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 · Young's Literal Translation
Judges 12 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Abdon
Son of Hillel from Pirathon who judged Israel eight years, had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode seventy donkeys, and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim.
Cited in the guide: Judges 12:13; Judges 12:15
Elon
Zebulunite who judged Israel ten years and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
Cited in the guide: Judges 12:11; Judges 12:12
Hillel
Named as the father of the judge Abdon of Pirathon.
Cited in the guide: Judges 12:13; Judges 12:15
Ibzan
Judge from Bethlehem who judged Israel seven years, had thirty sons and thirty daughters whom he married outside his clan, and was buried in Bethlehem.
Cited in the guide: Judges 12:8; Judges 12:9; Judges 12:10
Cross references (11)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Judges 8:1; John 10:32; James 3:16; James 4:1–2; Judges 14:15
- 2 Judges 11:12–33
- 3 Job 13:14; 1 Samuel 19:5; 1 Samuel 28:21; Psalm 119:109; 2 Chronicles 13:12
- 4 Proverbs 12:13; 1 Samuel 25:10; Numbers 32:39–40; Nehemiah 4:4; Judges 11:10
- 5 Judges 3:28; Joshua 22:11; Judges 7:24; Joshua 2:7
- 6 Ecclesiastes 10:12; Matthew 12:25; Isaiah 27:12; Psalm 69:2; Proverbs 17:14
- 8 1 Samuel 16:1; Matthew 2:1; Genesis 15:19; Micah 5:2
- 9 Judges 10:4; Judges 12:14
- 12 Joshua 19:42; 1 Chronicles 6:69; 1 Chronicles 8:13
- 14 Judges 5:10; Judges 10:4
- 15 Judges 5:14; 1 Samuel 15:7; Genesis 14:7; Judges 3:27; 2 Samuel 23:30
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences