tithes, and this is a difficult matter from several angles. And it is possible to say that since Yiftach was a mighty man of valor and with all this he humbled himself and did not make any dispute and did not enter into confusion, and was pushed aside from before the hour [i.e., accepted his immediate fate] and fled from before his brothers. And if he were going to some city of the Land of Israel, he would be obligated to go up for the pilgrimage festivals and to eat second tithe in Jerusalem. And during his going up, he feared lest he would enter into conflicts and disputes with the elders of the city and his brothers; therefore he fled to outside the Land, where there is no obligation to go up for the pilgrimage festivals, as written by the Tosafot, Rosh Hashanah [13a, s.v.] pesachim, and [thus he obtained] exemption from tithes. And come and see how much a person gains and is rewarded by fleeing from dispute (Chomat Anakh).

G. In Metzudat Zion (Judges 11, 3) [it is written] regarding 'empty' [men] – empty of any virtue, and see also Radak.

D. There are those who explain the matters according to what is known, that there are two types of righteous people (tzaddikim). There is a righteous person who is good by his nature, and there is a righteous person whose nature is not good, but he passes over his attributes [overcomes his natural traits] and subdues his inclination, and certainly the virtue of this [latter] righteous person is greater, as it is written (Avot Chapter 5, [Mishnah] 23): "According to the pain is the reward" – the reward is determined according to the magnitude of the pain. And it is from the nature of things, that a father bequeaths to his children his nature, and if he is good, so too his children are good, and so vice versa. And behold, Yiftach was the son of a harlot woman, and therefore they drove him out, because they thought him to have corrupt attributes, but when they saw that he distanced himself from dispute and went to the land of Tov and subdued his inclination, behold "According to the pain is the reward," and this is what they said to him: "Therefore now we have returned to you," because since previously you were bad [i.e., in a bad situation], and after you subdued your inclination in such a way, behold your virtue is great.

And there are those who explain the matters according to the cited story (Vayikra Rabbah 34, and see also in Yalkut Shimoni, 51): In the days of Rabbi Tanchuma, Israel were in need of rain. They came to him and said to him: Rabbi, decree a fast. He decreed a fast on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday — and rains did not descend. He entered and expounded before them: My children, be filled with mercy for these [and] for those, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will fill with mercy upon you, while they were distributing charity, to their eyes they saw a man conversing with his divorced wife, and not only that, but he gave her money. They came to Rabbi Tanchuma and said to him: Rabbi, we are sitting here (in trouble and in worry) and sin is here! He said to them: What did you see? They said to him: We saw a certain man conversing with his divorced wife, and not only that, but he gave her money. He sent after them and brought them before the public. He said to him: What is she to you? — She is my divorced wife. For what reason did you give her money? He said to him: Rabbi, I saw her in distress and I was filled with mercy upon her. At that same hour, Rabbi Tanchuma raised his face toward above and said: Master of all the worlds! And what is this [man] who has no obligation to provide sustenance upon him, [yet when] he saw her in distress was filled with mercy upon her. You, that it is written of You "Gracious and merciful," and we are the children of Your beloved ones, the children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and our sustenance is upon You, how much more should You be filled with mercy upon us, immediately rains descended and the world was relieved.

And says on this the Me'am Lo'ez: "And this is what they said to Yiftach, on the contrary, now that the attribute of mercy is integrated within you, you will be able to pray to Hashem." And therefore it is said (in verse 11): "And Yiftach spoke all his words before Hashem in Mizpah" that He should have mercy upon them, and this is what Yishayahu (Isaiah) said (58, 7–9): "Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are sighing into your house; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth as the dawn, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of Hashem shall gather you in. Then shall you call, and Hashem will answer; you shall cry, and He will say: Here I am..." (See Me'am Lo'ez which brought additional explanations).

