Judges 3:28

3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” ¹  They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River ²  opposite Moab, ³  and did not let anyone cross.

Judges 10:8

10:8 They ruthlessly oppressed ⁴  the Israelites that eighteenth year ⁵  – that is, all the Israelites living east of the Jordan in Amorite country in Gilead.

Judges 11:13

11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ⁶  my land when they ⁷  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ⁸  Now return it ⁹  peaceably!”

Judges 12:5-6

12:5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River ¹⁰  opposite Ephraim. ¹¹  Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive ¹²  said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked ¹³  him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” ¹⁴  If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word ¹⁵  correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.

¹ tn Heb “for the Lord has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

² tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

³ tn Or “against Moab,” that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.

⁴ tn Heb “shattered and crushed.” The repetition of similar sounding synonyms (רָעַץ [ra’ats] and רָצַץ [ratsats]) is for emphasis; רָצַץ appears in the Polel, adding further emphasis to the affirmation.

⁵ tn The phrase שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (shemoneh ’esreh shanah) could be translated “eighteen years,” but this would be difficult after the reference to “that year.” It is possible that v. 8b is parenthetical, referring to an eighteen year long period of oppression east of the Jordan which culminated in hostilities against all Israel (including Judah, see v. 9) in the eighteenth year. It is simpler to translate the phrase as an ordinal number, though the context does not provide the point of reference. (See Gen 14:4-5 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 191-92.) In this case, the following statement specifies which “Israelites” are in view.

⁷ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

⁸ tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).

⁹ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

¹⁰ tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

¹⁰ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹¹ tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.

¹² tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.

¹³ tn Heb “say to.”

¹³ sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew mss.