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New King James Version
Judges 12:6
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they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and executed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim died.
then said they to him, Say now Shibbolet; and he said Sibboleth; for he couldn't manage to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Yarden. There fell at that time of Efrayim forty-two thousand.
Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
they said to him, "Please say Shibboleth," and if he said, "Sibboleth"—because he could not pronounce it correctly—they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.
they would say to him, "Say the word ‘Shibboleth.'" The men of Ephraim could not say that word correctly. So if the person from Ephraim said, "Sibboleth," the men of Gilead would kill him at the crossing. So forty-two thousand people from Ephraim were killed at that time.
then they said to him, "Say ‘Shibboleth!'" If he said, "Sibboleth" (and could not pronounce the word correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.
they said to him, "Then say 'Shibboleth.'" And he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell.
then they would say to him, "Just say, 'Shibboleth.'" But he said, "Sibboleth," for he was not prepared to pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the crossing places of the Jordan. So at that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
Then said they vnto him, Say nowe Shibboleth: and he said, Sibboleth: for he could not so pronounce: then they tooke him, and slewe him at the passages of Iorden: & there fel at that time of the Ephraimites two & fourtie thousand.
dan vra hulle hom: Sê bietjie: Sjibbolet! En as hy sê: Sibbolet! en nie ag gee om dit reg uit te spreek nie, dan gryp hulle hom en maak hom by die Jordaan-driwwe dood. So het daar dan in dié tyd van Efraim twee en veertig duisend man geval.
The guards would then tell them to say "Shiboleth," because they knew that people of Ephraim could say "Sibboleth," but not "Shiboleth." If the man said "Sibboleth," the guards would grab him and kill him right there. Altogether, forty-two thousand men from Ephraim were killed in the battle and at the Jordan.
they would tell him to say "Shibbolet." If he said, "Sibbolet," because he could not make his mouth pronounce it right, they took hold of him and killed him on the spot at the Yarden crossing; at that time 42,000 men of Efrayim died.
Then they said to him, Say now Shibboleth! and he said, Sibboleth, and did not manage to pronounce [it] rightly. Then they took him, and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand.
they would say, "Say the word ‘Shibboleth.'" The men of Ephraim could not say that word correctly. They pronounced the word "Sibboleth." So if the man said, "Sibboleth," then the men of Gilead knew he was from Ephraim. So they would kill him at the crossing place. They killed 42,000 men from Ephraim.
Then they said to him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he could not pronounce it so. Then they took him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan; and there fell at that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites.
they would tell him to say "Shibboleth." But he would say "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they would grab him and kill him there at one of the Jordan River crossings. At that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites were killed.
And they said to him, Please say Shibboleth. And he said, Sibboleth, and they could not frame to speak so. And they would seize him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. And at that time forty two thousand of Ephraim fell.
they bad him saye: Schiboleth, & he sayde: Siboleth, & coulde not speake it righte: then they toke him, & slew him at ye ferye of Iordane, so yt the same tyme there fell of Epraim two & fortye M.
then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.
Then they said to him, Now say Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth, and was not able to say it in the right way; then they took him and put him to death at the crossing-places of Jordan; and at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites were put to death.
Then sayde they vnto him: Then say, Schibboleth. And he sayde, Sibboleth: for he coulde not so pronounce. And then they toke him, and slue him at the passages of Iordane: And there were ouerthrowen at that time of the Ephraites fourtie and two thousande.
then said they unto him: 'Say now Shibboleth'; and he said 'Sibboleth'; for he could not frame to pronounce it right; then they laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan; and there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.
Then said they vnto him, Say now, Shibboleth: and he said, Sibboleth: for hee could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they tooke him, and slewe him at the passages of Iordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites, fourtie & two thousand.
Then they said to him, Say now Stachys; and he did not rightly pronounce it so: and they took him, and slew him at the fords of Jordan; and there fell at that time of Ephraim two and forty thousand.
then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right; then they laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of Jordan: and there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.
they told him, "Please say Shibboleth." If he said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed.
thei axiden hym, Seie thou therfor Sebolech, `whiche is interpretid, `an eer of corn. Which answeride, Thebolech, and myyte not brynge forth an eer of corn bi the same lettre. And anoon thei strangeliden hym takun in thilke passyng of Jordan; and two and fourti thousynde of Effraym felden doun in that tyme.
