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Judges 12:5-7
New English Translation
Judges 12:5-7
New English Translation
5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River[a] opposite Ephraim.[b] Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive[c] said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked[d] him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’”[e] If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word[f] correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day 42,000 Ephraimites fell dead.
7 Jephthah led[g] Israel for six years; then he[h] died and was buried in his town in Gilead.[i]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 12:5 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 12:5 tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.
- Judges 12:5 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.
- Judges 12:5 tn Heb “say to.”
- Judges 12:6 sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.
- Judges 12:6 tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew mss.
- Judges 12:7 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 12:7 tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 12:7 tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.
New English Translation (NET)
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