6 - Jephthah's Daughter to her Father

Summary

The following letter turned up in a private collection some years ago. The owner wishes to remain anonymous, but according to the dealer who acquired it, it was discovered by accident in the library of a monastery somewhere in Israel. The text purports to be a Greek translation of a letter from the daughter of Jephthah to her father. The manuscript itself is mediaeval, but nothing further can be ascertained about the original, which, if it existed, was presumably written in Hebrew.

There is no evidence from any other ancient source to corroborate the contents of this letter. On the contrary, the book of Biblical Antiquities by ‘Pseudo-Philo’) ch. 40, while including a long lament uttered on ‘Mt Stelac’, relates that the daughter returned after the prescribed time to undergo her fate. However, one intriguing item from Pseudo-Philo's retelling of the story is strikingly confirmed in this letter: the girl's name. (Readers who doubt this may look it up for themselves).

My dear father,

This will be the last time you hear from me. What exactly will happen to me soon, and how, you will never know. We have not communicated since I left home – I had nothing to say to you in any case. By the time you read this, it will be too late anyway, I'll be gone.

The shock has not worn off. In fact, the more I think about it, the more shocked I am. I think, all the time.