The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” then they would say to him, “Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!” And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites. (Judges 12:5-6)

Forty-Two Thousand Lost Lives

The history of Israel during the judges was a time of upheaval, rebellion, oppression, and deliverance. There was no king to unite the tribes under one banner. When Israel left the word of the Lord, God would bring an oppressor against His people to punish them, sometimes for many years. In the cycle of the book of Judges, the people would cry out to the Lord, and He would raise up a judge to deliver them, and peace would reign in the land. It would not take long for the people’s hearts to return to the idolatry of their neighbors and God’s wrath to be brought against them.

Near the end of the period of the Judges, the Ammonites and Philistines harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years. The king of Ammon brought his army across the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. When the people saw this great army surrounding their cities, they begged for God to send a deliverer. A most unlikely judge was raised by God to deliver them, named Jephthah, the Gileadite, a mighty man of valor. Jephthah was the son of a harlot and had been driven out of his home. When the Ammonites came against the land, the elders of Gilead begged Jephthah to fight for them as commander of the army.

Jephthah sent a peace treaty to the king of Ammon, which was rejected. The army of Jephthah fought against the Ammonites and won the battle with a great slaughter. Ephraim had refused to fight with Jephthah and his army. Jephthah had sent messengers to Ephraim seeking their help to fight against the people of Ammon, but they refused. The threat of the Ammonites was very great. After the victory over the Ammonites, Ephraim was insulted that they were not permitted to be part of the great victory. Jephthah reminded them that they had refused to fight with them. In a tragic story of brother against brother, the men of Gilead fought against Ephraim and defeated them. Ephriam had accused Gilead of being nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.

At the fords of the Jordan River, the Gileadites killed forty-two thousand Ephraimites. The Ephraimites could not pronounce “Shibboleth,” saying “Sibboleth” instead. Because of the dialectic difference of pronunciation between the East and West Jordanic tribes, forty-two thousand men died. A small civil war took place in the time of the judges over jealousy, pettiness, and failure to trust in God. The Holy Spirit does not reveal why Ephraim refused to fight with Jephthah, but the end was tragic.

What makes the story of Jephthah tragic is what happens when the people of God fight against one another over matters that should be given to the Lord. The church at Corinth was filled with carnality and pettiness. Churches have divided and split over issues of opinion and personalities. Families are torn apart because of the malicious spirit of envy. What happened at the fords of the Jordan can still take place today among God’s people. Jesus warned against worshiping the Father with an unforgiving heart against another. Prayers are lost because forgiveness is refused against a brother or sister. People squabble, fuss, and fight to their own destruction. These things ought not to be. We should not allow the event that happened at the fords of the Jordan to be repeated today. Live in peace. Seek unity. Serve the Lord.