Judges 12

Therefore, having no other choice, Jephthah gathered his forces and fought against the Ephraimites. The Ephraimites fled back toward the Jordan River, but the Gileadites had captured the fords and thus were able to block anyone who tried to cross the river. To determine who was an Ephraimite, those controlling the fords devised a simple pronunciation test: all who wanted to cross had to pronounce the word “Shibboleth.”⁵⁸ Those who said “Sibboleth” were identified as Ephraimites and killed on the spot (verse 6).

7 With the loss of forty-two thousand men (verse 6), the power of Ephraim was broken. Jephthah became the leader of all Israel. But he lived only six more years, which was not enough time to truly unite the bickering Israelite tribes. Such inter-tribal warfare would gradually break Israel apart, especially following the reign of Solomon. But always the underlying cause of Israel’s disunity was the same: the people had stopped worshiping the Lord as their one Ruler and King. Without the Lord, no unity was possible in Israel.

Ibzan, Elon and Abdon (12:8–15)

8–15 Three leaders, or “judges,” are briefly mentioned in this section. Two of them, Ibzan and Abdon, were noted for their many children (and wives). Abdon’s seventy sons and grandsons rode on seventy donkeys; donkeys were a luxury enjoyed by the upper classes (Judges 10:4). But while these gentlemen were noted for their wealth, they were not noted for anything else—neither they nor their offspring.