Bible Chapter Summary
Judges 12 Summary
Jephthah, Ephraim, and the Shibboleth Test
The men of Ephraim quarrel with Jephthah for not summoning them to the Ammonite war and threaten him, so Gilead fights Ephraim and defeats them. The Gileadites seize the fords of the Jordan and expose fleeing Ephraimites by their inability to pronounce 'Shibboleth,' killing forty-two thousand. Jephthah judges Israel six years and dies. The minor judges Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon follow in turn.
Key themes
Key verses
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.”
Judges 12:7
“And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.”
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