Chapter 12

1 The Ephraimites, quarrelling with Jephthah, and discerned by Shibboleth, are slain by the Gileadites. 7 Jephthah dieth. 8 Ibzan, who had thirty sons and thirty daughters, 11 and Elon, 13 and Abdon, who had forty sons and thirty nephews, judged Israel.

1. Northward. Hebrew, saphonah. Gilead was to the east and northeast of Ephraim. Because of this, most Bible translations give the word as a proper name. There was a town by the name of Zaphon in the Jordan valley, on the Gilead side, not far from Succoth (Joshua 13:27).

Passedst thou over. They do not mean that he crossed the Jordan, but that he marched against the Ammonites.

Didst not call us. Both here and in Judges 8:1–3 the tribe of Ephraim is presented in an unfavorable light. They were passive in time of oppression, and arrogant when others had taken the initiative and won the victory. Gideon had been conciliatory toward them and overlooked their boorishness, but Jephthah was in no mood to become subservient to them. Their alleged grievance stemmed from their desire to be regarded as the leading Israelite tribe. Their pride led them to resent having had no part in the glory of the victory. Moreover, they denied to Gilead the right of separate action, let alone that of choosing a ruler.

2. When I called you. The previous account did not mention an appeal to the tribes in western Canaan to help drive back the oppressors. The narrator mentioned only the salient facts.

3. Wherefore then? The men of Ephraim were more guilty, if possible, than were the Ammonites. It is difficult to tell whether Jephthah’s answer was given in a conciliatory spirit. At any rate the Ephraimites did not seem to be satisfied with his reasoning, for civil war ensued.

4. All the men of Gilead. Probably including all the Israelites east of the Jordan. Signal fires and trumpets could pass the mustering call to the villages of the eastern tribes within a very short time.

Because they said. In spite of Jephthah’s reasonable answer, the men of Ephraim seem to have precipitated the conflict by intolerable taunts.

Fugitives of Ephraim. The full force of the taunt is lost to us inasmuch as we do not know all the details. It seems that fierce jealousy had sprung up between the Manassites living east of the Jordan, and the rest of Manasseh and their close kinsmen, the Ephraimites, in western Palestine. The Manassites in the east had allowed their close clan and family connections to languish and were throwing in their lot more and more with the pastoral tribes of Reuben and Gad among whom they lived. For this schism in clanship the Ephraimites were taunting them, calling them fugitives, that is, the dregs and lower class of the tribal relatives in the west.

5. Passages of Jordan. Only through these fords could the men of Ephraim quickly cross the Jordan to their own territory.

Ephraimites which were escaped. In Hebrew these are exactly the same words with which the Ephraimites had so shortly before taunted the men of Gilead—“fugitives of Ephraim.” Now the Ephraimites are the fugitives.

Art thou an Ephraimite? There was considerable traffic across the Jordan fords. The object of the questioning was to distinguish between the fugitives and the harmless travelers and merchants. The men who had boasted of their tribe shortly before were now willing to deny any connection with it in order to save their lives.

6. Say now Shibboleth. The word was probably selected at random as an example of a word beginning with the letter shin. Any other word beginning with that letter might have served as well. The Hebrews east of the Jordan pronounced the initial letter sh, as in shibboleth. The Hebrews in Canaan gave it a soft sound, s, as in sibboleth. It was one of those differences in dialect that had grown up through the years.

7. Six years. Jephthah’s rule was the shortest of all the judges. It may be that he fell in battle while fighting other Israelite enemies.

8. Ibzan. The meaning of this name is unknown. It occurs in the Bible only in this place.

Of Beth-lehem. Though this may have been the Bethlehem of Judah, it was probably the Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun, the present Beit Lahm, 7 mi. (11.2 km.) northwest of Nazareth (see Joshua 19:15, 16).

Ibzan, along with the other two judges mentioned here, Elon and Abdon, and the two whose names are given in ch. 10:1–5, Tola and Jair, form a group of judges of whose exploits nothing is related. The briefest details about them are given: their names, where they lived, how long they ruled, the place of their burial. In the case of three of them (Jair, Ibzan, and Abdon) the number of their children and evidence of their wealth are added.

9. He sent abroad. Ibzan had a definite policy of strengthening his position by intermarriage. He gave his 30 daughters in marriage to men of other tribes, and also took daughters for his 30 sons from other tribes than these. This information is recorded to show that Ibzan was a great man with wide influence. Moreover, that he lived to see his 60 children married indicates that he had a long and prosperous life, although he ruled Israel only 7 years. These were probably the last 7 years of his life. Perhaps he attained his position of judge through his policy of building up friendships in other tribes by intermarriages. Evidently there was peace during the period of his rule.

11. Elon. The name means “a terebinth.” Orientals were often named after trees. In Gen. 46:14 and Num. 26:26 the name occurs as one of the families of Zebulun.

13. Abdon. Literally, “servant.”

Of Hillel. Signifying, “praising.” This is the first occurrence of a name that later became famous among the Jews. It occurs only here in the Bible. The later Hillel was the leader of one of the Jewish schools of thought shortly before the time of Christ, and is regarded as the greatest of all the Jewish rabbis.

A Pirathonite. Pirathon, according to v. 15, was in the land of Ephraim, so we may conclude that Abdon belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. In 1 Chron. 8:23 a man named Abdon is included in the tribe of Benjamin, but since the name was common, the Abdon who became judge could well have been an Ephraimite (see 1 Chron. 27:14). The town of Pirathon is generally thought to be the modern FarФathaµ, 7 mi. (11.2 km.) west by south of Shechem.

14. Forty sons. Only the male members of the family are mentioned. He doubtless had many daughters as well. Again, the large size of his family is cited as an evidence of his wealth and high rank. It also testifies to the widespread polygamy among those who could afford numerous wives.

Nephews. This should be “grandsons.” The Hebrew says literally, “sons of sons.” The KJV used the word “nephew” in the old English sense of grandson, which use is now obsolete. Therefore in that version wherever the word “nephew” occurs, we should read “grandson.”

15. Mount of the Amalekites. The Amalekites made their home in the Negeb, in the south of Judah. However, this place name indicates that at one time they had advanced as far north as this region in Ephraim on an incursion that caused their name to be attached to that particular area. It may have been that they were defeated there, or that a small number of them may have been allowed to settle in that area in earlier times.