H. And Rashi wrote: 'all his words' – the condition that was between them.

I. In the place where his home was there, as he said (below verse 34) "And Yiftach came to Mizpah unto his house." And that which he said "before Hashem," as he said (above verse 10) "Hashem shall be a hearer between us," or because the Shechinah dwells in Israel in a place where they gather (Sanhedrin 39a), or the reason is like what I explained in the Book of Yehoshua (11, 3) because it is Mizpah that the kings assembled there to fight with Yehoshua, and because of the great deliverance that was there, it became the custom in Israel to gather there, and there was there an altar and prayer. And to that Mizpah went the men of Gilead with Yiftach to speak there their words before Hashem in Mizpah (Radak).

J. Yiftach said Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the children of Ammon – it is possible [to explain] as [found] in Sanhedrin (page 59a) gentiles are not authorized to conquer and Rav Maharich raised a difficulty based on what we say in Gittin (page 38a) Ammon and Moab were purified through Sichon. And he explained that it is different for Ammon and Moab that Sichon took from them because so decreed Hashem, as [found] in Chullin (page 60b) which says Hashem said 'Let Sichon come' etc. And even though this was the reasoning of the king of the children of Ammon who was thinking since their land is the inheritance of Hashem and He commanded Israel not to take their land, if so, how was it permitted for them to take their land which was in the hand of Sichon, behold Sichon did not acquire it for Gentiles are not authorized to conquer but rather robbery is in his hand and it belongs to the first owner and the prohibition of 'do not distress' applies.

And they answered him, Yiftach, that it is different here because so willed the Holy One, blessed be He, and said "Let Sichon come" etc. and that is why it is written "And Israel possessed all the land of the Amorite," for Ammon and Moab were purified through Sichon, and it was called the land of the Amorite, and Israel possessed all the land of the Amorite inhabitant of that land, specifically that land which was in the domain of Sichon and was called the land of the Amorite, and not the land of Ammon and Moab.

And if you will say, if you say [the principle of] "gentiles are not authorized to conquer" [i.e., conquest doesn't grant ownership to a robber], how were they purified through Sichon? To this he said: "And now Hashem the L-rd of Israel dispossessed the Amorite from before His people Israel," for he said, Let Sichon come, etc. And in such a manner Sichon acquired it and it was called the land of the Amorite because it was for it was taken according to the word of Hashem. And "now are you any better than Balak" etc., he hinted to him that Balak understood this reason, and because of this he did not fight; and so were his words with Bilaam, as we explained in our insights on Parshat Balak (Tzavari Shellal, letter B, 29).

K. And Israel possessed all the land of the Amorite inhabitant of that land – his intention [is] that it was a great wonder and a miracle to conquer Sichon, and it was recognized and publicized that from Hashem was this thing. And He did not do [so] except for Israel. "And Israel possessed all the land of the Amorite inhabitant of that land," his intention [is] that Sichon acquired it in war, and there was despair [of return] from Moab, and a change of domain, and as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Ammon and Moab were purified through Sichon," and this is what he said at the beginning: "Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the children of Ammon" (Nachal Sorek, letter Vav).

L. Rashi wrote: "From when they conquered the land in the days of Yehoshua until Yiftach." From here there is to learn the years of the Judges that are mentioned until here. We have learned (we learned) in Seder Olam (Chapter 12): Yehoshua led Israel twenty-eight years (and there is no verse from which to learn this); Othniel son of Kenaz (Judges 3, 11): forty years — and within them are included the years of the subjugation to Cushan-rishathaim (Judges 3, 8). After him, Ehud (ibid., ibid., 30): within them eighteen years of the subjugation to Eglon (ibid., ibid., 14) — behold, one hundred and forty-eight years. Devorah, forty years (Judges 5, 31), and the years of the subjugation to Jabin king of Canaan (ibid., 4, 3) are within them. (Behold, one hundred and eighty-eight). After her, seven years of the subjugation to Midian (Judges 6, 1) and forty [years] of Gideon (ibid., 8, 28), and three of Avimelech (ibid., 9, 22), behold two hundred and thirty-eight years. After them, twenty-three of Tola son of Puah (Judges 10, 2) and twenty-two years of Yair (Judges 10, 3), but there ascended one year for both of them, and eighteen years of the children of Ammon (Judges 10, 8) until Yiftach came, behold three hundred years (see Radak, and also Me'am Lo'ez which brought different calculations).

