Judges 12

The men of the tribe of Ephraim gathered together and went north. They said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We are going to burn your house down with you inside it."

1And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.

NoteEphraim was one of the largest and most powerful Israelite tribes, holding the hill country west of the Jordan River. Jephthah came from Gilead, the Israelite territory east of the Jordan, which Ephraim tended to treat as a junior partner. The Hebrew word rendered "north" is also the name of a town, Zaphon, in the Jordan valley; translators are divided over which is meant.

2Jephthah answered them, "My people and I were locked in a hard fight with the Ammonites. I called for you, but you did not rescue me from their power."

2And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.

3"When I saw that you would not rescue me, I took my life in my own hands and crossed over to face the Ammonites, and the LORD handed them over to me. So why have you come up against me today to fight me?"

3And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

Note"I took my life in my own hands" is a Hebrew idiom for deliberately risking death, carrying your own life the way you would carry an object you might drop.

4Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim down, because the Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites are runaways from Ephraim, living among the people of Ephraim and Manasseh."

4Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

NoteGilead lay east of the Jordan and was settled largely by families reckoned to the tribe of Manasseh, whose territory straddled the river; Ephraim held land immediately to the west. The insult in the second half of the verse is obscure in Hebrew and is translated in several ways: it may mean the Gileadites were mere runaways or refugees from Ephraim with no land of their own, or that they were deserters caught between the two western tribes. Ancient readers would have heard it as a slur on Gilead's status as a real tribe.

5The Gileadites captured the shallow crossing places of the Jordan River that led back to Ephraim. Whenever an Ephraimite who had escaped said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead would ask him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No,"

5And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

NoteThe Jordan could only be crossed on foot at a handful of shallow points. Holding these fords sealed off the entire escape route back to Ephraim's territory, so every fleeing man had to pass a Gileadite checkpoint.

6then they would say to him, "Say the word Shibboleth." He would say "Sibboleth," because he could not shape his mouth to say it correctly. Then they would seize him and kill him at the Jordan crossings. At that time 42,000 men of Ephraim died.

6Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

Note"Shibboleth" is an ordinary Hebrew word meaning an ear of grain, or possibly a flowing stream; its meaning is irrelevant to the test. What mattered was the opening consonant. The Ephraimite dialect apparently lacked the "sh" sound and substituted "s," so a man's accent betrayed him no matter what he claimed. The English word "shibboleth", a password or marker that identifies who belongs to a group, comes from this verse. The figure of 42,000 is disputed: the Hebrew word for "thousand" ('eleph) can also mean a clan or a military unit of unspecified size, so some read this as forty-two units rather than forty-two thousand men.

7Jephthah led Israel as judge for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

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

NoteA "judge" in this book is not a courtroom official. The Hebrew word describes a leader who settles disputes and, more often, delivers a region of Israel from an enemy and governs it afterward. The office was not inherited and covered no fixed territory.

8After Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel as judge.

8And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

NoteThere were two towns called Bethlehem. This is almost certainly not the famous one in Judah but a smaller Bethlehem in the territory of Zebulun, in the north, since the judges listed here are otherwise northern men.

9He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He sent his daughters out of his clan to be married, and he brought in thirty young women from outside the clan as wives for his sons. He judged Israel seven years.

9And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

NoteMarrying his daughters outside the clan and bringing in wives from outside for his sons means Ibzan built ties with thirty other families instead of marrying within his own kin, as was usual. Sixty marriage alliances signaled great wealth and political reach, which is why the detail is recorded at all.

10Then Ibzan died, and he was buried at Bethlehem.

10Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.

11After Ibzan, Elon, a man of the tribe of Zebulun, led Israel as judge. He judged Israel ten years.

11And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.

12Then Elon of Zebulun died, and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

12And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

NoteNot the better-known Aijalon in the west, near Dan, but a town of the same name in Zebulun's territory in the north. The name means "place of deer."

13After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, from the town of Pirathon, led Israel as judge.

13And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.

14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years.

14And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.

NoteWhere the King James Version says "nephews," the word in 1611 English meant grandsons, not the sons of a brother or sister. Donkeys were the mount of men of standing in this period, before horses became common in Israel, so seventy sons and grandsons each with his own donkey is a portrait of a large, rich, and influential household.

15Then Abdon son of Hillel of Pirathon died, and he was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

15And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.