Although story-telling or human interest in itself is not the purpose of the passage or the Word of God, we do see the author using drama elements in the way he tells the story. This is to emphasize the meaning of the story.
The word
behold
announces the importance of what is to come.His daughter
is highlighted, while we see a group of girls at the same time.Joyful music and dancing heighten the feeling of the imminent drama.
The emphasis on this daughter being Jephthah’s only child contributes to moving the hearer/ reader to tears.
Jephthah’s cry of sorrow is expressed extensively.
The inevitability of the sacrifice results in a tragedy.
The daughter is pure in her submission to her father and godly concern for his oath.
At the same time, her request for a time-out expresses her sorrow.
34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.