Judges 12
CambridgeJudges 12:1-7
Ch. Judges 12:1-7. Jephthah’s conflict with the men of Ephraim A sequel of the Ammonite war. Jephthah had returned to his house (Judges 11:34), two months at least had passed (Judges 11:39), the Gileadite forces had dispersed (implied by Judges 12:4), when the arrogant and jealous temper of the Ephraimites broke out, as formerly after Gideon’s victory (Judges 8:1-3), but this time without a shadow of pretext. The narrative Judges 11:1-6 has been regarded as a mere replica of Jdg 8:1-3, which it certainly resembles; but the situation here is different, and the marked originality of the incident in Judges 11:5-6 forbids us to question the historical character of the present section.
Judges 12:2
- were at great strife with the children of Ammon] lit. ‘I was at strife, I and my people, and the children of A. exceedingly.’ Supply afflicted me in the last clause, with LXX. cod. A, Luc. etc., Syro-Hex. The verb (‘innûni) was accidentally omitted, probably owing to its resemblance to ‘Ammon. Jephthah identifies himself with his people, as in Judges 11:12. when I called you] The summons is not mentioned in ch. 11, but it may be implied in Judges 11:29; see note.
Judges 12:3
- that thou wast not going to save me] Or omit thou, and render that there was none to save, LXX. cod. A, Luc. Cf. Isaiah 63:5. I put my life in my hand] Cf. 1 Samuel 19:5; 1 Samuel 28:21, Job 13:14, Psalms 119:109.
Judges 12:4
- because they said … Manasseh] These words, which make no sense where they stand, and are omitted by some mss. of the LXX and marked with an asterisk in Syro-Hex., probably belonged in part to Judges 12:6 ‘… and slew him at the fords of Jordan, for they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim.’ The words in italics may have been left out by a copyist, and then written on the margin, whence they were restored to the text, but in the wrong place. Afterwards Gilead is in the midst of E., in the midst of M. (so the text runs) was added as a gloss on the previous sentence which became unintelligible in its new position.
Judges 12:5
- took the fords] Cf. Judges 3:28, Judges 7:24. Render against (dat. incommodi) rather than toward (marg.) in these passages.
Judges 12:6
- Shibboleth … Sibboleth] An interesting proof of the difference in dialect between the eastern and western tribes. By confusion of sounds shibbτleth (ωׁ ?αμϊ) would become sibbτleth (ωׂ ?αμϊ), and then sibbτleth (ραμϊ the form here); though liable to confusion in pronunciation, the letters shin (ω) and sβmekh (ρ) are etymologically quite distinct. The word means ‘ear of grain’ (Genesis 41:5 ff., Isaiah 17:5 etc., Assyr. �ubultu) or ‘flood,’ ‘stream’ (Isaiah 27:12; Psalms 69:2; Psalms 69:15), in the latter sense only in late writings; in this early narrative it would probably have been understood to mean ‘ear1[46].’ A modern parallel is to be found in Doughty, Arabia Deserta i. p. 155: “A battalion of Ibrahξm Pasha’s troops had been closed in and disarmed by the redoubtable Druses in the Lιja. The Druses coming on to cut them in pieces, a certain Damascene soldier among them cried out, ‘Aha! neighbours, grant protection at least to the Shwβm (Syrians), which are children of the same soil as you.’ It was answered, They would spare them if they could discern them. ‘Let me alone for that,’ said the Damascene;—and if they caused the soldiers to pass one by one he would discern them. It was granted, and he challenged them thus, ‘Ragal, O man, say Gamel!’ Every Syrian answered Jemel; and in this manner he saved his countrymen and the Damascenes.” [46] The ‘ear of wheat’ was an ancient symbol of Ishtar, the goddess of heaven; and in later astronomy the Aramaic shebelta was the name of the Virgo Spicifera in the Zodiac: possibly, therefore, popular religious associations may have had something to do with the choice of the test word, as well as its tell-tale sibilant, See Winckler, Gesch. Isr. ii. 277 f.; KAT.3, 428; A. Jeremias, Das A.T. im Lichte des Alt. Or.2, 109. could not frame] A doubtful rendering. For yβkξn (impf.) read yβkτl (perf.) was not able; so Syr., cf. Vulgate non valens. forty and two thousand] Obviously an exaggeration. Cf. Judges 8:10 n.
Judges 12:7
- The story of Jephthah is brought to a close with the formula which is used of the Minor Judges, Judges 12:8-15, Judges 10:2-5. was buried in one of the cities of Gilead] The text has in the cities of G.! Can this mean that Jephthah was buried somewhere or other in Gilead? The vagueness of the expression is supposed to be an indication of the vaguely historical character of the whole story (Meyer, Die Israeliten, p. 535). Probably, however, the text is incorrect. The LXX. cod. B reads ‘in his city in G.’, cod.
A ‘in his city G.’; Vulgate in civitate sua Galaad. Some cursive mss. of LXX read ‘in his city in Sephe Gilead,’ cf. Jos., Ant. Judges 12:7; Judges 12:12 ‘in Sebee of G.’; this suggests that the text originally ran in his city, in Mizpeh of G., cf. Judges 8:27, Judges 11:29. The rabbis are driven to explain ‘limb after limb fell off his body and was buried each in a different place,’ Midrash Rabba Levit. § 37, Bereshith § 60.
Judges 12:8-15
8–15. The three last Minor Judges See introduction to ch. 10
Judges 12:12
- Elon … Aijalon] Nothing here but a name and a burying-place. Both probably should be pronounced alike, as in the LXX, for the consonants are practically identical; and the form should be Elon, this being the name of one of the ‘sons,’ i.e. families, of Zebulun, Genesis 46:14, Numbers 26:26. The home of the clan was called by the name of the clan; and there the grave was shewn. See on Judges 10:2. In these notices of the Minor Judges have we traditions of individuals or of clans? Partly, perhaps, of the one and partly of the other. The names are clan-names; the ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’ (Judges 10:4, Judges 12:9; Judges 12:14) may represent clan developments and alliances; on the other hand the judgeship and the burying-place seem to preserve the memory of an individual.
Judges 12:13
- Abdon … the Pirathonite] Pir‘athon (2 Samuel 23:30 etc.) prob. = Far‘atâ, situated on a high rock a little to the S.W. of Nâblus; if this is correct, Abdon belonged to an Ephraimite family. In 1 Chronicles 8:23 Abdon is a Benjamite; but the name was a common one.
Judges 12:15
- in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites] The Amalekites, however, were settled not in Ephraim, but in the Negeb, S. of Judah. It is true that ch. Judges 5:14 brings Ephraim into connexion with Amalek, but the text is too uncertain (see note in loc.) to be used in support of the present passage. Moore (Polychr. Bible) notices that a group of mss. of LXX read ‘in the hill country of Ephraim, in the land of Sellçm,’ cf. 1 Samuel 9:4, where the Saaleim of LXX. cod. A. = the Hebr. Shaâlim. Since there is no way of accounting for the reading of these mss. by any confusion of letters, it may well be that they have preserved the true text here: in the hill country of E., in the land of Shaâlim.