There exists a contextual clue that draws special attention to this narrative, specifically Jephthah’s daughter and her fate. Jephthah is surrounded by judges noted for their many children, animals, and cities. Michael Smith notes a chiastic arrangement, with the numbers in the accounts from Gideon to Abdon centering on Jephthah:
70—The number of Gideon’s children (Judges 8:30)
30/30/30—The sons/donkeys/cities under Jair (Judges 8:30)
1—The single daughter of Jephthah (Judges 11:34)
30/30/30—The sons/daughters/daughters-in-law of Ibzan (Judges 12:9)
70—The donkeys for Abdon’s 40 sons and 30 grandsons (Judges 12:14)1
Jair and Ibzan as the two judges before and after Jephthah both have many children. The likelihood of polygamy aside, these judges each had many sons, whereas Jephthah has no sons and only one daughter. This structure places the focus on her and what he did with her. Furthermore, there is no explicit mention with these minor judges of any sort of personal or national apostasy (though again, polygamy is disobedience). This, in concert with the absence of any reference to a foreign people oppressing them or Israel crying out to God for help, sets these judges apart from the Jephthah cycle, which begins in idolatry and ends without rest.2 What happens in between cannot be expected to be all that godly.
29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.