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.
then they said to him, Now say, "Shibboleth"; and he said "Sibboleth"; for he did not accomplish correct pronunciation: then they laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.
Then said they to him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce [it] right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan. And there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
then said they to him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he couldn't manage to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand.
they would tell him to say "Shibboleth." If he was from Ephraim, he would say "Sibboleth," because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.
they would say to him, "Then say ‘Shibboleth.'" But he would say, "Sibboleth," for he could not say it right. So they would take hold of him and kill him at the crossing places of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 men of Ephraim were killed.
they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell at that time.
they said to him, Come now, say Shibboleth, and, if he said Sibboleth, and he could not take heed to speak in that manner, then laid they hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan, - and there fell, at that time, of the Ephraimites, forty-two thousand.
They asked him: Say then, Scibboleth, which is interpreted, An ear of corn. But he answered, Sibboleth, not being able to express an ear of corn by the same letter. Then presently they took him and killed him in the very passage of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim, two and forty thousand.
they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right; then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time forty-two thousand of the E'phraimites.
then they would say to him, "Say now, 'Shibboleth.'" But he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Say now: Matthew 26:73, Mark 14:70
Shibboleth: which signifieth a stream, or flood, Psalms 69:2, Psalms 69:15, Isaiah 27:12, *Heb: Shibboleth also means an ear of corn (Job 24:24), and sibboleth signifies a burden - Exodus 6:6, and a heavy burden they were obliged to bear who could not pronounce this test letter. It is well known that several nations cannot pronounce certain letters. The sound of th cannot be pronounced by the Persians, no more than by some of our Continental neighbours; though it is a common sound among the Arabians. To this day, many of the German Jews cannot articulate ת th, for which they substitute ss; thus for baith, a house, they say baiss.
there fell: Proverbs 17:14, Proverbs 18:19, Ecclesiastes 10:12, Matthew 12:25, Galatians 5:15
forty: Arbaim ooshenayim aleph, "forty and two thousand." Here the ×, and, may mean simple addition; and this number may denote 2,040 and not 42,000. At the last census of the Israelites (Numbers 26:37) the whole tribe of Ephraim only amounted to 32,500, compared with which this last number appears far too great.
Reciprocal: Judges 18:3 - they knew Isaiah 29:21 - make
Cross-References
Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth;
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
Why did you say, "She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way."
And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city.
And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her.
So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.
Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh?
So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah.
The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Then said they unto him, say now "Shibboleth",.... Which signifies a stream or course of water, at which they now were; and so it was as if they had bid them say,
"may I, or let me, pass over the stream of this river;''
so Jarchi; and this being the case, though it was done to try them, and by their pronunciation learn whether they were Ephraimites or not, they were not upon their guard, but in an hurry, and at once expressed the word as they commonly did:
and he said, sibboleth; pronouncing the letter "shin" as if it was "sin", or a "samech"; just as the French, as Kimchi observes, pronounce "s" like a "t"; and though the Gileadites and Ephraimites were of the same nation of Israel, and spoke the same language, yet their pronunciation differed, as did that of the Galilean Jews from others in the times of Christ, Matthew 26:73, and so in all nations, among the Greeks, Romans, and among ourselves, people in different counties pronounce in a different manner; which Kimchi thinks was in the Ephraimites owing to the air or climate, as the French, he observes, pronounce "s" as a "t", with a soft and gentle sound:
for he could not frame to pronounce it right; or "thus" t, as he was bid to do; being used to pronounce otherwise, he could not frame the organs of speech, or so dispose and order them as to say "shibboleth"; or he did not frame, order, and dispose u; he was not careful to do it, though with some care he could, being not aware of the design of the Gileadites in it:
then they took him and slew him at the passages of Jordan; everyone as they came thither, who could not say "shibboleth"; these they suffered not to pass over, but slew them:
and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand; not at the passages of Jordan only; but what fell there, with those at the battle, and in the pursuit, amounted to this number; so that the Ephraimites paid dearly for their pride and insolence.
