What is unusual here is that the consequence of the vow is never made explicit. Though Contemporary English Version tries to make it explicit in verse 11.36 by adding “even if it means I must die,” the text never talks overtly of this act. This is perhaps why some scholars believe that Jephthah’s daughter was not offered as a sacrifice, but rather had to give up marriage and having children as a response to the vow. However, many believe she was truly sacrificed to the LORD. Because of this ambiguity in the text, translators should take great care in rendering the text as it stands, without adding or subtracting any elements.

And she said to her father: This quote frame may seem unusual, since the girl is still speaking. We may say “Then the daughter added.” In some cultures it will be important for the daughter to address her father, so another possible model is “And she added, ‘Father….’ ” Some versions simply omit this quote frame (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible).

Let this thing be done for me is a literal rendering of the Hebrew text. The Hebrew verb meaning “do” occurs for the third time in this episode (see verse 11.36). While it is possible that this thing refers to Jephthah’s vow, it is more likely that it refers to the request his daughter is about to make. Thing renders the Hebrew word dabar, which can also mean “word” or “affair.” We might say “Allow me this one thing,” “Grant me this one favor,” or “Let me do this one thing.”

Let me alone two months …: This is the request the daughter makes. Let … alone renders a Hebrew verb that means “relax,” “abandon,” or “drop.” Here its sense is quite clear. The daughter wishes to be set free for a period of time so that she can do something important for herself. The period of two months may have had some significance, but it is not clear what that might have been.

That I may go and wander on the mountains: The Hebrew text here is literally “and let me go and I will go down on the mountains.” The Hebrew verb rendered may go is jussive. Like Revised Standard Version, many versions change the Hebrew text to read wander instead “go down,” but Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives an {A} rating to the Hebrew text. The verb “go down” (yarad in Hebrew) suggests that the mountains are below the plateau where this story takes place. In the book of Judges this verb is often associated with military action (see verse 1.9), but here it seems to refer to “wandering” or “roaming” in the mountains as part of an expression of grief. New American Bible says “that I may go off down the mountains,” and Revised English Bible has “that I may roam the hills.”

And bewail my virginity: The daughter wants to lament or mourn the fact that she is still a virgin and will, in effect, never have sexual relations with a man. As a consequence of her father’s hasty vow, this young woman will never marry and bear children. Perhaps part of the sadness for her is that her father will never have an heir, since she is his only child. Depending on the interpretation of this passage (whether the young woman is actually ritually sacrificed or not), she may be mourning that her life will be cut short. Bewail renders a jussive form of the Hebrew verb meaning “cry” (see verse 2.4, where it is translated “wept”). It may be rendered “cry over.” New International Version says “and weep … because I will never marry.”

I and my companions: The daughter wants to go off and mourn with her companions. These are her female friends, probably the same age. She will not go into the mountains alone, but her friends will accompany her. Some versions place this phrase earlier in the verse. Contemporary English Version, for example, says “But first, please let me spend two months, wandering in the hill country with my friends. We will cry together, because I can never marry and have children.” Another possible model for this verse is:

• Then she requested her father to allow her one thing. She said, “Let me go away for two months to wander on the hills with my friends and to mourn the fact that I will never marry [or, will always be a virgin].”

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .