Catholic Commentary on Judges 12

"Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, 'Let me cross over,' the Gileadites asked him, 'Are you an Ephraimite?'" (Judges 12:5)

Jephthah and Ephraim; the Minor Judges

The Ephraimites come to Jephthah angry: why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us? They threaten to burn his house. Jephthah defends himself: I called you but you did not help. He fights Ephraim and defeats them. Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, 'Let me cross over,' the Gileadites asked him, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' If he said no, they told him to say Shibboleth. If he said Sibboleth, because he could not pronounce it correctly, they killed him. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites died. The word Shibboleth has passed into every language as the term for any test that identifies the insider from the outsider by linguistic or cultural markers.

The civil war within Israel triggered by Ephraim's complaint about not being included in the victory is the self-destructive tendency of the Judges period: the energy that should be directed outward against oppressors is turned inward against fellow Israelites. The Catechism warns against the division within the covenant community that gives the enemy more power than any external threat (CCC 817).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, forty-two thousand Israelites died in a civil war about who deserved credit for a victory. The Shibboleth test became a death sentence. Every community that uses its shared language and culture as a weapon against its own members has learned from the worst of Judges. Your pronunciation test for insiders and outsiders is costing people their lives.

Prayer

Lord God, the Shibboleth war killed more Israelites than the Ammonites had. Deliver your Church from internal conflicts that destroy those we should be protecting. Give us the unity that makes every internal test obsolete. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

12
Jephthah Defeats Ephraim
1 Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”
 
2 But Jephthah replied, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called, you did not save me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”
 
4 Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”
 
5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim would say, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?”
 
If he answered, “No,” 6 they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.”
 
If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed.
 
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.* 12:7 LXX in his city in Gilead
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
 
8 After Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons, as well as thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage to men outside his clan; and for his sons he brought back thirty wives from elsewhere. Ibzan judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died, and he was buried in Bethlehem.
 
11 After Ibzan, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died, and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
 
13 After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, died, and he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

*12:7 12:7 LXX in his city in Gilead

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