t ×× "sic", Pagninus, Montanus. u ×× × ××× "non dirigebat", Montanus.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
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 âshâ 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.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Judges 12:6. Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth — The original differs only in the first letter ס samech, instead of ש sheen; ××ר × × ×©××ת ××××ר ס××ת emar na Shibboleth, vaiyomer Sibboleth. The difference between ש seen, without a point, which when pointed is pronounced sheen, and ס samech, is supposed by many to be imperceptible. But there can be no doubt there was, to the ears of a Hebrew, a most sensible distinction. Most Europeans, and, indeed, most who have written grammars of the language, perceive scarcely any difference between the Arabic [Arabic] seen and [Arabic] saad; but as both those letters are radical not only in Arabic but in Hebrew, the difference of enunciation must be such as to be plainly perceivable by the ear; else it would be impossible to determine the root of a word into which either of these letters entered, except by guessing, unless by pronunciation the sounds were distinct. One to whom the Arabic is vernacular, hearing a native speak, discerns it in a moment; but the delicate enunciation of the characteristic difference between those letters ש seen and ס samech, and [Arabic] seen and [Arabic] saad, is seldom caught by a European. Had there been no distinction between the ש seen and ס samech but what the Masoretic point gives now, then ס samech would not have been used in the word ס××ת sibboleth, but ש seen, thus ש××ת: but there must have been a very remarkable difference in the pronunciation of the Ephraimites, when instead of ש××ת shibboleth, an ear of corn, (see Job 24:24), they said ס××ת sibboleth, which signifies a burden, Exodus 6:6; and a heavy burden were they obliged to bear who could not pronounce this test letter. It is likely that the Ephraimites were, in reference to the pronunciation of sh, as different from the Gileadites as the people in some parts of the north of England are, in the pronunciation of the letter r, from all the other inhabitants of the land. The sound of th cannot be pronounced by the Persians in general; and yet it is a common sound among the Arabians. To this day multitudes of the German Jews cannot pronounce ת th, but put ss in the stead of it: thus for ××ת beith (a house) they say bess.
Mr. Richardson, in his "Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of the Eastern Nations," prefixed to his Persian and Arabic Dictionary, p. ii., 4to. edition, makes some observations on the different dialects which prevailed in Arabia Felix, the chief of which were the Hemyaret and Koreish; and to illustrate the point in hand, he produces the following story from the Mohammedan writers: "An envoy from one of the feudatory states, having been sent to the tobba, (the sovereign,) that prince, when he was introduced, pronounced the word T'heb, which in the Hemyaret implied, Be seated: unhappily it signified, in the native dialect of the ambassador, Precipitate thyself; and he, with a singular deference for the orders of his sovereign, threw himself instantly from the castle wall and perished." Though the Ephraimites had not a different dialect, they had, it appears, a different pronunciation, which confounded, to others, letters of the same organ, and thus produced, not only a different sound, but even an opposite meaning. This was a sufficient test to find out an Ephraimite; and he who spake not as he was commanded, at the fords of Jordan, spoke against his own life.
For he could not frame to pronounce it right. — This is not a bad rendering of the original ××× ×××× ×××ר ×× velo yachin ledabber ken; "and they did not direct to speak it thus." But instead of ×××× yachin, to direct, thirteen of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., with two ancient editions, read ×××× yabin; "they did not understand to speak it thus."
The versions take great latitude in this verse. The Vulgate makes a paraphrase: Dic ergo Shibboleth, quod interpretatur spica: qui respondebat Sibboleth; eadem litera spicam exprimere non valens. "Say therefore, Shibboleth; which interpreted is an ear of corn: but he answered, Sibboleth; not being able to express an ear of corn by that letter." In my very ancient copy of the Vulgate, probably the editio princeps, there is sebboleth in the first instance as the test word, and thebboleth as the Ephraimite pronunciation. But cebboleth is the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot, and is supported by one of my own MSS., yet the former reading, thebboleth, is found in two of my MSS. The Chaldee has ש××××ª× shubbaltha for the Gileaditish pronunciation, and ס×××ª× subbaltha for that of Ephraim. The Syriac has [Syriac] shelba and [Syriac] sebla. The Arabic has the same word, with [Arabic] sheen and [Arabic] seen; and adds, "He said Sebla, for the Ephraimites could not pronounce the letter sheen." These notices, however trivial at first view, will not be thought unimportant by the Biblical critic.
