Adah. Jephthah was the ninth judge and one of the mightiest men in Israel. Being called upon, in the extremity of his country's trials, to go at the head of its armies, he prepared his household for a campaign that would perhaps cost him his life; and then "Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, 'If thou shalt deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.'" Jephthah went forth to battle, the victory was gained, and the victorious warrior returned to Mizpeh. The door of his house opened, and, "behold! his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances," and she was his only child. Jephthah, when he saw her, rent his clothes, and in the anguish of his heart, cried aloud, "Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back." Adah replied, "My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth." She asked that she might go among the mountains for two months, and there prepare her mind for the solemn surrender of her life to preserve her father's honor.
When the two months had expired, she was seen, followed by her friends, winding her way down the mountain's side to the altar, where her father with an almost broken heart was prepared to fulfil his vow.
She approached her father with a kiss of affection and bade him farewell. Taking hold of the veil she wore, he threw it over her face, and drew his sword. But she unveiled herself, and said she need not have her face covered for she was not afraid to die. Her father replied that he could not strike the blow while she looked upon him, and again cast it over her. She threw it off the second time, and said she would look upward, that his arm might not be unnerved by her gaze. A third time, however, he insisted, and a third time she as resolutely cast it off, this time holding the ends of it firmly in her hands and casting her eyes upward, invited the fatal blow. And a deed was consummated which has rendered the name of Jephthah's Daughter famous in the annals of Scripture.
The sign of this degree is given by—
Repeat from secret work. (3.)
The pass. (4.)
The color appropriate to this degree is blue, which symbolizes fidelity, and teaches us to be faithful to all moral obligations.
The emblems are the Sword and Veil. By the sword Adah was slain. The veil alludes to her determination to die in the light, suffering no stain to rest upon her memory.
Sister Conductress, you will present this sister at the second point of the Star for further instruction.
The Conductress will lead the candidate around Adah's chair, leaving the chair to the right, then across the Star, leaving the Altar to the left, around Martha's chair, passing to Ruth for instruction. After each lecture the labyrinth is followed in a similar manner, always leaving the chairs to the right and the Altar to the left. From Ruth around Electa to Esther; from Esther around Adah to Martha; from Martha around Ruth to Electa; from Electa around Esther to the Worthy Patron.