1. Judges 11:35 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does Jephthah tear his clothes?

Judges 11:35 (ESV)

35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.”

He tears his clothes as a sign of mourning, though his following words suggest he was mourning not so much for her but for himself.