Midras Kejadian 24:14: Vayikra Rabbah, Aggadat Bereshit & Bereshit Rabbah

Four opened with vows; three made unreasonable requests but the Holy One blessed be He responded favorably, and one made an unreasonable request and the Omnipresent responded to him unfavorably. These are they: Eliezer, servant of Abraham; Saul; Yiftaḥ; and Caleb. Eliezer made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “It will be that the girl to whom I shall say: Tilt your jug please…[it is she You have confirmed for Your servant, for Isaac]” (Genesis 24:14). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: Had a Canaanite maidservant or a prostitute emerged, would you have said: “It is she You have confirmed for Your servant, for Isaac” (Genesis 24:14)? But the Holy One blessed be He acted on his behalf and arranged for Rebecca to [come to] him.
Caleb made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “Caleb said: To whoever smites Kiryat Sefer and captures it, I will give Akhsa my daughter to him as a wife” (Joshua 15:16). The Holy One blessed be He responded to him: Had a Canaanite, a mamzer, or a slave captured it, would you have given him your daughter? What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He arranged for his brother to capture it, as it is stated: “Otniel ben Kenaz, [brother of Caleb,] captured it” (Joshua 15:17).
Saul made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “It will be that the man who smites him, the king will enrich him with great wealth, and he will give him his daughter” (I Samuel 17:25).¹⁵Saul offered his daughter in marriage to the man who would smite Goliath. The Holy One blessed be He said: Had an Amonite, a mamzer, or slave killed him, would you have given him your daughter? The Holy One blessed be He arranged for David [to kill Goliath], and [Saul] gave him his daughter Mikhal.
Yiftaḥ made an unreasonable request, as it is stated: “It will be, that whatever emerges from the doors of my house […I will offer it up as a burnt offering]” (Judges 11:31). The Holy One blessed be He said: Had a camel, a donkey, or a dog emerged, would you have presented it as a burnt offering? The Holy One blessed be He responded to him unfavorably and arranged for his daughter [to emerge] for him.
“It was upon his seeing her that he rent his garments” (Judges 11:35) – he could have had his vow dissolved and gone to Pinḥas. He said: I am a king; shall I go to Pinḥas?¹⁶Yiftaḥ considered it beneath his dignity for him to have to go to Pinḥas to dissolve his vow. Pinḥas said: I am the High Priest and the son of a High Priest; shall I go to this ignoramus? In the meanwhile, that miserable one¹⁷Yiftaḥ’s daughter; see Judges 11:35–40. died, and both of them were liable for her blood. Pinḥas, the Divine Spirit left him. That is what is written: “Pinḥas son of Elazar had been the chief official over them in the past; the Lord was with him” (I Chronicles 9:20). Yiftaḥ’s limbs fell off one by one and were buried. That is what is written: “He was buried in the cities of Gilead” (Judges 12:7). It is not written, “In the city of Gilead,” but rather, “in the cities [of Gilead].” It teaches that his limbs fell off one by one, and he was buried in many places.
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish and Rabbi Yoḥanan: Reish Lakish said: He was obligated to give money and to sacrifice upon the altar.¹⁸When Yiftaḥ’s daughter emerged, he should have just taken a sum of money corresponding to her value and used it to purchase animals for sacrifice. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He was not obligated to give money, as we learned: An item that is fit to be sacrificed atop the altar, shall be sacrificed; an item that is not fit to be sacrificed atop the altar, shall not be sacrificed atop the altar.¹⁹Thus, his vow did not take effect at all upon his daughter. Some add, based on Tanḥuma, that the text here should state: The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: If you bring your valuations before Me, I consider it as though you sacrificed your souls [nafshotekhem] before Me. That is why it is stated: “If a man articulates a vow in accordance with the valuation of persons [nefashot] to the Lord” (Etz Yosef). Moreover, anyone who vows and fulfills his vow, merits to pay his vow in Jerusalem. That is what is written: “I will pay my vows to the Lord” (Psalms 116:18). Where? “In the courtyards of the house of the Lord, in your midst, Jerusalem. Halleluya” (Psalms 116:19), and it says: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His kindness is forever” (Psalms 118:1).

[3] Another explanation: "And King David was old, advanced in years, and they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm" (1 Kings 1:1). Regarding him, Solomon said, "I have seen under the sun that time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11) yesterday. And David hurried and ran to the battle, etc. (1 Samuel 17:48). And now he descends and is weary, as it says, "And David was faint" (2 Samuel 21:15). Yesterday they dressed him, and he said, "I cannot walk in these, for I have not tested them" (1 Samuel 17:39), because his body was shivering from the fear of the angel who deceived him, the Angel of Satan. And God counted it as a sin against Israel at that time, and sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, and when he destroyed it, God saw it and had compassion on the calamity (2 Samuel 24:15). What did the angel do? He said, "I know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is filled with wrath against them. If I go and kill them, He will support me. But now I will blemish them with my own hand, so that He will see and have mercy on them." And when he went and killed seventy thousand men from them, God saw it and had compassion on the calamity, etc. These are the words of Rabbi Judah, and Rabbi Nehemiah says, "What did He see? And God had compassion on the calamity." Rather, the angel went and sat on Mount Moriah and said before Him, "Master of the Universe, You made a covenant with their father Abraham, that You would conquer Your mercies to do Your will in this world. But did You not say before him, "So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. Adonai-yireh, (Genesis 22:14) And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.' Just as I had the opportunity to answer you and say, 'Yesterday you told me that through Isaac your offspring would be reckoned.' (Genesis 21:12) And now you say, 'Take your son.' (Genesis 22:2) I had the privilege to answer you and yet I said nothing. I made myself like a mute and did your will. So too, whenever sinners come before you and you have the right to punish them, may you suppress your anger and not punish them, but remember the binding of Isaac and have mercy on them." The angel said to God, "That was not the agreement that you had made with Abraham, and now you are killing them?" As it says, "Then the Lord saw it and was grieved by the evil." (1 Chronicles 21:15) What did God see? He saw the binding of Isaac and had mercy on them. Therefore, Solomon said, "A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass." (Proverbs 19:12)

