Judges Chapter 12

Introduction
In chapter 12, we conclude the story of Jephthah, the Judge who liberated the northern tribes of Israel from the oppression and threat of king Ammon. In the last chapter, a good deal was written about the matter of Jephthah's only child who became the subject of a rash vow made by Jephthah. This vow was to sacrifice as a burnt offering the first thing to greet him out of the door of his home when he returned from battle. The vow was in exchange for the LORD giving Jephthah and his army (consisting of men mainly from Gilead) victory. It is key to note that nowhere in Scripture do we have the LORD acknowledging the validity of this vow.

After Jephthah was victorious, he returned home only to be (unexpectedly) greeted by his daughter. Later, we are told that he did to her what he had vowed. The subject is controversial on a number of levels. First, there has been much doubt cast on whether or not Jephthah actually offered his daughter as a human sacrifice. We find that recent scholars (both Jew and gentile) suggest that instead of her being sacrificed, she was simply given over to the Levites to serve as a Tabernacle worker. Thus, the difficult consequence of her father's vow required her to remain an unmarried virgin all the days of her life.

The second controversy is that this notion of Jephthah's daughter not being sacrificed only arose 2000 years after the event occurred. All written and oral tradition prior to 500 A.D. claim Jephthah's daughter was killed. Only after that time did a new theory arise among scholars which found an alternative explanation to Jephthah's vow.

The third controversy over Jephthah's vow is the ancient Hebrew makes it clear that it was not any thing which came out of the door of Jephthah's house, but it was a person. In other words, the usual rationale for this story is that Jephthah envisioned an animal running to greet him when he returned from war. Instead, he was shocked to see his daughter emerge from his home. The Hebrew term asher refers to a human and not an animal. Further, the idea that a sheep or cow or some type of clean animal suitable for a sacrifice would run to greet Jephthah is rather illogical. As dog might come to meet his master, but a dog is an unclean animal, which is unsuitable for a sacrifice to God.

In Jephthah's era, it was expected and required that when the master returned from a journey the chief house servant would be on the lookout for him, Then, the servant would run to greet the master, wash his feet and offer him refreshment. Only after that would his family greet him. Thus, Jephthah more likely fully expected and had in mind to sacrifice a servant when he made the vow. Instead, Jephthah was grief-stricken when his daughter broke the Middle Eastern protocol and greeted her father before the chief servant did.

The fourth controversy is that in the New Testament, in the Book of Hebrews, Jephthah is listed as one of the great heroes of Israel. He is lauded for his service to God. It is this biblical mention which causes some Christian scholars to surmise that such a praise would not have been allowed has Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter.

While there might be reasonable room for disagreement on this subject, my position is that it is always to take Scripture for what it plainly states, within the context and with the understanding of what specific type of literature we are reading (poetry, history, prose, etc.). It is nearly impossible for me to think the plain meaning of the text in Judges chapter 11, which is a historical account, and the 2000 years of commentary and oral tradition confirm the biblical story about the ill fate of Jephthah's daughter. To set aside all this and accept new interpretation which corresponds to our more modern expectations only allows us to feel better. It does little to actually support the written account. I believe Jephthah sacrificed his daughter even though it was a horrific action which was against the Torah and countered all God's principles.

As we read Judges chapter 12, we will see more of Jephthah's flawed character revealed. This allows us to see he would not have viewed killing his own daughter as a pious religious act, but he would have viewed it as expected and proper even if it was devastating to him personally.


JEPHTHAH AND THE EPHRAIMITES; THREE MINOR JUDGES

A. Jephthah and the Ephraimites conflict

1. (Judges 12:1) The men of the tribe of Ephraim are angry with Jephthah
Then the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you." 

Then the men of Ephraim were summoned: This short chapter ties up some loose ends and brings an era to a close. Remember, the Book of Judges is NOT a work authored by one person. Rather, it is a compilation of tradition and history ancient editors put together to give an accurate and cogent account of the three to four hundred year time span in between the death of Joshua and the anointing of King Saul. Thus, this is not a complete and full account of the history of this time period. Instead, it is highlights which give a picture of the events during this time period. It is wove together to give a logical order and for it to be effective and have meaning for future readers. 

The main thrust revolves around the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim plays a critical role in Israel's past. Ephraim sees himself as above the other tribes. He feels self-important and displays quite a bit of arrogance and self-righteousness. 

Part of the reason Ephraim had this overblown sense of national grandeur is that Ephraim was given the firstborn blessing. (Remember, Reuben was Jacob's firstborn. However, the firstborn blessing was given to Joseph. When Jacob adopted Joseph's sons (Ephraim and Manasseh), Jacob gave the blessing to Joseph's second-born son Ephraim. See Genesis 48.) In addition to this, Ephraim was probably the largest of all the tribes. It also was the tribe of the venerated conqueror of Canaan, Joshua. The tribe of Judah might have been equal to Ephraim in size and strength. So while Ephraim was definitely preeminent in the northern area of Canaan, Judah would have held sway in the south. If Ephraim would have been powerful enough, it probably would have taken on the tribe of Judah to gain complete control over all the tribes of Israel.

Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you: In chapter 12, we have the leaders of Ephraim coming to Jephthah with a familiar complaint: "You did not invite us to the party!" A few chapter ago, Ephraim did the same thing with Gideon. AFTER Gideon had beaten Israel's enemy, Ephraim shows up and wants to be praised, bowed down to and given its place at the head of the line for the lion's share of the spoils won by Gideon and the other tribesmen of Israel.

Gideon showed himself to be an able diplomat as well as a superb leader of warriors, and thus he appeased Ephraim. Jephthah, on the other hand, is not Gideon. He has no interest in granting Ephraim's demands nor does he have the patience to give their ridiculous assertions any credibility. Jephthah is a pure warrior and when challenged, he reacts in one way--attack!   

We will burn down your house on you: Ephraim made a fatal mistake in judgment--in verse one, they came to Jephthah and threatened to kill him and his whole household for supposedly insulting Ephraim by not consulting them regarding the war with Ammon.


2. (Judges 12:2-3) Jephthah responds to the people of the tribe of Ephraim
Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon; when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand. When I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?" 

When I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand: Jephthah refutes Ephraim's complaint. He states that when it came time for Ephraim to help, they stood on the sidelines. (This is undoubtedly exactly what happened knowing Ephraim's history.) 


3. (Judges 12:4-6) The Gileadites (led by Jephthah) overwhelm the people of the tribe of Ephraim
Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, O Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh." The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead would say to them, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No," 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. 

Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim: Apparently this confrontation with Ephraim happened some weeks after Ammon had been defeated because Jephthah had already dismissed his army as verse four states Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead. It seems as though the final straw was an insult which Ephraim hurled at Jephthah. Ephraim basically says the men of Gilead are really only deserters from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim is describing the army of Gilead as nothing but a rag-tag mob, probably not to be counted among the brothers as Israelites. It has no status to lead or govern because they are not noble enough as Ephraim sees itself as so illustrious and thus automatically deserving of ruling status.

No doubt this accusation brought up a long held burning bitterness within Jephthah as he had been exiled from Israel because his mother was a prostitute. He had been banished from his own family because they saw his status as too lowly. It was this exile which caused him to put together his band of bandits and raid Israelite and other caravans to make a living. Then, later, the leading me of Israel (when they were in dire straits) asked Jephthah to come home and use his army to fight for them. It was Jephthah's band which was now the lead troops in ending Ammon's oppression over Israel, but Ephraim who did not even participate in the battle, says the men of Gilead were never worthy of such a task.

Let's pause a moment and discuss a little bit about just how divided Israel had become by Jephthah's era since the days of Moses and Joshua. Ephraim was a rival with Judah. They both lived on the west side of the Jordan River. Gilead was located on the east side; thus, it was seen and treated by those on the west side of the river as practically another nation even though there were Hebrews. Ephraim and Judah were well aware that even though Moses had legitimized some of the Israelite tribes living in the Trans-Jordan, in fact it was not the holy Promised Land as described to Abraham. Thus, those nine and a half tribes living inside Canaan saw themselves as better than the two and a half tribes who had chosen to live on the east bank of the Jordan River (outside the Holy Land). Those two and a half tribes were quite sensitive to this reality and not just a little bit touchy when the subject was brought up.

So we see there was an enormous and growing schism between the Israelite tribes who lived in the Trans-Jordan versus those who lived in Canaan. There was also a division between those Israelite tribes who lived in Canaan but were more aligned with Ephraim in the north versus those who were more aligned with Judah in the south. 

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim: Jephthah attacks Ephraim and routs them. Ephraim realizes despite their large number of loyal soldiers, they have no chance against the experienced and tough army of the men from Gilead. We find the Ephraim troops fleeing in all directions trying to save themselves and lying about their identities when they are caught. The fight between Jephthah's men and Ephraim was occurring mainly on the east side of the Jordan River. The Ephraimite soldiers were trying to get back over the Jordan River to their own land in the west. Knowing this, Jephthah sent his men to guard the fording points. It seems when the Epraimite men were caught and questioned, they denied they were Ephraimites. Some clever officer from Gilead devised a simple test. Every male who was trying to ford the Jordan River was required to say the word shibboleth. If they could not properly pronounce it and instead said sibboleth, then it identified them as an Ephraimite, and they were killed on the spot.

Shibboleth: Like many Hebrew words, shibboleth has two entirely different meanings. It can mean an ear of corn or it can mean the flood of a stream. Its use depended on its context. Since the context here is that this questioning took place at the ford of the Jordan River, it is obvious the meaning was flood of a stream and not ear of corn.

We see the split among the Israelite tribes had become very deep and had developed over such a long time that each tribe (or coalition of tribes) had by now even gained their own dialect. Just as in the USA we have developed different dialects of English which enable us to readily tell whether the person is from the south, northeast, midwest, etc., so it was among the Israelites.

