Judges 12:6

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ vai.Yo.me.ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Say	אֱמָר 'e.mor-	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
Shibboleth	שִׁבֹּ֜לֶת shi.Bo.let	H7641	a stream (as flowing) · noun, feminine singular absolute
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Sibboleth	סִבֹּ֗לֶת si.Bo.let	H5451	an ear of grain · noun, common feminine singular absolute
frame	יָכִין֙ ya.Khin	H3559	properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
pronounce	לְדַבֵּ֣ר le.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
right	כּוּן kûwn	H3559	properly
took	וַיֹּאחֲז֣וּ vai.yo.cha.Zu	H270	to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in p… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
slew	וַיִּשְׁחָט֖וּהוּ vai.yish.cha.Tu.hu	H7819	to slaughter (in sacrifice or massacre) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
passages	מַעְבְּר֣וֹת ma'.be.Rot	H4569	a crossing-place (of a river · noun, common feminine plural construct
Jordan	הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן hai.yar.Den	H3383	Jarden · definite article + proper noun, a place name
fell	וַיִּפֹּ֞ל vai.yi.Pol	H5307	to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
time	בָּעֵ֤ת ba.'Et	H6256	time · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
Ephraimites	מֵֽאֶפְרַ֔יִם me.'ef.Ra.yim	H669	Ephrajim · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
forty	אַרְבָּעִ֥ים 'ar.ba.'Im	H705	forty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
two	וּשְׁנַ֖יִם u.she.Na.yim	H8147	two · conjunction + noun, common both genders dual absolute
thousand	אָֽלֶף 'A.lef	H505	hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ecclesiastes 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Matthew 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house di…
Psalms 69:2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
Psalms 69:15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
Proverbs 18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Isaiah 27:12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be…
Matthew 26:73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 12:1-7

Here Is, I. The unreasonable displeasure of the men of Ephraim against Jephthah, because he had not called them in to his assistance against the Ammonites, that they might share in the triumphs and spoils, Jdg 12:1. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel. Only by that comes contention. Proud men think all the honours lost that go beside themselves, and then who can stand before envy? The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Gideon (Jdg 8:1), who was of Manasseh on their side Jordan, as Jephthah was of Manasseh on the other side Jordan. Ephraim and Manasseh were hearer akin than any other of the tribes, being both the sons of Joseph, and yet they were more jealous one of another than any oth…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 12:4

DISCERNED BY THE WORD SIBBOLETH, ARE SLAIN BY THE GILEADITES. (Jdg 12:4-15) the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim--The remonstrances of Jephthah, though reasonable and temperate, were not only ineffectual, but followed by insulting sneers that the Gileadites were reckoned both by the western Manassites and Ephraimites as outcasts--the scum and refuse of their common stock. This was addressed to a peculiarly sensitive people. A feud immediately ensued. The Gileadites, determined to chastise this public affront, gave them battle; and having defeated the Ephraimites, they chased their foul-mouthed but cowardly assailants out of the territory…

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John Gill on Judges 12:6

Then said they unto him, say now "Shibboleth",.... Which signifies a stream or course of water, at which they now were; and so it was as if they had bid them say,"may I, or let me, pass over the stream of this river;''so Jarchi; and this being the case, though it was done to try them, and by their pronunciation learn whether they were Ephraimites or not, they were not upon their guard, but in an hurry, and at once expressed the word as they commonly did: and he said, sibboleth; pronouncing the letter "shin" as if it was "sin", or a "samech"; just as the French, as Kimchi observes, pronounce "s" like a "t"; and though the Gileadites and Ephraimites were of the same nation of Israel, and spok…

Dictionary and topics

Ford — Mention is frequently made of the fords of the Jordan (Josh. 2:7; Judg. 3:28; 12:5, 6), which must have been very numerous; about fifty perhaps. The most notable was that of Bethabara. Mention is…
Jordan — Heb. Yarden, “the descender;” Arab. Nahr-esh-Sheriah, “the watering-place” the chief river of Palestine. It flows from north to south down a deep valley in the centre of the country. The name…
Passage — Denotes in Josh. 22:11, as is generally understood, the place where the children of Israel passed over Jordan. The words “the passage of” are, however, more correctly rendered “by the side of,” or…
Shibboleth — River, or an ear of corn. The tribes living on the east of Jordan, separated from their brethren on the west by the deep ravines and the rapid river, gradually came to adopt peculiar customs, and…
Sibboleth — the Ephraimite pronunciation of the word Shibboleth. (Judges 12:6) [Shibboleth]
Ephraim · . — .
Ephraim, Tribe Of · Defeated and many slain — Defeated and many slain
Jordan · Fords of — Fords of
Jordan, The River · Fordable in some places — Fordable in some places
Language · Dialects of the Jews — Dialects of the Jews
Manasseh, The Tribe Of · Often at war with Ephraim — Often at war with Ephraim
Shibboleth · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Judges 12:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 12:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 12:4

John Gill on Judges 12:6

Dictionary and topics

Judges 12:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 12:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 12:4

John Gill on Judges 12:6

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 12:4-6

Rashi on Judges 12:6