Albert Barnes Commentary Judges 12
Albert Barnes Commentary
Judges 12
Albert Barnes Commentary
Judges 12
"And the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thy house upon thee with fire." — Judges 12:1 (ASV)
Compare the similar complaint of the Ephraimites to Gideon (Judges 8:1), when a civil war was only avoided by Gideon’s wise and patriotic moderation. The overweening pride of Ephraim comes out in both occurrences .
We will burn your house upon you with fire—Compare the fierce threat of the Philistines to Samson’s wife (Judges 14:15), and the yet fiercer execution (Judges 15:6). Burning appears as a mode of capital punishment (Genesis 38:24; Joshua 7:25), and as a mode of desperate warfare (Judges 1:8; Judges 20:48; Joshua 8:8, 19, etc.).
"And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye saved me not out of their hand." — Judges 12:2 (ASV)
When I called you ... - This circumstance is not related in the main narrative. It is likely to have occurred when Jephthah was first chosen leader by the Gileadites, and when Ephraim would probably ignore his claims.
"And when I saw that ye saved me not, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Jehovah delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?" — Judges 12:3 (ASV)
I put my life in my hands - Compare 1 Samuel 19:5; 1 Samuel 28:21. The phrase expresses the utmost possible risk, knowingly incurred.
"Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim, ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, [and] in the midst of Manasseh." — Judges 12:4 (ASV)
Because they said ... - This passage is extremely obscure. It can be rendered as follows: The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they (the Gileadites) said, 'You are the fugitives of Ephraim.' (Gilead lies between Ephraim and Manasseh; and Gilead took the fords of Jordan before Ephraim. And it happened, when the fugitives of Ephraim said, 'Let me cross over,' and the Gileadites asked him, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' and he answered, 'No,' then (the Gileadites) said to him, 'Say Shibboleth,' and so on. So they (the Gileadites) killed them at the fords of Jordan).
Everything within the parenthesis explains the brief statement, “They struck them, because they said, ‘You are the fugitives of Ephraim;’” That is, in spite of their denial, the Gileadites determined that they were the fugitives of Ephraim and so pitilessly slaughtered them when they attempted to return to their own country through Gilead.
This part of Gilead, where the fords were, was clearly not in Manasseh, but in Gad. The word “Slew” (Judges 12:6) implies “slaughtering” in cold blood, not killing in battle .
The word in the original text is the proper word for slaying animals for sacrifice.
"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." — Judges 12:6 (ASV)
Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth - This is a curious instance of dialectal difference of pronunciation between the East and West Jordanic tribes. It is evidence of the sound “sh” having passed into the Hebrew from the East of Jordan, possibly from the Arabians, with whom the sound is common.
Forty-two thousand - The number includes the slain in battle and those killed at the fords.
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