Font Size
Judges 12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Judges 12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 12
The Shibboleth Incident. 1 The men of Ephraim were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to fight with the Ammonites without calling us to go with you?(A) We will burn your house on top of you.” 2 Jephthah answered them, “My soldiers and I were engaged in a contest with the Ammonites. They were pressing us hard, and I cried out to you, but you did not come to save me from their power. 3 When I saw that you were not coming to save me, I took my life in my own hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into my power. Why, then, should you come up against me this day to fight with me?”
4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, 5 and Gilead seized the fords of the Jordan against Ephraim. When any of the fleeing Ephraimites said, “Let me pass,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No!” 6 they would ask him to say “Shibboleth.”[a] If he said “Sibboleth,” not pronouncing it exactly right, they would seize him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell at that time.
7 Jephthah judged Israel for six years, and Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.(B)
Ibzan. 8 After him Ibzan[b] of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 (C)He had thirty sons and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, while bringing in thirty wives for his sons from outside the family. He judged Israel for seven years. 10 Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
Elon. 11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; he judged Israel for ten years. 12 Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
Abdon. 13 After him Abdon, son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judged Israel. 14 (D)He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. 15 Abdon, son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim in the mountain region of the Amalekites.
Footnotes
- 12:6 Shibboleth: Hebrew meaning “ear of grain” or “torrent of water.” Though the Ephraimites probably spoke the same dialect of Hebrew as their Gileadite neighbors, there was enough regional variation in their pronunciation of the initial sound of this word to betray them to their enemies.
- 12:8–15 Ibzan…Elon…Abdon: three more of the so-called “minor judges”; see Introduction.
Judges 12
New International Version
Judges 12
New International Version
Jephthah and Ephraim
12 The Ephraimite forces were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon.(A) They said to Jephthah,(B) “Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you?(C) We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”
2 Jephthah answered, “I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn’t save me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands(D) and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory(E) over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”
4 Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead(F) and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.(G)” 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan(H) leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,” 6 they said, “All right, say ‘Shibboleth.’” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.
7 Jephthah led[a] Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town in Gilead.
Ibzan, Elon and Abdon
8 After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem(I) led Israel. 9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon(J) in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon,(K) led Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons,(L) who rode on seventy donkeys.(M) He led Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.(N)
Footnotes
- Judges 12:7 Traditionally judged; also in verses 8-14
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.