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Judges 12

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Jephthah and Ephraim

1 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the children of Ammon and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire." 2 And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were in a great dispute with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. 3 When I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?" 4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they had said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh." 5 The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead would say to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No," 6 then they would say to him, "Say now 'Shibboleth,'" and he would say "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would seize him and slaughter him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell.

7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon and Abdon

8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside his clan, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Notes

  • 12:1 Ephraim had made the same complaint to Gideon (8:1), who calmed them with a gentle answer; Jephthah answers sharply, and the quarrel ends in war between tribes. Zaphon was a town of Gad in the Jordan valley (Joshua 13:27); the word also means "north," and some translate "crossed over northward."
  • 12:4 Ephraim's taunt is hard to render with certainty, but it seems to scorn the Gileadites as runaways from Ephraim and Manasseh west of the Jordan, men with no proper tribe of their own. The insult turns back on Ephraim: in the next verses it is the Ephraimites who become "fugitives" at the river.
  • 12:6 Shibboleth means "ear of grain" or "flowing stream," a fitting word to ask at a river crossing. Ephraim's dialect apparently did not use the "sh" sound here, so a single letter gave a man away. From this verse "shibboleth" passed into English and other languages as a word for a password or a test that marks who belongs to a group.
  • 12:8 This Bethlehem may be the town in Judah or Bethlehem of Zebulun (Joshua 19:15), which would fit the northern judge named next. Later Jewish tradition in the Talmud identified Ibzan with Boaz of Bethlehem, Ruth's husband, but Scripture does not say so.

Judges 11 · Judges 13

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