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Judges 12:6

in Judges 12

they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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

KJV

Then 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.

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This verse in Judges 12

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth - The original differs only in the first letter ס samech, instead of ש sheen; אמר נא שבלת ויאמר סבלת emar na Shibboleth, vaiyomer Sibboleth. The difference between ש seen, without a point, which when pointed is pronounced sheen, and ס samech, is supposed by many to be imperceptible. But there can be no doubt there was, to the ears of a Hebrew, a most sensible distinction.

This site's exposition

Then Jephthah gathered together all

on Judges 12:4-7

The war turns on an insult rather than on the original grievance, since verse 4 gives the reason as the taunt that Gilead were fugitives of Ephraim, and Adam Clarke says the point of that reproach can no longer be recovered. The test at the ford rests on one consonant, samech where Gilead said shin, and Clarke argues the difference was plain to a Hebrew ear though it looks slight on the page; the word itself has come into English for any test that sorts one group from another. Forty and two thousand is the heaviest loss of a single tribe recorded in the book, above the twenty and five thousand and an hundred of Benjamin at 20:35, and every man of it died at a river crossing at the hands of Israel. Jephthah's six years is the shortest term given to any judge here, and the land is not said to have rest, a formula the book last used at 5:31.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Could not frame - Or rather, he did not frame to speak right; so as he was required to do it. The Hebrew text doth not say, that he could not do it, but that he did it not, because suspecting not the design he uttered it speedily according to his manner of expression.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Then rushing to the fords of the Jordan, they intercepted and slew every fugitive. The method adopted for discovering an Ephraimite was by the pronunciation of a word naturally suggested by the place where they stood. Shibboleth, means "a stream";

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Say Shiboles please. May I cross this river flow? 1 Shiboles” is translated as “flow”.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Judges 12:6:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The Gilodites captured the Yardein crossings. They posted sentries at the crossing areas.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Judges 12:5:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

24 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • לוֹ֩to <the> him

    lo

  • אֱמָר־say

    ʾemor-H559 →5305 times

  • נָ֨אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • שִׁבֹּ֜לֶתShibboleth

    shiboletH7641 →

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • סִבֹּ֗לֶתSibboleth

    siboletH5451 →

  • וְלֹ֤אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָכִין֙he gave attention

    yakhinH3559 →217 times

  • לְדַבֵּ֣רto speak

    ledaberH1696 →1141 times

  • כֵּ֔ןright

    kenH3651 →771 times

  • וַיֹּאחֲז֣וּand they seized

    vaiyochazuH270 →67 times

  • אוֹת֔וֹ<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • וַיִּשְׁחָט֖וּהוּand they slaughtered him

    vaiyishchatuhuH7819 →

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מַעְבְּר֣וֹת[the] fords of

    ma'berotH4569 →11 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383 →182 times

  • וַיִּפֹּ֞לand it fell

    vaiyipolH5307 →435 times

  • בָּעֵ֤תat the time

    baetH6256 →296 times

  • הַהִיא֙<the> that

    hahi'H1931 →1879 times

  • מֵֽאֶפְרַ֔יִםof Ephraim

    meefrayimH669 →180 times

  • אַרְבָּעִ֥יםforty

    ʾarbaimH705 →136 times

  • וּשְׁנַ֖יִםand two

    ushenayimH8147 →768 times

  • אָֽלֶף׃thousand

    ʾalefH505 →505 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

12 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 26:73After a little while, those standing nearby came up to Peter. “Surely you are one of them,” they said, “for your accent gives you away.”4 worksMatthew 12:25Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.3 worksEcclesiastes 10:12The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.3 worksGalatians 5:15But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.2 worksPsalms 69:2I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.2 worksProverbs 18:19An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city, and disputes are like the bars of a castle.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Proverbs 17:14To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.2 worksPsalms 69:15Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.2 worksMark 14:70But he denied it again. After a little while, those standing nearby said once more to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you too are a Galilean.”2 worksIsaiah 27:12In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.2 worksIsaiah 29:21those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.2 worksJudges 18:3And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Ecclesiastes 10:12

    The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

    it leads to

    • Colossians 4:6

      Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

  • Through

    Galatians 5:15

    But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 3:3

      for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

    • James 3:14

      But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.

    • Galatians 5:26

      Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.

  • Through

    Matthew 12:25

    Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 5:15

      But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

    • Jeremiah 17:10

      I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

    • Matthew 9:4

      But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts?

  • Through

    Psalms 69:2

    I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 40:2

      He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.

About Judges

The Death of Samson — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Samson — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 12 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.

Read on in Judges 12 →