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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 12:6

Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth - This is a curious instance of dialectic difference of pronunciation between the East and West Jordanic tribes. It is an evidence of the sound “sh” having passed into the Hebrew from the East of Jordan, possibly from the Arabians, with whom the sound is common.Forty-two thousand - The number includes the slain in battle and those killed at the fords. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 12:2-3

Judges 12:2-3. When I called you, ye delivered me not He answers them with great mildness, but denies their charge. He affirms that he had begged their assistance, but they had refused to grant it. When I saw that ye delivered me not When I became sensible that there was no hope of your assistance to preserve us from ruin; I put my life in my hand That is, I exposed myself to the utmost danger; as a man that carries a brittle and precious thing in his hand, which may easily either fall... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 12:4

Judges 12:4. The men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, &c. That which provoked the army of Jephthah to kill so many of them was their insulting language, added to their threats, whereby they reproached the men of Gilead, (who were the chief managers of the late war,) as if they were but the scum and dregs of the tribe of Ephraim. Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim A contemptuous expression, designed to provoke and kindle wrath. The word Ephraim is here taken largely,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 12:5-6

Judges 12:5-6. If he said, Nay To avoid the present danger. Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth To find out the truth, they put him to this test; whether his pronunciation of some words was like that of the Gileadites; for people of the same nation, who speak the same language, generally differ very much in the pronunciation of it, according as they live in different parts of the country. As the word signifies a stream or river, and they desired to pass over one, it was a word... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 12:1-15

Jephthah and five other judges (10:1-12:15)Little is known of the political or military activities of the judges Tola and Jair. They both exercised power for lengthy periods, and Jair’s family certainly enjoyed considerable power and prestige among the East Jordan tribes (10:1-5).Again the Israelites turned away from Yahweh and worshipped false gods, and again they were punished. The Ammonites conquered the eastern tribes, crossed Jordan, and seized large portions of Israelite territory in... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 12:3

my life = my soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 . the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 . read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 12:4

and. This "and" is read in the text in some codices, with two early printed editions, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 12:6

frame = take heed, give attention. forty and two thousand = 40 + 2,000 = 2,040. The whole tribe numbered only 32,500 at previous census (Numbers 26:37 ; see note on Judges 7:3 ), and that was less than the first numbering (Numbers 1:33 ). Only 1,000 from each tribe formed the army. Numbers 31:4 , Numbers 31:6 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 12:3

Judges 12:3. I put my life in my hands— A strong phrase; which signifies, I exposed myself to the utmost hazard: the expression seems peculiar to the eastern writers; for Casaubon remarks, that among all the Greek and Roman writers he never met with it, except once in Zenarchus. See Bishop Patrick. read more

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