[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NIV&passage=judges+11%3A29-40">Human sacrifice</a> in the Bible?]

Judges 11:31
"Then whatever or whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites, it shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it or him up as a burnt offering."

Judges 11:34-36
"When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, 'Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.'" ------------------

"Ah, WinAce, I suppose you've already made up your mind to ignore everything anyone says? Good for you. Now, on with the answering...and the laughing.

While Jephthah states that he will sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering, there's no real indication that he does. The later verses [like "At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She never mated with a man...."] just don't support this (and considering the Bible usually states these things in vivid detail...). In fact, the later verses would tend to support the view that the girl was to remain a virgin.

Why else would she bewail her virginity? Why else would she be so very sad about not being married? You all might want to keep in mind, as well, that Leviticus 22:18-19 only allows male cattle (or whatever other animal) to be sacrificed as a burnt offering. The far more likely conclusion to this tale (and the sacrifice) was his daughter's virginity being permanent (making him none too happy since he'd have no male heir).

Just to make sure I've gotten my point across, I should probably mention again that the text never states that his (Jephthah's) daughter dies. All we have is a girl bewailing her virginity and the text only stating that "she was a virgin". Now you may proceed to dismiss this with high and mighty sounding words.