“Behold, I am standing by the spring of water and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water” (Genesis 24:13).
“May it be that the girl to whom I will say: Tilt your jug please, and I will drink, and she will say: Drink, and I will also give your camels to drink; it is she You have confirmed for Your servant, for Isaac, and through her I will know that You have shown kindness to my master” (Genesis 24:14).
“It was before he concluded to speak, and behold, Rebecca was coming out, who was born to Betuel, son of Milka, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham, and her jug is on her shoulder” (Genesis 24:15).
“Behold, I am standing by the spring of water and the daughters of the men of the city…May it be that the girl to whom I will say: Tilt…” – there are four people who made inappropriate demands [of God], three were granted appropriate responses, one was granted an inappropriate response. They are: Abraham’s servant Eliezer, Caleb, Saul, and Yiftaḥ. Eliezer said: “May it be that the girl to whom I will say….” What if some maidservant would emerge and give him to drink, would he have taken her to marry his master’s son? That is a rhetorical question. Yet the Holy One blessed be He made an appropriate arrangement for him: “It was before he concluded to speak, and behold, Rebecca was coming out…”
Caleb said: “Whoever smites Kiryat Sefer and captures it, I will give him Akhsa my daughter as a wife” (Judges 1:12). What if some slave would have conquered it, would he have given him his daughter? Yet the Holy One blessed be He made an appropriate arrangement for him, as it is stated: “Otniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s…brother, captured it; and he gave him Akhsa his daughter as a wife” (Judges 1:13).
Saul said: “It shall be, that whichever man smites him [Goliath], the king will enrich him with great wealth, and he will give him his daughter as a wife” (I Samuel 17:25). What if some Kushite or idolater or slave had emerged and smitten him, would he have given him his daughter? Yet the Holy One blessed be He made an appropriate arrangement for him, as it is written: “David, the son of that nobleman” (I Samuel 17:12).
Yiftaḥ [said:] “It shall be that whatever emerges…I will offer it up as a burnt offering” (Judges 11:31). What if some dog or cat had emerged, would he have offered it up as a burnt offering? And the Holy One blessed be He made an inappropriate arrangement for him. That is what is written: “Yiftaḥ came…and behold, his daughter came out to greet him” (Judges 11:34).
Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He [Yiftaḥ] was obligated to pay for monetary consecration.⁸When his daughter came out to greet him, although he was of course not obliged to sacrifice her, he was obligated to redeem her with money, as one redeems consecrated property that cannot be used. Reish Lakish said: He was not even obligated to pay for monetary consecration, as we learn in a mishna:⁹Temura 5:6. If one said regarding an impure animal or a blemished animal: ‘These are hereby [consecrated as] a burnt offering, it is as if he has said nothing at all.’ [But if he said:] ‘These are hereby [consecrated] for use towards a burnt offering,’ they are to be sold, and he must bring a burnt offering with their money.¹⁰Yiftaḥ’s statement was analogous to the first case, so his declaration was null and void.
Pinḥas [the high priest] was not there to abrogate his [Yiftaḥ’s] vow for him. Instead, Pinḥas said: ‘It is he who requires my services; shall I go to him?’ And Yiftaḥ said: ‘I am the head of the chieftains of Israel, shall I go to Pinḥas?’ Between the two of them, that young woman was lost.¹¹Yiftaḥ did fulfill his vow through his daughter, although this was not in accordance with Torah law, as explained in the previous paragraph. This accords with [the saying] that people say: Between the midwife and the mother in childbirth, the son of the wretched woman is gone.¹²If the baby dies, each one blames the other.
Both of them [Pinḥas and Yiftaḥ] were punished for the blood of the young woman. Yiftaḥ died as a result of his limbs falling off. Everywhere he would go, one of his limbs would fall off and they would bury it there. That is what is written: “Yiftaḥ died and he was buried in the cities of Gilad” (Judges 12:7) – “the city of Gilad” is not stated, but rather, “the cities of Gilad.”¹³Indicating that he was buried in several cities. As for Pinḥas, the Divine Spirit was stripped from him. That is what is written: “Pinḥas son of Elazar had been chief over them” (I Chronicles 9:20) – “is chief over them” is not written here, but rather, “had been chief.” “In earlier times the Lord had been with him” (I Chronicles 9:20).