What I learned from Judges 12 "What Did You Say?"
Judges 12 "What did you say?"
Jepthah is a clever judge. He is good with words and even better in battle. His half brothers don't
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After Jepthah leads them in victory a neighboring clan, the Ephraimites pick a fight with Jepthah and the Gileadites (Gideon's family clan). They accuse him of leaving them out of the battle intentionally. He carefully reminds them that he asked them to help, but they ignored his invitation. A civil war ensues, and again Jepthah and the Gileadites are victorious.
The Ephraimites begin to head over the river to go home after their defeat, but they have to pass over a bridge that the Gileadites are guarding.
The Gileadites takes this opportunity to finish off the victory. The Ephraimites had an accent. This accent caused them to say the word "Shibboleth" differently than the Gileadites. They couldn't say the "sh" sound. As they passed over the bridge the Gileadites said "can you say the word Shibboleth?" If they couldn't say the word, the were killed.
This technique of identifying an enemy is still used today, and interesting enough is called "A Shibboleth".
Jepthah ruled for six more years and was succeeded by several other minor judges.
What did I learn from this chapter?
Jepthah answered his enemy with the truth. He still ended up in a civil war. Sometimes no matter what you say, you can't force people to not be angry.
If someone does attack you, use your brain. Brawn can often be defeated by brain.
Hope Wirta
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