M. In the matter of the vow of Yiftach – it is said (in Bereishit Rabbah, Parsha 60, Sign 3): Four requested improperly; to three it was given properly, and to one it was given improperly. And these are they: Eliezer the servant of Avraham, Calev, Shaul, and Yiftach:

Eliezer said (Genesis 24, 14): "And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher... let the same be she [whom] Thou hast appointed for Thy servant, for Yitzchak..." If a maidservant had come out and given him water, would she be a wife for the son of our master? Even so, the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared for him properly: "And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rivkah came out...".

Calev said (Judges 1, 12): "He that smites Kiriath-sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife." If a servant had taken it, would he give her to him for a wife? Even so, the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared for him properly, as it is said (ibid., 13): "And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Calev's younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife."

Shaul said (I Samuel 17, 25): "And it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter to wife." If a gentile had come out, or a servant, and struck him, would he give him his daughter? And the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared for him properly (David the king), as it is written (ibid. ibid., 45): "Then said David to the Philistine: you come to me with sword, spear and javelin, and I come to you with the Name of Hashem of hosts, the L-rd of the armies of Israel, which you have taunted.... And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem" (ibid. ibid., 54).

Yiftach (here): "Then it shall be, that the one who comes forth, who comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace... shall be to Hashem, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." If a donkey had come out to meet him, or a dog, or a cat, would he offer it up as a burnt offering? And the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared for him improperly, as it is said (Judges 11, 34): "And Yiftach came to Mizpah unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child..." (he had no other son or daughter).

Asked the author of "Anaf Yosef" (Ein Yaakov, Tractate Ta'anit 4): Why for Eliezer the servant of Avraham, Calev, and Shaul was it given to them properly, even though they asked improperly, and for Yiftach it was given improperly? The reason is, because the vow of Yiftach was to Hashem, may he be blessed and a vow made to the Mighty One of Yaakov requires precision in his words, for he is not permitted to speak in matters of the Most High [and say] "and I will offer it up for a burnt offering," even if it were to be a dog? For this he was punished and they answered him improperly, but the three others, even though they asked improperly, everything was in a matter of flesh and blood, and therefore they were answered properly. (See Breishit Rabbah Parsha 60, letter Gimmel).

And see in the annotations of Rabbi Y"A Chaver Z"L (there) who hinted at this from the language of the scripture (Numbers 30, 3): "Ish" [a man] that vows a vow to Hashem. And it is the first letters [an acronym] of the words of the three mentioned above: Eliezer, Yiftach, Shaul. And therefore it says "lo yachel devaro" [he shall not profane his word], meaning to say that Hashem fulfills their request and it is prepared for them properly. But to one of them: "according to all that comes out of his mouth he shall do." And he is Yiftach, whose daughter happened upon him.

From this matter of Yiftach let all those who vow learn not to practice an error in vows. And so it says (Judges 11, 35): "And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said: Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low... for I have opened my mouth unto Hashem, and I cannot go back." And was not Pinchas there, who was able to absolve him of his vow, yet he says "and I cannot go back"? Rather Pinchas said: I am a High Priest son of a High Priest, and how shall I go to an ignoramus [an unlearned person]? And Yiftach said: I am the head of the tribes of Israel, the chief of the captains, shall I lower myself to an ordinary person? From between the two of them, that poor woman perished from the world, and both of them were punished on account of her blood; Pinchas — the Holy Spirit departed from him, Yiftach died from the shedding of limbs (the falling of limbs from his body), in every place that he would go there — a limb would slough off from him, and they would bury it there, that is what is said (Judges 12, 7): "And Yiftach the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead." In the city of Gilead is not said, rather "in the cities of Gilead"... and so it says concerning Pinchas (I Chronicles 9, 20): "And Pinchas the son of Elazar was ruler over them in time past, Hashem being with him" — it is written "was" [in the past] and not now, "before Hashem was with him" and not now.