Apparently the Ephraimites had lost their ability to pronounce the letter sheen, which is the "sh" sound. Instead, they could only say it was an "s" sound. This dead giveaway proved to be fatal.

Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim: Jephthah's army devastated the Ephraimite army and killed 42,000 men, many because they could not make an "sh" sound, which prevented them from escaping across the river. This would have no doubt for many years greatly curtailed Ephraim's ability to both protect itself and to project its power over others. So, its status would have diminished for a time as a result of its arrogance which led to this ill-conceived and completely unnecessary battle with Jephthah and the highly insulted men of Gilead who had done such a good service for Israel.


4. (Judges 12:7) The remainder of Jephthah's time as a Judge
Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities in Gilead.

Jephthah judged Israel for six years: We are told Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then he died. This did not go unnoticed by the ancient Hebrew sages, and we ought to make a note of it ourselves. Judging for only six years was a very short length of time. Anywhere from 20-80 years was the normal length of time for Judge during all the previous accounts. Further, the original Hebrew stated he was buried in some undisclosed cities (yes, it is plural, meaning multiple cities) in Gilead. He was not buried in one city as our English translations seems to imply.

There had to be in the minds of the ancient sages a good reason for such a short duration of judging considering the great victories Jephthah had won over God's enemies and to explain how he could have been buried in multiple cities. The sages determined because of Jephthah's great sin of killing his daughter to complete his vow, the LORD punished him. This is an excerpt from a midrash in the Talmud on this subject:

"Because he was stricken with leprosy as a punishment, his death was lingering and his limbs fell off one by one, and were buried in different cities where they happened to drop off."

Whether this account is accurate or not, it again points out that even though on the one hand Jephthah had done some great things for the LORD, on the other hand he had committed some dastardly and nearly unthinkable sins.

We have discussed of one those great sins, but another is because Ephraim insulted Jephthah in a very sensitive area of his psyche, Jephthah went on an unabated binge of revenge, killing Ephraimites. There is no evidence Ephraim ever harmed Jephthah; rather, they merely threatened and insulted him. But in response, Jephthah attacked and ruthlessly killed 42,000 men from Ephraim. In fact, he went so far as to blockade the fording points of the Jordan River, and then soldiers were murdered who had dropped their weapons. These men were merely trying to return home. Again, this was NOT some foreign enemy; it was his Hebrew brothers he was slaughtering for no other reason than the leaders of Ephraim had slighted him and deeply upset him. These were not Canaanites who were to be expelled from the land at God's instructions. They were his fellow Israelites. Jephthah was a man whose bloodthirsty ways were used by God for His purposes, but when not under the Holy Spirit's guidance, these same attributes led him to do monstrous things.


B. Three minor judges

1. (Judges 12:8-10) The Judge Ibzan
Now Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him. He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. He he judged Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem. 

Now Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him: The era of Jephthah is over. After him came Ibzan. Almost nothing is said of him. We are not even sure of his tribal affiliation. Some say he must have been of the tribe of Judah because he was from Bethlehem. But just like any other place names, there were a number of Bethlehems in Canaan. Bethlehem simply means "house of bread". Since Ibzan took over after Jephthah, he would either have ruled over the north central part of Canaan or over Gilead on the east bank of the Jordan River. It is exceedingly unlikely the Bethlehem mentioned is the one we think of today in the territory of Judah, which is in the south of Canaan. 

He had thirty sons and thirty daughters: The Judge Ibzan had 30 sons and 30 daughters. This indicates how wealthy he was. It draws an interesting contrast between this man who immediately followed Jephthah, and Jephthah who had only ONE child, which was his daughter. 

Ibzan bringing in foreign wives for his sons fits well with the constantly deteriorating condition of Israel. Not only is this against the Torah commands, but it also highlight how the Israelites were more interested in following typical Middle Eastern customs as practiced by their own gentile neighbors than in obeying God. This bringing in of foreign wives was predicated on one purpose alone--to make peace treaties with nearby pagan kingdoms. Inter-marriage was then and has remained for centuries the primary means of creating an alliance between nations.

He judged Israel seven years: We see Ibzan only judged Israel for seven years, which is one more than Jephthah. Again, we only need to compare his short rule with his poor leadership and lifestyle to understand why such a relatively brief period of time he judged Israel. Yet, by all accounts, he was a Judge anointed by God nonetheless.


2. (Judges 12:11-12) The judge Elon
Now Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel after him; and he judged Israel ten years. Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 

Elon the Zebulunite: After Ibzan came the Judge Elon from the tribe of Zebulun. Even less is told of him. He ruled only ten years and then died. 


3. (Judges 12:13-15) The Judge Abdon
Now Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel after him. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he juded Israel eight years. Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. 

Abdon the son of Hillel: Next came Abdon who had 40 sons and 30 grandsons. These sons rode on donkeys. This was a very royal and aristocratic family. Having so many children indicates Abdon had many wives and very well had 40 or more daughter in addition to all his sons. He most likely also ruled during a time of peace and prosperity. The time from his anointing to his death was a mere eight years.