Judges 12

the book of judges

Likely Samuel · c. 1050 BC

Chapter the Twelfth

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.

And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.

And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

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.

And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.

And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.

And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.

And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.

And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.

Chuck Smith on Judges 12

Verse by verse, the C2000 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.

Verse 1

Chapter 12 Now, remember the men of Ephraim when Gideon came back having, you know, gotten the victory and they said, "Why didn't you call us?" Well here they are again, chapter twelve.

AND the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Why did you pass over to fight against the children Ammon, and you didn't call us to go with you? We're gonna burn you and your house with fire ( Judges 12:1 ).

Well, they got by with this kind of stuff with Gideon. Gideon was just a very, you know, diplomatic, mild-mannered fellow, but not so Jephthah. He was the son of a harlot, tough cookie. He grew up with a tough crowd and you don't mess with Jephthah like you would with Gideon. And so they came to Jephthah throwing on in the same trip that they threw on Gideon years earlier.

Now look, notice, Jephthah was a very egocentric person. Notice all the I's and the my's and so forth in these next few verses. It demonstrates the guy's egocentricities.

And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and I called you, and you delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that you daily delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are you come up against me, me this day, to fight against me? ( Judges 12:2-3 )

Verses 2-3

So notice all these personal pronouns the guy's using. He's very egocentric.

And Jephthah gathered together all of the men of Gilead, and they fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim and among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites ( Judges 12:4-5 ):

Verses 4-6

They come over against them into the land of Gilead, cross Jordan coming over against them. And so the men of Jephthah took the forts where they cross the Jordan River. And as the Ephraimites were trying to sneak back into their own land they'd stop them and they'd say, "Say Shibboleth: and say are you an Ephraimite?" "Oh no, we're not Ephraimites." They'd say, "Say Shibboleth" and the guys from Ephraim couldn't pronounce, couldn't pronounce the "sh" sound and they'd say, "Sibboleth" and they knew that they were then Ephraimites and so they'd wipe them out. And some forty-five, forty-six thousand Ephraimites bit the dust: forty-two.

And Jephthah judged Israel for six years. And he died, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead ( Judges 12:7 ).

Verses 7-15

So really he didn't reign too long, just six years. And then the tenth judge was this guy Ibzan from Bethlehem and his claim to fame was he had thirty sons and thirty daughters who he sent abroad to marry with the kings from other nations and he took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. So he shipped his daughters out and then took thirty daughters from other kingdoms for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years. He was buried in Bethlehem. Then Elon became the eleventh judge. He was from the tribe of Zebulon. He judged Israel for the years and he was buried at a high or rather Ajalon or Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

Then Abdon became [the twelfth] judge, [the son of Hillel] and he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on seventy donkeys: and he judged Israel for eight years ( Judges 12:13-14 ).

These guys really didn't do very much. Not much is told about them. "

Commentary on Judges 12

Whosoever Will · the Seven Threads Commentary

Judges 12:1

Abimelech is the dark center of Judges: the son of Gideon by a concubine who uses political manipulation, kinship appeals, and silver from the temple of Baal-Berith to hire worthless and reckless men and kill his seventy brothers on one stone. He then makes himself king at Shechem. Jotham, the only surviving brother, climbs Mount Gerizim and delivers the trees-seeking-a-king fable. The trees ask the olive, the fig, and the vine to be king. Each refuses: why should I leave my productive purpose to sway over the trees? Only the bramble accepts, and the bramble's offer is: if you truly anoint me king, then come and take shelter in my shadow. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. The fable is the OT's most sophisticated political theology: power sought for its own sake attracts only those without productive purpose, and the rule of the worthless produces fire. Abimelech rules three years. He destroys Shechem. He is killed at Thebez when a woman drops an upper millstone on his head. He asks his armor-bearer to run him through so it cannot be said a woman killed him, and it is said anyway. Thread 3 is the negative type: Abimelech is what the King must not be, self-appointed, kin-killing, bramble-like. Thread 4 is the willing acceptance of his kingship by Shechem, and Thread 5 is the dispensational warning: premature kingship outside divine appointment produces destruction.

Abimelech, the first and failed attempt at monarchy in Israel, kills seventy brothers and rules for three years before a millstone kills him; Jotham's fable of the trees is the most sophisticated political parable in the OT.

אֲשֶׁר יִמְשָׁל בָּכֶם אֶבֶן הָרֹאשׁ הַזֹּאת (asher yimshol bakhem even ha-rosh hazzot): may this stone be a witness against you: the conclusion of Jotham's curse from Mount Gerizim; Abimelech's reign will end by a millstone dropped from a tower by a woman; the stone that crushes echoes the stone cut without hands in Daniel 2; failed human kingship always ends with the stone

threads t3 · t4 · t5 · see Judges 9:7-15 · 1 Samuel 8:4-22 · Revelation 17:16

Judges 12

Chuck Smith on Judges 12

Commentary on Judges 12

Judges 12:1

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