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Judges Chapter 12 (ACV)

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Judges Chapter 12 (ACV)
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1 And the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward. And they said to Jephthah, Why did thou pass over to fight against the sons of Ammon, and did not call us to go with thee? We will burn thy house upon thee with fire.

2 And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon, and when I called you, ye did not save me out of their hand.

3 And when I saw that ye did not save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed opposite the sons of Ammon, and Jehovah delivered them into my hand. Why then have ye come up to me this day, to fight against me?

4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim, ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, and in the midst of Manasseh.

5 And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And it was so, that, when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said to him, Are thou an Ephraimite? If he said, No,

6 then they said to him, Say now Shibboleth, and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right, then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand.

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

8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

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

10 And Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.

11 And after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years.

12 And Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

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

14 And he had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who rode on seventy donkey colts, and he judged Israel eight years.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens in Judges chapter 12?
A civil conflict breaks out when the Ephraimites accuse Jephthah of excluding them from the fight against Ammon recounted in Judges 11; Jephthah's forces defeat them and use the word 'Shibboleth' to identify and kill fleeing Ephraimites, and the chapter closes with three brief judges: Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.
What was the 'Shibboleth' test in Judges 12?
Gileadites at the Jordan fords asked suspected Ephraimites to say 'Shibboleth'; because Ephraimites pronounced it 'Sibboleth,' the mispronunciation gave them away and forty-two thousand were killed at the crossing (verses 5-6). Jephthah had defended this fight by recalling that he 'put my life in my hands' against Ammon (verse 3), phrasing later echoed about David in 1 Samuel 19:5.
Who were the judges mentioned after Jephthah in Judges 12?
Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulonite, and Abdon the son of Hillel each judged Israel briefly, with the text noting little more than their family details and burial places (verses 8-15).

Today's Verse

but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

Daniel 2:28 | ASV

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