Judges 12:4-6

Expanded Bible

⁴ Then Jephthah called the men of Gilead together and fought the men of Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You men of Gilead are ·nothing but deserters [or fugitives; or renegades] from Ephraim—living ·between [or in the territory of] Ephraim and Manasseh.” ⁵ The men of Gilead captured the ·crossings [fords; 3:28] of the Jordan River ·that led to the country of [opposite] Ephraim. A person from Ephraim trying to escape would say, “Let me cross the river.” Then the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you from Ephraim?” If he replied no, ⁶ they would say to him, “Say the word ‘Shibboleth [the word means “flood” or “stream” in Hebrew].’” The men of Ephraim could not say that word correctly [^Cthe difference in accent gave them away (cf. Matt. 26:73)]. So if the person from Ephraim said, “Sibboleth,” the men of Gilead would kill him at the ·crossing [ford]. So forty-two thousand people from Ephraim were killed at that time.