N. The opinion of our Sages differs regarding the matter of the fulfillment of the vow, there are those who say that he indeed fulfilled his vow literally, and there are those who say that she remained an agunah [bound/isolated] until the day of her death (see Malbim, Radak, and also in Rashi on verse 39). And in Midrash Tanchuma (in Chukat) it is said: Since Yiftach sought to sacrifice his daughter, she was weeping before him and said to him: My father, my father! I went out to meet you with joy and you are slaughtering me! Is it perhaps written in the Torah, that Israel should sacrifice the souls of their children upon the altar? He said to her: My daughter, I have already vowed. She said to him: Behold, Yaakov our father vowed a vow (Genesis 28, 22): "and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee," and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him twelve sons, did he perhaps sacrifice to the Holy One, blessed be He, any one of them? And not only that, did not Hannah vow a vow and say (I Shmuel 1, 11): "And she vowed a vow, and said... if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid... and wilt give unto Thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto Hashem all the days of his life"—did she perhaps sacrifice him to the Holy One, blessed be He? All these words she said to Yiftach, and he did not listen to her. He went up and sacrificed her... and the Holy Spirit cries out: Souls did I request that you should sacrifice before Me? Which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind (Yirmiyahu 19, 5).

And in Seder HaDorot it is written, that the daughter of Yiftach, was the wife of Cham, who did not separate from her husband in the ark (of Noah) and therefore she was slaughtered by her father. And he added that she was afterward reincarnated into the household of Rabbi Hanina ben Teradiyon. And Rabbi Hanina ben Teradiyon was a reincarnation of Yiftach, and therefore he was burned.

And the Ramad Vali (in his book Or Zarua) wrote, that the daughter of Yiftach, she is a reincarnation of Sarah our mother, upon whom it was decreed that she should be burned upon the altar because she grieved over the binding of her son. And Yiftach was a reincarnation of Avraham, who corrected his wife by means of the burnt offering of his daughter, which was corresponding to the burnt offering of Yitzchak.

And the Gaon Chida" in the book Devash (80:7) wrote in the name of the book Haliqutim that Yiftach [possessed] a spark of Zimri and his daughter a spark of Cozbi, see there, for he expanded upon this.

O. It is brought in the book Me'am Lo'ez: There are those who explain the language "mipnei" [from his face] that is in this verse [from the language of "faces"], according to the story that happened with two brothers in Ashkelon, who had gentile neighbors, and they cast their eyes upon their money. They said: When these brothers go up to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festival, we will enter their houses and rob all the property. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? When the two brothers went up for the festival, He sent angels to their house, and the form of their face (the appearance of their face) was like the brothers. The gentiles said to one another: To vanity did we hope, behold they did not go up to Jerusalem. And when the brothers returned from Jerusalem, they brought fruits of Ginosar (Kinneret) and other good things. Those gentile neighbors asked them: From where did you bring these fruits? They said to them: From Jerusalem. The neighbors said to them: But did we not see you here the whole time at home? And they answered them: We were not at home, for we went up for the festival as is custom. At that same hour the gentiles said: Blessed is the L-rd of the Jews, Who did not forsake and will not forsake His nation forever (see Yalkut Sheva,11 161), at that same hour the gentiles understood that the angels guarded the houses for them, and so when Israel fight and conquer, the Holy One, blessed be He, sends angels in their likeness, and that Israel are the fighters is only in appearance and this is what is said (Psalms 91, 15): "I will deliver him, and honor him." I deliver him and give him honor as if he is the one who delivers himself. And therefore it is said here: "And the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel," from the likeness of the children of Israel and the appearance of his face.