Judges 12:5

5 And Gilead took the fords of the Jordan before Ephraim; and it came to pass that when the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said to him, Art thou an Ephraimite? and he said, No.

Judges 12:5 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 12:5

And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the
Ephraimites
Being either swifter of foot, or going a nearer and shorter way, being better acquainted with their own country:

and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, let
me go over;
the fugitives of Ephraim, as before called, who ran away from the battle, made their escape, and the best of their way to the passages of Jordan, to get over there to their own country:

that the men of Gilead said unto him;
to everyone of them, as they came up,

art thou an Ephraimite?
or an Ephrathite; for so it seems those of the tribe of Ephraim were called, as Jeroboam, ( 1 Kings 11:26 )

if he said, nay; that he was not an Ephraimite;

Judges 12:5 In-Context

3 And when I saw that ye would not save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Jehovah gave them into my hand. Why then are ye come up to me this day, to fight against me?

4 And Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye, Gilead, ye are fugitives of Ephraim in the midst of Ephraim, [and] in the midst of Manasseh.

5 And Gilead took the fords of the Jordan before Ephraim; and it came to pass that when the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said to him, Art thou an Ephraimite? and he said, No.

6 Then they said to him, Say now Shibboleth! and he said, Sibboleth, and did not manage to pronounce [it] rightly. Then they took him, and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand.

7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.