Judges 12
Lexham English Bible
Tribal Conflict Between Gilead and Ephraim
12 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over and make war against the Ammonites,[a] and why did you not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were engaged in great conflict with the Ammonites;[b] I called you, but you did not deliver me from their hand. 3 I saw that you would not deliver us; I risked my own life,[c] and I crossed over to the Ammonites,[d] and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Please say Shibboleth,” and if he said, “Sibboleth”—because he could not pronounce it[e] correctly—they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
8 After him Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters away in marriage outside his clan and brought in from outside thirty young women for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years. 10 Then[f] Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Then[g] Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons that rode on seventy male donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. 15 Then[h] Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim in the hill country of the Amalekites.[i]
Footnotes
- Judges 12:1 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- Judges 12:2 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- Judges 12:3 Literally “I put my life in my hand”
- Judges 12:3 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- Judges 12:6 Literally “speak it”
- Judges 12:10 Or “And”
- Judges 12:12 Or “And”
- Judges 12:15 Or “And”
- Judges 12:15 Hebrew “Amalekite”
Judges 12
New Living Translation
Ephraim Fights with Jephthah
12 Then the people of Ephraim mobilized an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah: “Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!”
2 Jephthah replied, “I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come! You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon. 3 So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?”
4 The people of Ephraim responded, “You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them.
5 Jephthah captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him. “Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?” they would ask. If the man said, “No, I’m not,” 6 they would tell him to say “Shibboleth.” If he was from Ephraim, he would say “Sibboleth,” because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.
7 Jephthah judged Israel for six years. When he died, he was buried in one of the towns of Gilead.
Ibzan Becomes Israel’s Judge
8 After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He sent his daughters to marry men outside his clan, and he brought in thirty young women from outside his clan to marry his sons. Ibzan judged Israel for seven years. 10 When he died, he was buried at Bethlehem.
Elon Becomes Israel’s Judge
11 After Ibzan died, Elon from the tribe of Zebulun judged Israel for ten years. 12 When he died, he was buried at Aijalon in Zebulun.
Abdon Becomes Israel’s Judge
13 After Elon died, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. 15 When he died, he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
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