Judges 12

1 And the men of Ephraim are called together, and pass over northward, and say to Jephthah, `Wherefore has thou passed over to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and on us hast not called to go with thee? thy house we burn over thee with fire.'

2 And Jephthah saith unto them, `A man of great strife I have been (I and my people) with the Bene-Ammon, and I call you, and ye have not saved me out of their hand,

3 and I see that thou art not a saviour, and I put my life in my hand, and pass over unto the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah giveth them into my hand -- and why have ye come up unto me this day to fight against me?'

4 And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fighteth with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead smite Ephraim, because they said, `Fugitives of Ephraim [are] ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim -- in the midst of Manasseh.'

5 And Gilead captureth the passages of the Jordan to Ephraim, and it hath been, when [any of] the fugitives of Ephraim say, `Let me pass over,' and the men of Gilead say to him, `An Ephramite thou?' and he saith, `No;'

6 that they say to him, `Say, I pray thee, Shibboleth;' and he saith, `Sibboleth,' and is not prepared to speak right -- and they seize him, and slaughter him at the passages of the Jordan, and there fall at that time, of Ephraim, forty and two chiefs.

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

8 And after him Ibzan of Beth-Lehem judgeth Israel,

9 and he hath thirty sons and thirty daughters, he hath sent without and thirty daughters hath brought in to his sons from without; and he judgeth Israel seven years.

10 And Ibzan dieth, and is buried in Beth-Lehem.

11 And after him Elon the Zebulunite judgeth Israel, and he judgeth Israel ten years,

12 and Elon the Zebulunite dieth, and is buried in Aijalon, in the land of Zebulun.

13 And after him, Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judgeth Israel,

14 and he hath forty sons, and thirty grandsons, riding on seventy ass-colts, and he judgeth Israel eight years.

15 And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, dieth, and is buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekite.

Judges 12 Commentary

Chapter 12

Ephraimites quarrel with Jephthah. (1-7) Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judge Israel. (8-15)

Verses 1-7 The Ephraimites had the same quarrel with Jephthah as with Gideon. Pride was at the bottom of the quarrel; only by that comes contention. It is ill to fasten names of reproach upon persons or countries, as is common, especially upon those under outward disadvantages. It often occasions quarrels that prove of ill consequence, as it did here. No contentions are so bitter as those between brethren or rivals for honour. What need we have to watch and pray against evil tempers! May the Lord incline all his people to follow after things which make for peace!

Verses 8-15 We have here a short account of three more of the judges of Israel. The happiest life of individuals, and the happiest state of society, is that which affords the fewest remarkable events. To live in credit and quiet, to be peacefully useful to those around us, to possess a clear conscience; but, above all, and without which nothing can avail, to enjoy communion with God our Saviour while we live, and to die at peace with God and man, form the substance of all that a wise man can desire.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 12

This chapter relates a quarrel between Jephthah and the Ephraimites, which was fatal to the latter, Jud 12:1-6, the time of Jephthah judging Israel, his death and burial, Jud 12:7 and it briefly makes mention of three more judges of Israel, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon, Jud 11:8-15.