Judges 12: Shibboleth: A Linguistic Trap

The Rev. Doug Griebenaw, pastor and Mission Advocate at KFUO Radio, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Judges 12.

After defeating the Ammonites, Jephthah faces a new threat: the angry men of Ephraim who feel left out of the battle. Jephthah defends himself by saying that he did call them, but they did not come. Unpersuaded, they go to battle. The Gileadites set up a blockade and devise a clever test to identify any men from Ephraim who try to cross. They make them speak a particular hard-to-say word: shibboleth. The plan works and 42,000 Ephraimites die at the hands of Jephthah’s army. Jephthah dies after six years of judging Israel and three more judges follow him: Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.

The Book of Judges tells the story of Israel's descent into chaos and idolatry, and the subsequent rise of a series of judges, or redeemers, who deliver them from their enemies. The judges are flawed heroes, but they are also instruments of God's deliverance. The book ends with the Israelites in a state of moral and spiritual decay, but it also offers hope for a better future.