Judges 12:6-15

12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” ¹  If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word ²  correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead. 12:7 Jephthah led ³  Israel for six years; then he ⁴  died and was buried in his city in Gilead. ⁵ 

Order Restored

12:8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem ⁶  led ⁷  Israel. 12:9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, ⁸  and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. ⁹  Ibzan ¹⁰  led ¹¹  Israel for seven years; 12:10 then he ¹²  died and was buried in Bethlehem.

12:11 After him Elon the Zebulunite led ¹³  Israel for ten years. ¹⁴  12:12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

12:13 After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite led ¹⁵  Israel. 12:14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years. 12:15 Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

[12:6]  ¹ 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.

[12:6]  ² 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.

[12:7]  ³ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

[12:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:7]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.

[12:8]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[12:8]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

[12:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “thirty daughters he sent off outside.” Another option is to translate, “He arranged for his thirty daughters…” It is not clear if he had more than the “thirty daughters” mentioned in the text.

[12:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”

[12:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.

[12:9]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

[12:10]  ¹² tn Heb “Ibzan.” The pronoun “he” is used in the translation in keeping with English style, which tends to use a proper name first in a sentence followed by a pronoun rather than vice versa.

[12:11]  ¹³ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

[12:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “…led Israel. He led Israel for ten years.”

[12:13]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “judged.”